Dung beetles, those unsung heroes of the insect world renowned for their prowess in breaking down cattle dung, have now been found to have a positive impact on plant growth.
Plants & Animals
Mar 20, 2024
0
1
Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, researchers said Wednesday.
Agriculture
Mar 6, 2024
1
1700
Snakeflies (Raphidioptera), also known as camel-neck flies, have gained further notoriety with the selection of the Black-necked Snakefly as Insect of the Year 2022 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. These diurnal, predatory ...
Evolution
Feb 8, 2024
0
176
A small team of biologists and animal scientists from Lund University in Sweden, working with a colleague from the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, has discovered that pairs of opposite-gender dung beetles ...
Life on Earth runs on a 24-hour cycle as the planet turns. Animals and plants have built-in circadian clocks that synchronize metabolism and behavior to this daily cycle. But one beetle is out of sync with the rest of nature.
Plants & Animals
Jan 18, 2024
0
78
Waste is a natural by-product of life on Earth and of productive human economies. Living systems have evolved to reconstitute waste—creatures like dung beetles fill an ecological niche of breaking down other organisms' ...
Environment
Jan 18, 2024
1
13
Leiden biologists have found a mutation in flour beetles that allows them to speed up their development. They think that more insects can change their growth rate, which could help them adjust to climate change. The study ...
Evolution
Nov 14, 2023
0
1
One hundred million years ago, as iguanodons and triceratops fled from hungry tyrannosaurs, another biological drama played out on the ground where the giant reptiles trod: Male beetles using their supersized antennae in ...
Evolution
Aug 10, 2023
0
311
As the planet continues to warm due to global climate change, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, is rising. Heat waves are not just uncomfortable for humans; they also pose significant ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 6, 2023
0
3
When combined with iridescent coloration, a matte target surface appearance confers greater survival benefits in beetles than a glossy surface, scientists at the University of Bristol have found.
Plants & Animals
Jun 23, 2023
0
64
