Millions of army ants occasionally stream out of their nest in a coordinated hunting swarm, seeking prey to devour. How this extraordinary mass raiding behavior evolved has long been a mystery, until now.
Plants & Animals
Aug 3, 2021
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8
Bacteria-infected nematodes may provide biological control of invasive European fire ants found in Maine, according to a University of Maine-led study.
Plants & Animals
Jul 28, 2021
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74
A team of researchers at the University of Colorado has found that fire ants can create 'appendages' on the rafts they make out of their own bodies when they find themselves in water. In their paper published in the Journal ...
An invasive species known as the yellow crazy ant has been eradicated from a remote U.S. atoll in the Pacific.
Ecology
Jun 24, 2021
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5
Leaf-cutter ants tend gardens of fungi that efficiently deconstruct plant biomass. This process converts lipids in the leaves into lipids the ants can use. Lipids in these gardens are an energy source, a component of cells, ...
Evolution
Jun 23, 2021
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4
Oregon State University research has identified the oldest known specimen of a fungus parasitizing an ant, and the fossil also represents a new fungal genus and species.
Ecology
Jun 22, 2021
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27
The colonies of social insects are complex systems that are entirely self-organized. Scientists who looked at the demographic, genetic and morphological structure of ant colonies were able to show how this self-organization ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 18, 2021
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19
Army ants form some of the largest insect societies on the planet. They are quite famous in popular culture, most notably from a terrifying scene in Indiana Jones. But they are also ecologically important. They live in very ...
Plants & Animals
May 26, 2021
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681
A team of researchers has found that a western European ant lives much longer if it is infected with tapeworms. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes their study of the ants ...
A team of researchers at Canada's Simon Fraser University has found that several species of spiders avoid areas where fire ants have recently congregated. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, ...
