A kiss has such romantic appeal, yet some kisses just end in heartbreak. A smooch from the Rhodnius prolixus, or the blood-sucking “kissing bug,” could be characterized more like the kiss of death — the insect is a primary vector for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that kills more than 10,000 people annually around the globe. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, victims with chronic cases of Chagas can suffer from life-threatening heart or digestive malfunctions.

Eleven grants totaling $1.5 million were awarded in November 2021 to recipients of the third round of Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants. Overall the awards went to faculty from 13 UGA departments, centers, programs, schools and colleges.

Recently, a church trustee in Bartow County brought samples of “holey” mail to the local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office for closer examination. Strangely, mail deposited in the church’s mailbox was showing up with holes chewed through the outer layer of the envelopes, but the mail inside was intact — a small miracle in itself.

Pollinator conservation does not stop when the weather turns cool. There are a few items you can add to your pollinator to-do list for the fall and early winter to help pollinators next spring.

Most people try to swat them away, but Jena Johnson welcomes the beauty in the wings of a mosquito. Johnson, a lab manager in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ entomology department, fell in love with the study of insects during her junior year of college at Nicholls State University.

As of Sept. 21, an invasive and dangerous pest, the Asian longhorned tick, has been confirmed in north Georgia. Experts are warning livestock producers and the public to be on the lookout, as the ticks can kill an animal by attaching to a host by the hundreds.