Turtle ant soldiers look like real-life creatures straight out of a Japanese anime film. These tree-dwelling insects scuttle to and fro sporting shiny, adorably oversized heads, which they use to block the entrances of their ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 9, 2020
4
2433
Tawny crazy ants' pattern of genetic inheritance may have helped the South American species spread in the U.S., Texas A&M AgriLife researchers have discovered. The results could lead to a new way to control this invasive ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 25, 2019
0
73
Partnerships between ant and plant species appear to arise from—but not drive—rapid diversification of ants into new species. Katrina Kaur of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in ...
Evolution
Oct 3, 2019
0
99
Relationships are complex, and species living in Amazonian rainforests are no exception.
Ecology
Aug 19, 2019
0
104
Humans began cultivating crops about 12,000 years ago. Ants have been at it rather longer. Leafcutter ants, the best-known insect farmers, belong to a lineage of insects that have been running fungus farms based on chopped-up ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 24, 2019
0
2
Having ancestors who were frequently exposed to stressors can improve one's own immune response to stressors, according to Penn State researchers. The results suggest that family history should be considered to predict or ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 21, 2019
0
123
Some lizards in the eastern U.S. have adapted to invasive fire ants—which can bite, sting, and kill lizards—reversing geographical trends in behavioral and physical traits used to avoid predators. A new study describing ...
Evolution
Nov 29, 2018
0
26
"Add 'skull-collecting ant' to the list of strange creatures in Florida," says Adrian Smith a scientist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University. His new research describes the ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 16, 2018
0
688
One of the great puzzles of evolutionary biology is what induced certain living creatures to abandon solitary existence in favor of living in collaborative societies, as seen in the case of ants and other social, colony-forming ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2018
0
159
A team of researchers from Switzerland, France and New Zealand has found evidence suggesting that the bridgehead effect is a major driver for invasive species infections. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National ...
