Having a good nose is essential to a Japanese beetle's survival. The beetle's sense of smell helps it avoid enemies and zero in on a mate. Meanwhile, the potential mate is programmed to release sex pheromones in exactly the right proportions.

An international research consortium with the participation of a research team led by Professor Cornelis Grimmelikhuijzen from the Department of Biology, has sequenced the genome from the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum.

Most of us hate to find the red flour beetle living happily in the flour sack in our pantries. But for several scientists at Kansas State University, and many others throughout the world, this pest of stored grain and grain products is the best organism for studying genetics.

An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

When biologists set out to organize the family tree for the huge family of beetles, they ended up identifying previously unknown relationships for many of the beetle groups – somewhat like finding new cousins – and re-defining the major families, new research shows.

The eastern hemlock, a tall, long-lived coniferous tree that shelters river and streamside ecosystems throughout the eastern United States and Canada, is in serious danger of extinction because a tiny, non-native insect is literally sucking the life out of it.