Shifting seasons and hotter temperatures could allow Alaska farmers to grow more abundant and diverse produce. But climate change can also bring drought, pests and permafrost thaw.  Human-caused climate change is bringing longer and warmer growing seasons, but also pests and unstable weather.

Viruses have now been found in mosquitoes or in animals around the state, prompting health officials to warn Maine residents to protect against mosquito bites. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported positive tests for eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, in several emu flocks and multiple horses. Also, a horse tested positive for West Nile Virus in York County.

Scientists with the U.S. Forest Service believe that the blackheaded budworm, whose numbers surged over the past three years, is now in decline.

The spectacle of "hundreds" of dying or dead bees along the River Ness earlier this week led to a discussion on social media.

Foam or saliva-looking substance on seen on flowering plants like fireweed and yarrow.

The last confirmed instance of local transmission happened in 2003, when eight people became infected in Palm Beach County, Fla., the CDC said.

Tribal member from St. Mary's, Alaska noticed this on her when she went back inside her home. Turns out it is an elm sawfly, Cimbex americana.

On our camping trip to Moab we saw these nests everywhere.

An unseasonable winter insect sighting in Newhalen.

Nearly half of Canada's honeybee colonies didn't survive the winter, the largest rate of colony loss in the country in the last 20 years, according to preliminary data. The president of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists calls the finding "pretty disturbing."

Norwegian fruit farmers are seeking compensation for poor harvests due to extreme weather conditions, with over 1,000 farmers applying for compensation this year, compared to under 500 last year, as cold weather destroyed crops in the west and north, while drought hit the east and inland areas.

Black insect never seen by a Yupiit of Andreafski Tribal member at his home in St. Mary's.

For property owners, the beetles present a vexing scenario, as some scramble to keep their trees alive while others mourn the loss and embark on the oftentimes costly removal process.

The ubiquitous midge is almost completely absent from Mývatn, the pointedly named ‘Midge Lake,’ this year. Árni says this happens every seven to nine years—it’s now been about eight since the last time the midge population collapsed. As a result, the bird population will be much smaller for the next two to three years.

Last summer’s unusually warm weather fueled an explosion in the western blackheaded budworm, leaving masses of browning trees in many areas of Southeast. The worm, which is the larval stage of the budworm moth, is known to feed on the new growth of trees, leaving them with a brownish-red appearance.

A resident of Seldovia reported an infestation of worms infesting an area of salmonberry brush and nettle.

This eye catching insect is the adult stonefly.

I saw an extreme amount of spittle bugs not only on grasses and plants but on flowers.

Our Mosquito Magnet trap filled in under a week. We normally empty it once a month or so.

The spraying 20 years ago was effective in reducing the infestation to a manageable level and seemed to do so for quite a while. That is, until now. Merrill Brady told me last week that he is inundated with tent caterpillars this year. His property is down by the greenbelt lots and the caterpillars are stripping the 60-foot cottonwoods and all other vegetation of all of their leaves.