Swarms of "super fleas" with large penises to invade Exeter this autumn

Billions of 'super-fleas' with massive penises are expected to invade bedrooms across Exeter and beyond this autumn.

The new breed of so called super-fleas, which are far bigger than 'normal' fleas, are expected to come out of hibernation early this year.

The flea has a penis which is two-and-a-half times the length of its body - the largest genitalia relative to size of any bug on earth.

With yesterday being the first day of autumn and the night's drawing in, the fleas are about to leap indoors to relax in our warm homes.

Conditions for flea breeding have been perfect with a mild summer and the right amount of rain and damp weather.

The new flea breed is believed to have come from Europe over the past few years.

Rob Simpson, of pest control group Basis Prompt, warned that the super-fleas will come out of much earlier than expected.

"Fleas which would usually remain dormant for much longer, became active sooner, leading to more prolific breeding and therefore a larger population," he said.

Warm, damp summers and mild winters, along with improved central heating and home insulation, have made life easy for fleas, bed bugs and head lice all year round, and their numbers have risen.read more

Species found in county not endangered

The U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service issued two press releases earlier this week after deciding that one local species is not threatened with extinction and another southern Arizona species should be considered endangered.

The Huachuca springsnail, found in Cochise County as well as Santa Cruz County and northern Sonora, Mexico, was one of nine species the service recently determined does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The small aquatic snail — measuring just 1.7 to 3.2 millimeters — continues to occupy a large portion of its historical range and its habitat remains substantially intact. Currently, it is found in 23 of 29 spring sites studied since 2004, and 25 of those 29 sites are “high- or medium-quality habitat,” according to the species status assessment released by the service.

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Bizarre new species of extinct reptile shows dinosaurs copied body, skull shapes of distant relatives

Iconic dinosaur shapes were present for at least a hundred million years on our planet in animals before those dinosaurs themselves actually appeared.

In a study in today's (Sept. 22) issue of Current Biology, a multi-institutional team of paleontologists including Virginia Tech College of Science researcher Michelle Stocker have identified and named a new species of extinct reptile estimated to be 230 million years old -- predating dinosaurs.

Called Triopticus primus -- meaning the "First of Three Eyes" because the large natural pit in the top of its head lends the appearance of an "extra"eye -- Triopticus bears an extremely thickened skull roof, just like the very distantly related pachycephalosaur dinosaurs that lived more than 100 million years later. And even more unexpected, many of the other extinct animals found with Triopticus resemble later dinosaurs as well.

"Triopticus is an extraordinary example of evolutionary convergence between the relatives of dinosaurs and crocodylians and later dinosaurs that is much more common than anyone ever expected," Stocker said. "What we thought were unique body shapes in many dinosaurs actually evolved millions of years before in the Triassic Period, about 225 million years ago."-read more

Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri,Devil Frog Vomits Up a New Ant Species

Finding new species may call to mind images of scientists tracking mysterious footprints in the mud or cutting paths through the dense jungle.

But sometimes, a discovery is as easy as getting a frog to open its mouth and say, “Ah.”

Such is the case for Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri, a new tropical ant species found in the belly of a diablito, or little devil frog (Oophaga sylvatica), inEcuador.

The diablito, a kind of bright orange poison frog, is known for its love of ants, says Christian Rabeling, a myrmecologist at the University of Rochester, New York. The new ant species is named after Bert Hölldobler, a German evolutionary biologist and ant expert, for his 80th birthday.

Because ant-eating frogs go hunting for bugs in tiny and hard-to-access places, scientists use them as a tool to go where they can’t go. By capturing a wild frog and flushing their stomachs, the amphibians vomit whatever is in their bellies—revealing potential treasures, like the new ant.

“Sometimes people think that our world is very well explored. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” says Rabeling, who led a new study on read more

New “Singing” Psyllid Species Found in Taiwan

A new species of psyllid has been found in Taiwan and is described in an article in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. The new species belongs to the genus Trioza, which comprises more than 400 species worldwide.

Trioza acuminatissima feeds on its host plant, Neolitsea acuminatissima(family: Lauraceae), in the larval stage. However, in the adult stage it also feeds on nonhost plants.

It exists in the understory of forests at 1,000-2,000 meters above sea level, and the larvae are known to induce individual pit galls in their host plant.

Like other psylloids, Trioza acuminatissima uses acoustic signals to find mates, with males and females performing acoustic duets to confirm choice before mating. The acoustic signals consist of simple chirps, and are accompanied by rapid wing vibrations.

Interestingly, the authors found that the duration of the chirps depended on what type of plant the adults inhabited.

“Psylloids produce shorter acoustic signals when they are on a nonhost read more

New species of Wisconsin bat discovered in Rock County

Researchers from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have discovered a new species of tree bat living in Rock County, bringing the official count for species of bats in Wisconsin to eight.

The species, called the evening bat, is the first new species of bat discovered in Wisconsin since 1954. The evening bat is frequently found in the southern United States and has been seen once in Minnesota, but Wisconsin is the first northern state to have a sustained evening bat population, said Owen Boyle, section chief of the DNR National Heritage Conservation branch.

Researchers found the bat living in hollow trees in the Avon Bottom-read more

North Dakota fossils could be new species of ancient marine reptile

A routine dig in northeastern North Dakota may have unearthed an entirely new species of ancient marine reptile that roamed underwater while dinosaurs walked the earth.

Paleontologists with the North Dakota Geological Survey are inching closer to classifying rare skull bones discovered last month during a public dig in the the Pembina Gorge, about 100 miles northwest of Grand Forks. The bones were found in rock formed about 80 million years ago—back when this part of North Dakota was covered in shallow ocean.

Paleontologist Clint Boyd found the bones while digging into rock his team had already fully excavated, or so they thought, the previous summer.

“As I was brushing the back wall of the quarry where the other bones had come from, a little bit of that back wall caved and this bone fell right into my lap,” Boyd said. “We could tell right away as soon as we pulled it out that it was not the same animal we’ve seen elsewhere in the state. The question became what type it could be.”

Boyd’s team is confident the bones belong to a mosasaur, a giant marine reptile known to exist in North Dakota during the dinosaur age. But they do not resemble the bones of the one species of mosasaur previously identified in the state, he said.

The difference was obvious after comparing the animal’s quadrate, an important jaw bone that varies from species to species, with that of the state’s previously known mosasaur, Boyd said.read more