Protostomes

Off the rocky coast of southeastern Italy, two scuba divers from the financial crimes police bob in and out of the blue waters, under the curious gaze of vacationers.

They're seeking neither buried treasure nor smuggled contraband, but evidence of the hunt for date mussels, a forbidden mollusk turned status symbol whose poaching is indelibly destroying Italy's coastlines.

The world has lost more than one-quarter of its land-dwelling insects in the past 30 years, according to researchers whose big picture study of global bug decline paints a disturbing but more nuanced problem than earlier research.

Due to the increased population of caterpillars, Vidin Municipality has taken measures for massive treatment against second-generation white American butterfly. On August 12, more than 900 trees were decontaminated in the most affected areas of the city.