Animals

A small parasitic fly listens to the mating song of the Pacific field cricket to track the insects down. As these crickets have evolved different songs to escape the fly, it seems the fly has been able to adapt. The Conversation talked to University of Denver behavioral ecologist Robin Tinghitella about her research.

Workers on Guam who have kept the invasive brown tree snake out of Hawaiʻi were recently spared from losing their jobs in a federal cut — but are now being forced from the facilities where they work.

Karl Magnacca is a survey entomologist with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife at the Department of Land and Natural Resources. He spoke with The Conversation about the discovery, and what being a professional bug hunter is really like.

Hawaiian crows are extinct in the wild and are found nowhere else on Earth. Now, a small group, safeguarded in captivity, has been released in the forests of Maui.

Should Hawaiʻi ban octopus farming? The practice is already almost nonexistent around the world, and a facility in the Canary Islands is one of the few with actual plans to raise them for food. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

Trying to buy eggs but finding store shelves empty? You’re not the only one scrambling to find eggs. Amid a national egg shortage, small farmers in Maui County say they can’t keep up with the recent local demand. HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol has more.

There's breaking news in the whale world. Scientists discovered that humpback whale songs and human speech have striking similarities. The Conversation spoke to Ellen Garland, a whale biologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, about what this new discovery means for whales and people.

Hawaiʻi is considered the epicenter of rat lungworm disease, which is spread when people accidentally consume snails and slugs that have eaten infected rat droppings. The Conversation talked to ecologist Randi Rollins about her work on how rat lungworm disease spreads between rodents, snails and humans.

Over 400 volunteers for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the Pacific Whale Foundation scanned the ocean — many with binoculars — to spot the breaching creatures.

The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help. The organization is currently housing 578 animals.