"On a recent afternoon, deep in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and less than an hour’s drive from Shenandoah National Park, a tricolored bat was moving its mouth rapidly, as if it was trying to chew something. In fact, it was echolocating, using its mouth to shape and direct pulses of ultrasonic sound as a way to survey its surroundings."
"The amazing monarch butterfly is as beautiful as it is mysterious. Every year, monarchs take part in an epic relay, with each generation playing a different but vital role."
"Monarch butterflies that hatch in the spring and early summer live fast and die young at only two to six weeks. But those that emerge in late summer can survive six to nine months. That’s long enough to migrate thousands of miles south for the winter and start the return north the following spring to breed."
"Josh Courville has harvested crawfish his whole life, but these days, he’s finding a less welcome catch in some of the fields he manages in southern Louisiana. Snails. Big ones."
"Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere."
"For the first time, scientists are tracking the migration of monarch butterflies across much of North America, actively monitoring individual insects on journeys from as far away as Ontario all the way to their overwintering colonies in central Mexico."
"Bats love to munch on insects like stink bugs and moths. Some farmers are now relying on the mammals for pest control – and ditching chemicals."
"This week, Iceland recorded the presence of the insects within its borders for the first time in the Nordic nation's history."
"Nations are not spending enough to ensure that the forests that cover nearly a third of the planet remain healthy, according to a new United Nations report. To meet various international climate, biodiversity and land restoration goals, annual global spending needs to triple to $300 billion by 2030, the report found."
"The women of Holy Wisdom Monastery have restored 170 acres of native prairie and oak savanna. “Humans need creation to find ourselves,” one said."
