Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae within the order Hymenoptera, which also includes bees and wasps. They are characterized by a distinct petiole forming a narrow waist between the mesosoma and gaster, elbowed antennae, and caste differentiation into reproductive queens and males and typically wingless sterile workers. Ants exhibit complex colony organization with division of labor, cooperative brood care, and sophisticated chemical communication via pheromones. Their ecological roles include soil modification, seed dispersal, predation, mutualisms (e.g., with aphids and plants), and scavenging, making them key model organisms in studies of social evolution, chemical ecology, and community dynamics.
Every spring, Canadian beekeepers await the arrival of queen bees crucial to their industry. The queens that populate Canadian bee colonies through the season largely do not come from Canada at all.
Plants & Animals
Mar 29, 2026
0
99
Wild bumblebees serve as key hosts for acute bee paralysis virus. While the virus appears to cause little harm to bumblebees, infection is usually fatal to honeybees. Until now, it was assumed that honeybees were the key ...
Ecology
Mar 24, 2026
0
417
Each year, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is responsible for an estimated 1.1 to 1.4 million deaths worldwide. Now, scientists have found evidence that the spread of AMR isn't always driven by bacteria evolving to resist ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 24, 2026
1
1688
In recent years, scientists have carefully deciphered details of the honey bee "waggle dance," which is an advanced form of social communication in the animal kingdom. University of California San Diego biologists and their ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
0
11
Biological invasions are a major driver of biodiversity loss and invasive pollinators can reshape native plant-pollinator networks. A new study published in the journal NeoBiota reveals that invasive pollinators are fundamentally ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 23, 2026
0
120
If you were a bee, how would you choose a flower to land on? You might go to the most beautiful one, as pollination biologists have long suggested that flowers with striking colors attract pollinators more easily. Or perhaps, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2026
0
24
A man-made food source provided honey bees a nutritious diet at a commercial scale over the course of two winter seasons, according to a new study led by Washington State University researchers. The study, published in the ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
0
345
Many of the most damaging invasions do not simply subtract species; they fundamentally remodel the environment, altering habitats, rewiring interactions, and shifting processes in ways that species lists alone cannot reveal.
Ecology
Mar 12, 2026
0
11
170 species of wild bees live on the Hubland Campus of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU). This is the result of a study carried out by the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the JMU Biocentre from ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 9, 2026
0
15
When it comes to research on habitats for pollinating insects, villages have so far received relatively little attention. The project Summende Dörfer (Buzzing Villages), based at the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 6, 2026
0
30
