Insects exhibit evidence of a daily body clock for humidity

In a novel experiment at the University of Cincinnati, researchers recently isolated kissing bugs, fruit flies, mosquitoes and spider beetles in a climate- and light-controlled environment and found that they responded predictably to cycles of humidity in the same way they do to temperature and daylight. After the humidity cue was removed, the insects continued to respond to the cyclical fluctuations of humidity and dryness established in the experiment. The study is published in the journal npj Biological Timing and Sleep.