In a new study in PNAS, a research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, shows that both catnip and pea aphids produce the substance nepetalactone, even though the plant and the insect evolved ...
Ants and host plants often form mutualistic relationships. Host plants can provide ants with food directly or indirectly. In return, ants can protect plants from herbivore damage and may participate in pollination and seed ...
The koala was clinging to an old tree stag while stranded in the Murray River, on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. A team of students from La Trobe University noticed its predicament as they were paddling ...
Insects that are adapted to perennially wet environments, like tropical rainforests, don't tend to do well when their surroundings dry out. New research published this Wednesday indicates they may be equally averse to heavy ...
Insects are known to rely on microbial protection during immobile developmental stages, such as eggs. But despite the susceptibility of pupae to antagonistic challenges, the role of microbes in ensuring defense during an ...
Cacao has long been a sought-after raw material for the worlds food industry. At first glance, it therefore seems surprising that biology knows little about the pollination of the cacao tree—although it is precisely this ...
Neonicotinoids and other systemic insecticides can contaminate honeydew, which is an important food source for beneficial insects in agroecosystems, according to an international team of researchers.
One afternoon, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Panama, a bored teenager with a slingshot and a clay ball accidentally shot entry and exit holes in a Cecropia tree trunk. These are "ant-plant" trees, which ...
Invasive ant species can be found in almost every ecosystem on earth, but the impact these invaders may have on plant health has only recently been investigated by scientists. A new study published in Journal of Ecology is ...
Ants are among the most diverse and abundant insects on the planet. Both native and invasive ants are capable of forming mutualisms with hemipteran insects, preying on non-hemipteran herbivores and indirectly affecting primary ...
