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.
Researchers from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of California, Davis, are helping beekeepers protect their colonies from destructive varroa mites. In a new study, the researchers investigate ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 19, 2026
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To stay in the air when hovering over a flower, bumble bees continually flap their wings rapidly, a metabolic process that generates a massive amount of internal heat. Their flight muscles work so intensely that they can ...
A team from the University of Freiburg led by neurobiologist and behavioral biologist Prof. Dr. Andrew Straw studied the flight behavior of honey bees. Using a drone, the researchers tracked honey bees as they flew between ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has for the first time identified specific patterns of brain chemical activity that predict how quickly individual ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 11, 2026
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From fundamental biological units as tiny as genes to complex societies, ecological systems rely on cooperation. All manner of organisms can benefit from working together to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. "Mutualism is a ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 9, 2026
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A single queen in the tropics; large colonies in deserts; workers with uniform morphology in temperate regions; ant social structures vary according to environmental conditions. This is shown, for the first time at a global ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 4, 2026
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For flowering plants, reproduction is a question of the birds and the bees. Attracting the right pollinator can be a matter of survival—and new research shows how flowers do it is more intriguing than anyone realized, and ...
Evolution
Jan 27, 2026
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Insects are often seen as invaders due to high-profile species like the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, the harlequin ladybird and fire ant. But new research reveals insects are also major victims of invasive alien species—exacerbating ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 15, 2026
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Although honey bees have the ability to regulate hive temperatures, new research published in Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology shows that extreme summer heat can overwhelm these critical pollinators' cooling systems, ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 12, 2026
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Using insects such as wasps to control agricultural pests remains a resilient method, despite increasing resistance, a new University of Stirling study has shown.
Plants & Animals
Dec 19, 2025
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