https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. When a fruit fly catches a whiff of a ripe peach, it quickly heads toward it. Time after time, it finds the fruit—even from many feet away and even if the scent arrives only as a few drifting, disconnected puffs. How do they home in with such unerring accuracy? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fruit-flies-fleeting-scent-puffs.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:00:29 EDT news703857961 France on Tuesday backed a controversial bill reintroducing two pesticides that critics say harm bees, as the environment minister said she would resign. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-uproar-france-reintroduction-bee-pesticides.html Ecology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:40:07 EDT news703868810 What determines which tasks bees perform in their colony? Biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the universities in Cologne and Frankfurt/Main have investigated the role neural activity plays in this process. In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they explain that by manipulating a specific gene, they can selectively inhibit neural circuits in bees and thus influence their work behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bee-brains-reveal-colonies-central.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:03 EDT news703766341 Honeybees do not like cold weather. When temperatures dip, they can become sluggish and unable to fly. But no matter the conditions in the outside world, they try to keep their hives close to a comfortable 34°C–36°C (93°F–97°F). However, extreme weather, both hot and cold, can overwhelm this internal temperature control and ultimately cut their lives short. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bees-probiotic-diet-extreme-temperatures.html Ecology Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news703758461 If you've driven down two-lane highways in rural parts of North Florida recently, you may have noticed a spate of new signs that designate the grassy knolls bordering the asphalt as wildflower areas. The signs likely feel redundant right about now as thousands of milkweeds produce thick umbels packed full of pentagonal buds and fully developed flowers. Many of these flowers and all the monarchs they attract have the same attention-grabbing orange color as the safety vests worn by workers who carefully planted each milkweed by hand months earlier. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-butterfly-experts-milkweed-florida-roadsides.html Plants & Animals Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news703499199 Just as careful blending of eye shadow can make a difference to our looks, a recent study has shown how flowers go to considerable trouble to fine-tune their shades. In the relentless competition to attract bees, a slight edge can make the difference between life and death for a gene. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wild-snapdragons-subtle-bees.html Plants & Animals Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:14 EDT news703500019 An international team led by Dr. Gary Lewin, group leader of the Molecular Physiology of Somatosensory Perception lab at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, has discovered that the queens of naked mole-rat colonies release a volatile compound called isopropyl myristate, which induces temporary infertility in all other females in the colony. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-naked-mole-rat-queens-odorous.html Ecology Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:33 EDT news703229499 Honey bee larvae lack the sophisticated olfactory capabilities of adult honey bees, a new study finds. Scientists point to this temporary loss of function as a side effect of the nurse bees' heroic level of brood care, calling it a consequence of social evolution. The new findings are detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-honey-bees-larval-adult-life.html Plants & Animals Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:10:01 EDT news703255278 Pollinators—including bees, flies, wasps, moths, butterflies and some nectar-loving birds—are a cornerstone of our natural environment. By helping plants reproduce, they keep our ecosystems healthy and ensure we can grow vital food crops. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-big-bees-global.html Ecology Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news703156801 During the winter of 2025–2026, 24% of Dutch honeybee colonies were lost. The upward trend observed in recent years therefore continues. This is the fourth consecutive year in which winter mortality has exceeded 20%. The figures are based on the annual survey of Dutch beekeepers. The results show substantial regional differences. Groningen recorded the highest winter losses, at 41.5%, while Overijssel had the lowest figure, at 16.9%. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quarter-dutch-bee-colonies-survive.html Ecology Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:40:01 EDT news702901229 How do bees make group decisions without a leader? Math experts have determined that the best strategy is for a few to assume the risk of foraging under all conditions while the majority stay safely back and forage only when conditions are favorable. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-math-reveals-honeybee-hives-patient.html Ecology Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:20:06 EDT news702900976 You may be spotting dead bumblebees lying on pavements near you during the summer months. There are several reasons for this, some related to the weather and some very much due to humans. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bees-struggling-survive-summer.html Plants & Animals Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:00:03 EDT news702893702 High above the rainforest floor, tiny ponds form in the leaves of plants perched on tree branches. Frogs breed in these ponds, alongside insects, microbes and even tiny crustaceans, creating miniature ecosystems suspended high in the canopy. These are the bromeliads—the remarkable plant family that also gave us air plants, the towering 12-meter (39-foot) "Queen of the Andes", and the pineapple on your terrible pizza. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hummingbirds-pineapples-ancient-relationship-evolutionary.html Evolution Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:11 EDT news702820861 A study by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) has highlighted the impact Varroa mites will have on crop pollination in Tasmania if the parasitic mites become established in the state. The study was prompted by the spread of Varroa on mainland Australia, which is wreaking havoc on European honeybee colonies. Managed honeybee colonies can be monitored and treated for Varroa by beekeepers, but feral honeybee colonies are unmanaged and likely to be at greater risk if Varroa becomes prevalent in Tasmania. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-varroa-tasmanian-crop-pollination.html Ecology Wed, 08 Jul 2026 23:20:02 EDT news702724558 Europe risks a severe crisis if the decline of wild pollinators continues. This is the key message of a new white paper prepared by 135 researchers from eight research consortia, including the projects BUTTERFLY, RestPoll, ProPollSoil and PolinERA, all involving researchers from Aarhus University. Among the authors are Claus Rasmussen, Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe, James Williams, Johan Axelman and Chris Topping from the Department of Agroecology. The work is published in Zenodo. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-pollinator-crisis.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jul 2026 17:20:05 EDT news702741487 It's easy for us to tell if someone is enjoying their meal or not. They lick their lips if they like it, grimace if they don't. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bees-facial.html Ecology Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:20:07 EDT news702639134 Bumblebees collect up to seven times the amount of toxic heavy metals as honeybees even when foraging in the same environment, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. Exposure to these metals can affect everything from their ability to forage for food to their ability to reproduce. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bumblebees-exposed-toxic-metal-honeybees.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Jul 2026 07:40:09 EDT news702621602 Hummingbirds make bromeliad plants split into new species twice as fast as other pollinators do, scientists at the University of Reading have found. The research team gathered records of which animals pollinate 403 types of bromeliad, which include pineapples and more than 3,700 species, and found three in four of these plants are visited by hummingbirds. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hummingbirds-pineapple-family-evolution.html Plants & Animals Mon, 06 Jul 2026 19:00:03 EDT news702539370 New research proving bumblebees exhibit emotion-like behaviors—previously thought to exist only in mammalian species—has implications for how scientists understand the consciousness of insects. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bees-reveal-emotion-reactions-lip.html Plants & Animals Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:00:11 EDT news702537952 Hidden beneath the water's surface is a botanical world that is among nature's most innovative and ecologically important. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-seaweeds-facts-aquatic-flora.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:20:03 EDT news702214262 Worker bees are the first line of defense when it comes to removing contamination in honeybee colonies, but a queen has her ways, too. A honeybee queen facing chronic exposure to pesticides will take up that contamination and pass it along to her eggs, a process researchers call maternal offloading. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-honeybee-queens-pesticides-eggs-offspring.html Ecology Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:00:05 EDT news702201061 Worsened drought stress, changing rainfall patterns, flowers and pollinators thrown out of sync: These only scratch the surface of the ways climate change challenges plant life. But warmer air and higher carbon dioxide levels can also fuel faster plant growth, limit plants' water loss and extend growing seasons—enough so, in some cases, to offset the paving over of green spaces in cities. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-climate-prop-urban-growth-cities.html Earth Sciences Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:20:05 EDT news702201721 Spider venoms contain ingredients that could lead to a new treatment to protect honeybees from the deadly Varroa destructor mite, according to a study led by the University of the Sunshine Coast. Researchers identified components in the venoms of the Tasmanian cave spider and the giant Japanese funnel-web spider that killed the parasitic mites without harming the bees. The study is published in the journal npj Drug Discovery. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spider-venoms-deadly-varroa-mites.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news702200161 Our accents give away more about social class than we think, according to new research led by Lancaster University. The new sociolinguistic study focusing on Mancunian accents, published in the journal, Language Variation and Change, shows that the final vowel in words like happy, baby, chilly and city—known to linguists as "the happy vowel"—varies clearly by social class across Manchester. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-happee-happeh-links-accents-social.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news702117156 Honey bees infected with a gut parasite smell different, which could allow bee colonies to detect disease and influence behavior inside the hive, new research finds. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-gut-parasite-honey-bee-infection.html Plants & Animals Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:40:01 EDT news702030782 When we think of bees, we often think of flowers. The more flowers, the better, right? Well, not exactly. Like us, bees need to consume specific nutrients in suitable amounts and combinations. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-bees-solitary-dont-hives-climate.html Plants & Animals Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:20:03 EDT news701673721 Bumblebees are only an inch long, but they help power the global food system. Roughly one-third of the food we grow depends on pollinators like bees—and those bees are regularly decimated by pesticides. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-generation-pesticide-disrupts-bumblebee-reproduction.html Ecology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:00:06 EDT news701437083 Researchers have identified "DNA switches" that become active as honeybee larvae grow into worker bees, offering new insight into the development of these important pollinators and the ecosystems they support. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-honeybee-metamorphosis-uncovers-dna-worker.html Ecology Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:20:07 EDT news701425717 The honeybee mite, Varroa destructor, finally breached Australia's biosecurity defenses four years ago, and is here to stay. Even more concerning, our standard treatments—such as specialized pesticides—are already failing. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-australia-spent-million-varroa-mite.html Ecology Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:40:01 EDT news701352922 A new white paper from eight major EU-funded pollinator projects warns that the resilience of Europe's vital societal functions and food security are at stake if the EU fails to halt and reverse wild pollinator declines and support managed pollinators. Behind the report is an interdisciplinary team of 135 leading researchers with expertise ranging from ecosystem ecology, pollinator ecology, ecological economics, social science, environmental history, behavioral psychology, political science and environmental law. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-eu-crisis-halt-pollinator-loss.html Ecology Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:40:03 EDT news701352823