If you’ve ever swatted away mosquitoes on a humid summer evening, you know the relief that winter brings when their buzzing fades. Now imagine sipping hot chocolate on a crisp holiday morning … only to find yourself swatting mosquitoes again.
Wait, what? That can’t be right. Mosquitoes are supposed to give us a break during the chilly winter months.
It might sound far-fetched, but it could become our reality. Climate change isn’t just about warmer temperatures. It’s transforming the way insects behave: altering their lifecycles, migration patterns and seasonal activity.
Climate change is causing big changes in insect behavior. Disease-carrying pests like mosquitoes and ticks are acting differently, and helpful pollinators like honey bees are changing how they gather food and reproduce. These shifts can affect public health, our food supply and the balance of entire ecosystems.
Climate change is transforming insect behavior by altering their body temperature regulation and biological processes, which are highly influenced by environmental conditions. Insects are ectothermic, meaning the environment plays a big role in determining their body temperature and biological processes.
As global temperatures rise — the Earth is now about 2.5°F hotter than it was in the pre-industrial era — and rainfall and humidity levels fluctuate, insects are responding in ways that scientists are only beginning to truly grasp.
These climate-driven shifts can lead to the following changes:
Rising temperatures aren’t just increasing insect populations — they’re also changing how disease-carrying insects behave and where they thrive. Warmer conditions speed up reproductive cycles, allowing insects like mosquitoes to bite more frequently and spread diseases faster.
These insects are also expanding into new regions as areas that were once too cold become more hospitable. This means communities that have never faced threats like dengue, Zika, or West Nile virus may now be at risk. Combined with longer active seasons due to milder winters, these shifts are significantly increasing the window of time when humans and animals can be exposed to vector-borne diseases.
Climate change threatens honey bee health by disrupting their behavior, foraging patterns and colony stability. According to The Bee Conservancy, honey bees pollinate one in every three bites of the food we eat and 80% of the world’s flowering plants. Their importance to the ecosystem and food supply can’t be overstated.
Already facing a one-in-four risk of extinction, honey bees now face an even greater threat: climate change. Here’s how rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns are altering bee behavior, and why it matters:
Honey bees rely on environmental cues like temperature to signal when it’s time to emerge from their hives. But as spring arrives earlier, bees are waking up before the plants they depend on have begun to bloom.
This disconnect, called phenological mismatch, can result in temporary food shortages for bees. Even a few days’ difference between emergence and flowering can disrupt feeding patterns, reduce energy reserves and diminish pollination success. Over time, this can impact not only bee health but also the reproductive success of many plants.
Extreme heat can damage the queen’s sperm storage, lowering fertility and egg production. Meanwhile, milder winters may prevent bees from entering full dormancy, draining their energy and making hives weaker.
Worse yet, warm winters help pests like Varroa mites survive and spread. These invasive parasites feed on both adult bees and the queen’s developing brood, transmitting viruses and weakening entire colonies.
When bee populations decline, the consequences extend far beyond the hive. Reduced pollination threatens the yield and quality of dozens of pollinator-dependent crops, from almonds to blueberries. This could lead to:
Changes in insect behavior are more than a scientific curiosity; they’re an emerging public health concern. As temperatures rise, seasons shift and insect habitats expand, we face new and more serious challenges.
Essential pollinators like bees are under increasing stress, threatening food production and biodiversity. At the same time, climate-driven shifts in vector behavior could spread more vector-borne illnesses in new regions. Together, these disruptions carry extensive implications for global health, agriculture and ecological stability.
If you’re ready to be part of the solution, the University of Florida’s online graduate programs in entomology and nematology can help you get there. Whether you’re interested in public health, pest control or beekeeping, our entirely online programs equip you with the knowledge and real-world skills to make an impact.
Choose from:
Within each of those credentials, you can focus your studies with one of four specializations:
What’s more, you’re able to study from anywhere in the world while you earn your credential.
Explore your path today and become a leader in protecting global health, food systems and ecosystems — one insect at a time.
A nuclear war, if it comes, will not be won by the Americans … the Russians … the Chinese. The winner of World War III will be the cockroach. — 1965 advertisement sponsored by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy Cockroaches have an impressive win record. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, which eliminated 80% of…
If you’ve traveled to faraway lands, you may have come across a few local delicacies that, at the time, you considered questionable. “No thank you, I’ll pass on the roasted grasshoppers,” you say as you navigate through stalls of colorful trinkets and street snacks. While eating insects might not be at the top of your…
For some, beekeeping is a unique pastime. For others, it’s a career they’ve spent years building up from a blossoming hobby to a thriving enterprise. Whether you’re passionate about tending the hives in your backyard or building a profession in apiculture, beekeeping plays a crucial role in supporting agricultural and environmental sustainability. As you explore…
