Researchers have observed black imported fire ants using sand to draw liquid food out of containers, when faced with the risk of drowning. This is the first time this sophisticated tool use has been reported in animals. These ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2020
1
1081
Newly mated queens of the red fire ant select nest sites with a relatively low pathogen risk by detecting odors produced by soil bacteria that inhibit the growth of ant-infecting fungi, according to a study published September ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2020
0
132
Researchers from McGill University have revealed the steps by which two very distinct organisms—bacteria and carpenter ants—have come to depend on one another for survival to become a single complex life form. The study, ...
Evolution
Sep 2, 2020
0
1628
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have found that harmful mutations accumulating in the fire ant social chromosome are causing its breakdown.
Plants & Animals
Aug 25, 2020
0
135
A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has found that some Indian jumping ant workers can transition to a queen-like state if their queen dies. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the ...
In findings published Aug. 6 in the journal Current Biology, researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Rennes in France have unveiled a stunning 99-million-year-old ...
Archaeology
Aug 6, 2020
0
756
For millions of years, remote islands have been hotbeds of biodiversity, where unique species have flourished. Scientists have proposed different theories to explain how animals and plants colonize and evolve on islands but ...
Evolution
Jul 30, 2020
0
4
Researchers use a variety of modelling approaches to study form and function. By using a basic biomechanical model for studying body form and center of mass stability in ants, new research identifies the benefits of "simple ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2020
0
6
The spectacular leaps of gazelles, group living in deer and monkeys, and fast flight in many insects are all linked by a common phenomenon—predation. In its various forms, predation has driven the evolution of a plethora ...
Evolution
Jul 7, 2020
0
39
This week, scientists of the Institute of Bee Health of the University of Bern have published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology, which shows how even low doses of neonicotinoid insecticides, as ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 1, 2020
0
24
