Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 7h

One group of bee-harming systemic insecticides are the neonicotinoids: "mixtures of neonicotinoids are also found in the pollen and nectar of wildflowers growing in arable field margins, at concentrations that are sometimes even higher than those found in the crop."

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Neonicotinoid Residues in Wildflowers, a Potential Route of Chronic Exposure for Bees

In recent years, an intense debate about the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoids, a group of widely used, neurotoxic insecticides, has been joined. When these systemic compounds are applied to...

pubs.acs.org

Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 7h

Plants in the milkweed family are frequently selected for field margin strips. But systemic insecticide contaminated plants can have adverse effects on migrating monarchs.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Milkweed in agricultural field margins - A neonicotinoid exposure route for pollinators at multiple life stages

Neonicotinoid insecticides move from targeted crops to wildflowers located in adjacent field margins, acting as a potential exposure source for wild p…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 7h

Systemic insecticides contaminate leaves, flowers, pollen, nectar, guttation drops of nearby plants. Repeated exposures kill insects (including beneficial pollinators and predators) and reduce local beneficial insect populations
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Contamination of wild plants near neonicotinoid seed-treated crops, and implications for non-target insects

Neonicotinoid insecticides are commonly-used as seed treatments on flowering crops such as oilseed rape. Their persistence and solubility in water inc…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 7h

Jim, with conventional corn production in the US, more than 90% (past estimates >95%) of corn fields will make those field-side borders death traps for pollinating insects. Systemic insecticides like neonicotinoids move outward from fields and contaminate plants nearby. 1/n

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 8h

Congratulations Juan!

Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 8h

Very cool!

Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 8h

This is such great work! Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn

Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 3d

A little break from reality: a delightful insect procession by Nishiyama Kan'ei (Japan, Edo period). Check out the original for more delightful details www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

Detail of the the front of the painting. Katydids, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and crickets are playing instruments and dancing, while mantids and other insects are carrying flowers

The full painting; katydids, mantids, and more lead the procession. In the middle is grasshoppers carrying a box, and in the rear are wasps offering up a comb of brood. Many are carrying flowers and dancing

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 3d

I love this!

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 4d

Very exciting!

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 4d

Great resource! Thank you.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 5d

If it's eating plant roots, probably a vole. Moles are carnivores.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 6d

The report is an international collaboration of experts. It updates the 2019 Planetary Health Diet with the additional information about the human health benefits of the diet: www.thelancet.com/commissions-...

The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems presents new evidence-based insights on nutrition and human health, within safe and just planetary boundaries. New to this...

www.thelancet.com

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 6d

Today, the Lancet published an updated, evidence-based model diet designed to maximize human health and minimize environmental damage in a developing world.

The Guardian piece is linked here: tinyurl.com/mrs9tfcx the referenced study (restricted access) is linked in the first comment.
🧪 🌍🌱

‘Planetary health diet’ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds

Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countries

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn

Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 7d

Farewell to Jane Goodall 🌿 A pioneering scientist whose groundbreaking work with primates transformed how we understand ourselves. She showed how research and advocacy can unite, inspiring generations.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”

www.nytimes.com

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 9d

So essential to sea life. They act as general supportive habitats, nurseries, and grazing resources.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn

Luke Diaz @lukediaz.bsky.social · 10d

Bee on a New England Aster. Love planting asters because of their late blooms. #NativePlants #Pollinators

A bee is on a purple-punk New England Aster. There is a slightly blurred New England Aster in the background.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 10d

Yes, residential pesticide use is common.

Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 10d

Yes, people may not be aware that pesticides are not specific to pests. They can have wide-ranging, but poorly understood effects on beneficial organisms.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 11d

Are urban areas pesticide-free oases for pollinators?

A recent study of two Western US cities reveals concerning concentrations of pesticides on larval host plants known to support butterflies.

🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝

academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...?

Pesticides detected in two urban areas have implications for local butterfly conservation

Abstract. Human-managed green spaces in urban landscapes have become important focal points for insect conservation, partly because of the desirable insect

academic.oup.com

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 17d

Normal bee fluff/floof. (Potayto/potahto) 😄. That's one of the reasons why bees are such efficient pollinators. The floof passively collects pollen and they carry it among flowers.

Bee covered in pollen as it leaves while petaled flower. Photo: Brocken Inaglory, GNU Free Documentation License

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 18d

I planted some butternuts in NC. They grow super fast compared to Carya spp. and Juglans nigra. Here's hoping you get a vigorous grove!

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 21d

Great story. I am appreciative of the complexity of thoughts, beliefs, and actions recounted as Kris looked back upon her career at 3M.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 24d

Nice shot! We have pileateds in the area, we have Magnolia grandiflora, but I've never seen them together. 😍 I'll keep watch.

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Elizabeth Hilborn @elizabee.bsky.social · 24d

Glorious!

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