A sound defense: Noisy pupae puff away potential predators
Insect pupae hiss like snakes for defense. A Kobe University team now reveals the mechanisms, opening the door to further studies involving predator reactions to defensive sounds.
Insect pupae hiss like snakes for defense. A Kobe University team now reveals the mechanisms, opening the door to further studies involving predator reactions to defensive sounds.
Plants & Animals
Dec 7, 2025
0
84
The shift from warm summer to cool fall conditions can be stressful for many animals. Surviving each season requires a multitude of different physiological and behavioral traits that scientists are still working to understand.
Plants & Animals
Dec 5, 2025
0
36
For many nocturnal moths, hearing sound waves is a matter of survival in the night sky. Their ability to detect ultrasonic calls emitted by bats determines whether they escape or become prey. This predator-prey relationship ...
Ecology
Dec 2, 2025
0
18
A major milestone has been reached, with experts across Europe, including those at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, sequencing 1,000 species of butterflies and moths. This includes almost all UK butterflies, ...
Evolution
Nov 30, 2025
0
69
A former Ph.D. student at the University of York has used records from museum collections and citizen science projects to show long-term patterns in the species richness of tropical butterflies.
Plants & Animals
Oct 29, 2025
0
51
A research team including a Keele University scientist have made a breakthrough in monitoring insect populations across the UK using weather radar data. Traditionally used to track rainfall and storms, these radars are now ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 27, 2025
0
57
Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered a simple DNA "switch" that helps tropical butterflies adjust the size of their wing eyespots in response to seasonal temperatures, shedding light ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 24, 2025
0
70
For most visitors, the Mediterranean is a symbol of summer and sun-scorched landscapes. In reality, however, it harbors one of the world's greatest natural treasures. It is home to tens of thousands of plant and animal species, ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 17, 2025
0
34
A single "sexy" gene could help us combat one of the world's most destructive fruit pests. By deleting the gene that lets female moths produce their mating scent, colleagues and I created an "unsexy" moth—and showed one way ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 15, 2025
0
19
Many butterflies develop wing patterns that mimic other species to protect themselves from predators. While growing complex body parts like wings involves many genes, the difference between two versions of the same thing—like ...
Ecology
Oct 9, 2025
0
27