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News tagged with wasps

Fruit flies use alcohol as a drug to kill parasites

Fruit flies infected with a blood-borne parasite consume alcohol to self-medicate, a behavior that greatly increases their survival rate, an Emory University study finds.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Entomologists discover first instance of intact neurons without nucleus - in fairy wasps

Fairy wasps are really tiny; so tiny, they can barely be seen with the naked eye. They’re so tiny that they’re the smallest organism when shown on a slide alongside an amoeba and a Paramecium. And because of this, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

This beetle uses eggs as shields against wasps

(PhysOrg.com) -- New University of Arizona research has discovered that seed beetles from the desert Southwest shelter their broods from attacking parasitic wasps under a stack of dummy eggs.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Beewolves protect their offspring with antibiotics

Digger wasps of the genus Philanthus, so-called beewolves, house beneficial bacteria on their cocoons that guarantee protection against harmful microorganisms. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Ch ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Feb 28, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Social wasps show how bigger brains provide complex cognition

Across many groups of animals, species with bigger brains often have better cognitive abilities. But it's been unclear whether overall brain size or the size of specific brain areas is the key.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 11, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Not all altruism is alike, says new study

(Phys.org) -- Not all acts of altruism are alike, says a new study. From bees and wasps that die defending their nests, to elephants that cooperate to care for young, a new mathematical model pinpoints the environmental conditions ...

Biology / Evolution

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Ant has given up sex completely, researchers say

The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (16) | comments 7

Found: The planet that shouldn't exist (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The 'most unlikely' discovery of a new planet which could spiral into its star within the next 500,000 years, has been made by Scottish astronomers.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (19) | comments 21

Tiny wasp may hold key to controlling kudzu bug

University of Georgia researcher John Ruberson is looking for natural enemies of the kudzu bug in an effort to fight the pest's spread across the Southern states. A tiny Asian wasp may be the best option.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists find a key to growth differences between species

The tiny, little-noticed jewel wasp may provide some answers as to how different species differ in size and shape. And that could lead to a better understanding of cell growth regulation, as well as the underlying ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study shows insect mimic abilities related to size

(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of Canadian researchers who found themselves wondering why some plants or animals are good mimics while others are not, has undertaken a study on the matter and believe they have found ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Wasp rediscovered after almost 100 years

Two entomologists in search of one insect have discovered two others: a tiny wasp that hadn't been seen in North America in nearly 100 years, and one that has never been recorded here.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Parasitic wasps' genomes provides new insights into pest control, genetics (w/ Video)

Parasitic wasps kill pest insects, but their existence is largely unknown to the public. Now, scientists led by John H. Werren, professor of biology at the University of Rochester, and Stephen Richards at ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 14, 2010 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Climate change downsizing fauna, flora: study

Climate change is reducing the body size of many animal and plant species, including some which supply vital nutrition for more than a billion people already living near hunger's threshold, according to a ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 16, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (18) | comments 21

Mortal combat is the rational choice for wasps

(PhysOrg.com) -- Males of an unusual group of wasps fight to the death over females, even if they've already mated or are competing with their own brothers, a new study shows. The behaviour was seen in parasitoid ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Wasp

Apocrita See text for explanation.

A wasp is a predatory, flying, stinging insect, with a stinger and membranous forewings and hindwings. It is related to ants and bees, with all of them being members of order Hymenoptera, but is separated from ants and bees by having a stinger and no hair; bees have hair. A rough definition of the term wasp is any member of the aculeate family Vespidae. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their numbers, or natural biocontrol. Parasitic wasps are increasingly used in agricultural pest control as they prey mostly on pest insects and have little impact on crops.

For more information about Wasp, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: larvae , insects , ants