News tagged with ant species

Carnivorous plants rely on the services and wastes of a symbiotic ant for nutrition

In a mutualistic relationship between an ant species and a carnivorous plant, the ants contribute to both prey capture and prey digestion of their host-plant and provide significant amounts of nutrients derived from their ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Ant identification boosts blue butterflies

Scientists have developed a fast, cheap and reliable technique that vastly improves the chances of successfully reintroducing the endangered large blue butterfly to the UK.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Supersoldier ants created in the lab by reactivating ancestral genes

(PhysOrg.com) -- There are over 1100 species of Pheidole genus ants, and most individual ants belong to either the worker or soldier caste. In only eight of the Pheidole species, some individuals can belong ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 06, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (23) | comments 21 | with audio podcast report

Populations of invasive ants die out naturally, saving millions in control and eradication

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research shows populations of an invasive species of ants frequently collapse without human involvement, potentially saving millions of dollars on control and eradication.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Leaf litter ants advance case for rainforest conservation in Borneo

Studies of ant populations in Borneo reveal an unexpected resilience to areas of rainforest degraded by repeated intensive logging, a finding which conservationists hope will lead governments to conserve these ...

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 20, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Death from above: Parasite wasps attacking ants from the air filmed for the first time

Flight attacks of small parasitoid wasps (no larger than 2.0 mm in size) on ant workers have been filmed by José María Gómez Durán from Madrid. The four species of wasps show amazing adaptations ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 29, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

New research shows ants able to discern difference between threat levels

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an interesting study designed to determine how well ants are able to gauge a threat, Inon Scharf and his colleagues at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, have shown that even ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Ladybirds - wolves in sheep's clothing

(PhysOrg.com) -- CSIRO research has revealed that the tremendous diversity of ladybird beetle species is linked to their ability to produce larvae which, with impunity, poach members of 'herds' of tiny, soft-bodied ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 24, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

How ants tame the wilderness: Rainforest species use chemicals to identify which plants to prune

Survival in the depths of the tropical rainforest not only depends on a species' ability to defend itself, but can be reliant on the type of cooperation researchers discovered between ants and tropical trees. ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New parasitic fungi found that turn ants into zombies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from the US and UK have discovered four new species of parasitic fungi in the Brazilian rainforests. The fungi attack four distinct species of ants and release mind-altering chemicals ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 04, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 28 | with audio podcast report

4 new species of Zombie ant fungi discovered in Brazilian rainforest

Four new Brazilian species in the genus Ophiocordyceps have been published in the online journal PLoS ONE. The fungi, named by Dr. Harry Evans and Dr. David Hughes, belong to a group of "zombifying" fungi that infect ants a ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 02, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 3

Leafcutter ant genome reveals secrets of fungus farming ways

Leafcutter ants, signature denizens of New World tropical forests, are unique in their ability to harvest fresh leaves to cultivate a nutrient-rich fungus as food.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

New red imported fire ant enemies in place for combat

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are releasing the fifth species of phorid fly to control fire ant populations. Red imported fire ants first arrived in the United States in the early 1930s ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3

'Bigfoot of ants' found (again)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stop the presses: Bigfoot was spotted in Cary! It's probably not the Bigfoot you know, that 8-foot-tall beast also known as Sasquatch. Instead, it's the Bigfoot of ants, a species of ant so ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 14, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

The Joy of sets: For ants and trees, multiple partners are a boon

In the complex world of ant-plant partnerships, serial monogamy can help trees maximize their evolutionary fitness, a new University of Florida study shows.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 21, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast