Invasive Camel Crickets Widespread in US Homes

What's more, the study found that an invasive species of camel cricket from Asia is now far more common in American basements than the native variety.

The study got its start when a cricket taxonomist at North Carolina State University found an invasive camel cricket in the home of a fellow researcher. 

Camel crickets — also known as "sprickets," spider crickets and cave crickets — have an arched back and long hind legs. The ones scientists would expect to find in North America are thick-bodied and a mottled brown in color; they belong to the genus Ceuthophilus. An invasive species of camel cricket from Asia, Diestrammena asynamora, became established in the United States during the 19th century. It was dubbed the greenhouse camel cricket, and scientists thought it was rarely found outside of greenhouses. It has a banded pattern on its legs and is more slender than its American counterpart.

To determine how common all kinds of camel crickets are today, Menninger and her colleagues turned to the public. They solicited photos and physical specimens of camel crickets living in and around U.S. homes. They asked aspiring citizen scientists to fill out a survey on their own camel cricket sightings, when enrolling for an unrelated study on the microbial diversity of households. The researchers also had an open survey on their website, yourwildlife.org. (The team is still looking for data if you have camel cricket photos or observations to share.)

Most of the camel cricket observations were reported east of the Mississippi River. And the invasive camel crickets seemed to be much more common than Ceuthophilus insects, according to the results, published in the open-access journal Peer J. In North Carolina, for example, D. asynamora was present in 92 percent of households that submitted camel cricket samples. This species could also be extremely abundant. The researchers set up cricket traps around 10 homes in Raleigh, North Carolina. Over the course of two days, the researchers caught 50 individual D. asynamora crickets in a single yard. 

"We don't know what kind of impact this species has on local ecosystems, though it's possible that the greenhouse camel cricket could be driving out native camel cricket species in homes," study leader Mary Jane Epps, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State, said in a statement.

The scientists roughly estimated that there could be 700 million camel crickets, of all species, in and around homes across the eastern United States. Camel crickets don't pose any threat to humans, and they might not actually be such bad roommates.

"Because they are scavengers, camel crickets may actually provide an important service in our basements or garages, eating the dead stuff that accumulates there," Menninger explained in a statement.

Camel crickets indeed are not picky eaters. The authors of a study of Ceuthophilus foraging habits, published in the American Midland Naturalist in 2005, noted that camel crickets would eat anything from American cheese to dead fire ants to human feces to fallen fruit. 

'Alarm bells' as greenhouse gases hit new high: UN

Geneva (AFP) - Surging carbon dioxide levels boosted greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new high in 2013, amid worrying signs that absorption by land and sea is waning, the UN warned Tuesday.

In its annual report on Earth-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the UN agency said concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide all broke records in 2013."An alarm bell is ringing," Michel Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told reporters in Geneva.

"We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," Jarraud said.

"We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases across the board," he said in a statement, and warned: "we are running out of time."

Especially worrying, Jarraud said, was the sharp rise in CO2, by far the main culprit in global warming, to 396 parts per million in the atmosphere last year.

Smoke rises from chimneys of a factory in Haubourdin, northern France, on October 31, 2013 (AFP Phot …

That was 142 percent of levels prior to the year 1750, and marked a hike of 2.9 parts per million between 2012 and 2013 -- the largest annual increase in 30 years.

It was not clear why concentrations rose so sharply, but Jarraud suggested it could be due to a shift in the ability of oceans and the biosphere to absorb emissions.

- 'A worrying signal' -

Oceans swallow about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, while the biosphere sucks up another quarter, so any change "could potentially have big consequences," he warned.

"Clearly now we have a signal, ... a worrying signal," said Jarraud.

Cars line up in Beijing as heavy air pollution shrouds the city on February 26, 2014 (AFP Photo/Mark …

University of Reading meteorology professor William Collins said the WMO's suggestion that the biosphere may be removing less CO2 as the climate warms was credible, and implied a "future amplification of climate change".

"We can't expect to benefit from this natural removal for ever," he warned.

Tuesday's report came ahead of a September 23 summit called by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to try and build momentum ahead of the 2015 deadline for a historic climate deal to be signed in Paris, to take effect from 2020.

The UN is seeking to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, but scientists say that on current emission trends, temperatures could be double that by century's end.

"We have the knowledge and we have the tools for action to try to keep temperature increases within two degrees Celsius to give our planet a chance and to give our children and grandchildren a future," Jarraud said, insisting that "pleading ignorance can no longer be an excuse for not acting".

Scientists take samples of water from floating contraptions used to predict the acidity in the ocean …

Professor Dave Reay, chair in carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, reacted to the report with dismay.

"This is the litmus test when it comes to our efforts to reduce emissions and on this evidence we are failing," he said.

The findings are especially worrying since CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and in the oceans for even longer.

While the ocean's absorption of CO2 helps limit global warming, "the bad news is that it contributes to the acidification of the ocean," Jarraud said.

Increased acidity not only alters the ocean's ecosystem, but can also reduce its ability to absorb more CO2, he said.

Every day the world's oceans absorb some four kg (8.8 pounds) of CO2 per person, the WMO said, adding that ocean acidification levels were "unprecedented at least over the last 300 million years".

And things will only get worse, said Jarraud.

"Past, present and future CO2 emissions will have a cumulative impact on both global warming and ocean acidification," he said, adding that "the laws of physics are non-negotiable".

Florida wildlife regulators clamp down on invasive lionfish

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida wildlife regulators on Wednesday banned lionfish breeding as part of a struggle to control the invasive species that devours other fish and threatens coastal ecosystems.

The state prohibited the possession of lionfish eggs and larvae as well, after Florida last month became the first state in United States to outlaw importation of the barbed fish.

Bringing lionfish into Florida is now punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

"Every change that encourages removal is a step toward successfully limiting the negative impacts lionfish have on native fish and wildlife," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley in a statement.

Florida also has loosened fishing rules for recreational divers and fishing enthusiasts to catch lionfish and encouraged hobbyists and chefs to pull them out of the water and into the kitchen.

Scientists fear the voracious lionfish, which can grow to over a foot (30 cm) in length, will decimate other species in Florida waters. The lionfish has few known predators and can feed on anything from shrimp to other fish.

With zebra-like stripes of red, brown and cream, lionfish are native to the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Since their first sighting off Florida's Atlantic coast 25 years ago, the banded lionfish population has increased rapidly, wildlife experts say.

It is unknown how the first release into U.S. waters occurred, but the Florida wildlife commission said it was likely an aquarium release of some kind.

Popular aquarium fish, they have spread in the wild from Florida to North Carolina and to the Bahamas.

A lionfish database operated by the United States Geological Survey includes more than 4,000 sightings since 1985, although estimates of the total lionfish population are not available.

Alien-like giant water-living dinosaur unveiled

WASHINGTON (AP) — Picture the fearsome creatures of "Jurassic Park" crossed with the shark from "Jaws." Then super-size to the biggest predator ever to roam Earth. Now add a crocodile snout as big as a person and feet like a duck's.

This patchwork of critters, a 50-foot predator, is the only known dinosaur to live much of its life in the water.The result gives you some idea of a bizarre dinosaur scientists unveiled Thursday.

The beast, called Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, was already known to scientists from a long-ago fossil discovery, but most of those bones were destroyed in Germany during World War II. Now, 70 years later, a new skeleton found in Morocco reveals that the beast was far more aquatic than originally thought.

Spinosaurus had a long neck, strong clawed forearms, powerful jaws and the dense bones of a penguin. It propelled itself in water with flat feet that were probably webbed, according to a study released Thursday by the journal Science. The beast sported a spiny sail on its back that was 7 feet tall when it lived 95 million years ago.

"It's like working on an extraterrestrial or an alien," study lead author Nizar Ibrahim of the University of Chicago said, while standing in front of a room-sized reconstruction of the skeleton at the National Geographic Society, which helped fund the research.

University of Chicago Paleontologist Paul C. Sereno looks inside the jaws of a 50-foot life-size mod …

"It's so different than anything else around," he said.

Ibrahim described the creature as "so bizarre it's going to force dinosaur experts to rethink many things they thought they knew about dinosaurs."

Scientists had thought that all dinosaurs stuck to the land, with occasional brief trips into the water. But the new skeleton shows clear evidence of river and lake living: hip bones like a whale's, dense bones that allowed it to dive for food, and nostrils positioned high on the skull, allowing Spinosaurus to mostly submerge.

It could walk and would probably nest on land, but on land it moved more awkwardly than in water, said study co-author Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago. It lumbered on its two hind feet because its powerful forelegs with sharp curved claws were designed more for killing than walking, he said.

Sereno called it "an evolutionary experiment going into the water."

A 50-foot life-size model of a Spinosaurus dinosaur is displayed outside the entrance at the Nationa …

The new find is amazing and convincing, showing how wrong scientists have been about this dinosaur and about how diverse dinosaurs can be, said University of Maryland dinosaur expert Thomas Holtz Jr., who wasn't part of this study.

It's also a creature that once was lost to history and war. German paleontologist Ernst Stromer first discovered Spinosaurus bones in Egypt in 1912. The bones went back to Europe, but in 1944, most were destroyed in the bombing of Munich in World War II. Spinosaurus was lost.

But in 2008, Ibrahim was in Morocco on a quest for Spinosaurus. It wasn't going well. He had heard of a local dealer who might know where some bones were, but couldn't find him. Ibrahim had given up hope and was contemplating returning home while sitting in a cafe. He looked up and spotted the dealer walking by.

They went to a Moroccan dig site and found a mostly complete set of bones.

Spinosaurus, which grew some 9 feet longer than Tyrannosaurus rex, feasted on aquatic creatures the size of cars in an area that was history's "most dangerous place," Ibrahim said. Three giant predators nearly the size of a T. rex roamed on land. Even the sky had giant predators. And in the water 25-foot sharks, giant sawfish and six or seven types of ancient nasty crocodiles lurked.

Sereno noted that a Spinosaurus did fight a T. rex in the movie "Jurassic Park III," but it was a land battle and based on the old conception of the dinosaur. In reality, the two didn't live on the same continent or in the same time period.

In the movie, the Spinosaurus won. And Sereno said if the two species had fought in the water, Spinosaurus would have won easily.

Good-Bye, Everglades? How Tiny Beetles Are Destroying Florida’s Precious Wetlands

Florida’s flora and fauna can’t seem to get a break. They’re getting hit with another piece of bad news just weeks after a tract of endangered forestland was sold to a property developer. This time, instead of Walmart and 88 acres of rockland, a fungus transmitted by the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle is overrunning the Everglades. So far, experts haven’t come up with a way to contain it.

The insect from southeast Asia carries a fungus that causes laurel wilt, a disease deadly to trees. It has decimated swamp bay trees across 330,000 acres in the Everglades since the condition was first identified in 2011, and it shows no signs of stopping. According to The Associated Press, the redbay ambrosia beetle likely entered the United States through a shipment of wood packaging.

The blight threatens to lay waste to the billion-dollar projects aimed at restoring the region. From a bird’s eye view and even from the highway that cuts through the fragile wetlands, one can easily make out the dried-up gray and brown trees, reports the news agency.

The future looks even grimmer. Exotic plants that may overrun the Everglades as a result of the devastation of swamp bays can fuel fires. Also, they’re not a source of food for native wildlife. The plants’ roots can damage the homes of endangered species in the area. According to the National Research Council, about 16 percent of the Everglades’ greenery isn’t native.

“We already have these problems with invasives that are almost too daunting. When you add laurel wilt to the mix, it’s only going to get worse,” Everglades National Park chief of biology Tylan Dean told the AP.

The South Florida Water Management District, the agency managing the restoration of the Everglades, has promised to ramp up efforts to monitor and maintain the swamp bay trees.

“It’s amazing how much of an impact this one little tiny beetle that’s no bigger than Lincoln’s nose on a penny has done,” Jason Smith, a forest pathology expert at the University of Florida, told the AP. “And it continues to spread.”

This summer he plans to gather samples of the surviving trees, hoping to propagate fungus-resistant seedlings to keep their population alive.

Earth Is On The Cusp Of A Sixth Mass Extinction

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Approximately 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs went extinct,  75% of the planet's many species went with them. It was the world's fifth, and most recent, mass extinction event. 

Now, according to a July 25 review in the journal Science, the Earth seems to be at the cusp of a sixth mass extinction. Only this time, an asteroid is not to blame. We are.

"Human impacts on animal biodiversity are an under-recognized form of global environmental change," the team of ecologists and biologists warn in Science. "Among terrestrial vertebrates, 322 species have become extinct since 1500, and populations of the remaining species show 25% average decline in abundance." 

A third of all vertebrates, the scientists write, "are threatened or endangered."

There are several long-time drivers of what researchers call "defaunation" — the decline of various animal species. The study points to " overexploitation,  habitat destruction, and impacts from invasive  species" as continuing threats, but notes that soon, human-caused climate change will be the number one driver of defaunation. Diseases that come from pathogens introduced by humans are another growing threat.

The good news? We're not yet totally doomed. 

As David Biello writes in Scientific American:

To avoid the sixth mass extinction we will probably have to employ more aggressive conservation, such as  moving species to help them cope with a changing climate . Think re-wilding: reintroducing species like wolves or beavers that were once present in a given ecosystem but have since disappeared. Aggressive conservation might also mean killing off newcomer species to preserve or make room for local flora and fauna.

As another study in Science notes, we've already made headway in saving some animals from what seemed like certain ruin.

But if humans as a species don't want to take our chances with a sixth mass extinction, we need to start taking drastic measures now. The momentum is already moving against us.

Giant Ancient Sea Scorpions Had Bad Eyesight

By By Tanya Lewis, Staff WriterJuly 8, 2014 10:44 PM

Sam Ciurca, who collected the sea scorpion specimens,
with a life size model of one called Acutiramus.

Gigantic sea scorpions that lurked in the ocean more than 400 million years ago weren't as scary as they sound, a new study suggests.

The massive creatures, known as pterygotids, were the largest arthropods that ever lived, growing to be up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) long, with claws measuring up to about 2 feet (0.6 m). But contrary to what scientists thought, these animals may not have been true top predators.

"These things were almost certainly still predators of some kind, but the imagined notion that they were swimming around terrorizing anything that looked edible is probably an exaggeration," said Derek Briggs, a paleontologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and co-author of the new study, published today (July 8) in the journal Biology Letters.

Pterygotids were a type of eurypterid, an extinct type of sea scorpion related to arachnids. These ocean-dwelling creatures lived between about 436 million to 402 million years ago, in the Silurian and Devonian periods, Briggs said. Their closest living relatives are horseshoe crabs or modern sea scorpions, he said.

Previously, these spooky sea monsters were thought to be fearsome predators, devouring armored fishes and giant cephalopods (related to modern squids and nautiluses). Their compound eyes and large claws seemed to suggest as much.

But more recently, a study revealed that pterygotid claws wouldn't have been strong enough to break into armored fish or cephalopod shells.

A pterygotid fossil

In the recent study, Briggs and his team set out to examine the eyes of these ancient sea scorpions, to determine whether they had good enough vision to be great hunters.

Some of the lenses in the creatures' eyes were big enough for researchers to see them without any help from technology, but others had to be viewed under an electron microscope. The team estimated the angle between the lenses and the size of the lenses, comparing them with the eyes of a smaller eurypterid relative and of modern arthropods.

Briggs and his team concluded that the giant arthropods actually had poor eyesight. They probably lived near the bottom of the sea and likely hunted soft-bodied animals in dark waters or at night, Briggs said. But the fossil evidence limits these interpretations, so it's hard to know for sure how the animals behaved, he added.

After about 35 million years, pterygotids died out, and "it's a good thing they did," Brigg said. "They wouldn't be good company."