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. Different cover crops may affect how plants defend themselves against pests—including by attracting more insects that eat harmful caterpillars—according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-specific-crops-insects-pests.html Ecology Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news707070601 How has offspring dependence on parents evolved over the course of evolution? Researchers at the University of Bayreuth, in collaboration with Kyoto University, Japan, have investigated one possible mechanism by studying the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Their new study shows that parents do more than simply provide care for their offspring: They also improve the entire developmental environment in which their young grow up, a factor that may itself have influenced evolutionary change. The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-parental-evolution-beetle.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news707061962 With the invasive emerald ash borer beetle decimating black ash across North America, according to the U.S. Forest Service, a team led by researchers at Penn State conducted an expansive study of genetic diversity in black ash seeds collected across the tree's geographic range and stored in seed banks. The research was done with an eye toward someday reintroducing the ecologically and culturally important tree to U.S. and Canadian forests. As part of the research, the team established three large common gardens—experimental plantings—of black ash that someday may play a role in producing seeds needed to bring the species back. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-noah-ark-trees-endangered-black.html Plants & Animals Tue, 25 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news706888501 Dung beetles could provide scientists with a new way to uncover the animals living in Singapore's forests, including elusive species that are difficult to spot with conventional wildlife surveys. NTU researchers found that DNA preserved in the insects' guts can reveal the mammals, birds and other vertebrates whose waste they have fed on. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dung-beetles-insights-biodiversity-singapore.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:20:01 EDT news706794585 The Texas A&M Forest Service has confirmed emerald ash borer in Delta, Erath, Hardin, Walker and Wood counties, continuing the spread of the invasive insect into new areas of Texas. Eight new counties have been confirmed with detections this year. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-forest-emerald-ash-borer-additional.html Ecology Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news706514581 Recurring and prolonged periods of drought are worsening worldwide, triggering a dangerous chain reaction for trees, according to a forest health expert at North Carolina State University. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-drought-stress-trees.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news706427821 Insects rely on a wide range of strategies to sense their surroundings and communicate with their peers. Fireflies (Lampyridae) and some related beetles are known for their ability to produce visible light through chemical reactions that take place in specialized light-producing organs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-amber-fossil-reveals-firefly-unprecedented.html Evolution Mon, 17 Aug 2026 07:20:05 EDT news705920747 Islands are widely recognized as natural laboratories of evolution. The ocean restricts movement among islands, allowing isolated populations to adapt to different environments and, at times, diverge into new species. However, on large islands, geographic distance may restrict movement, while environmental variation may impose divergent selection, thereby promoting adaptive divergence. Does adaptive divergence occur not only among islands but also within islands? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-flightless-beetles-evolved-distinct-snail.html Plants & Animals Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:10:01 EDT news705927661 What does it mean when brown patches show up in a perfectly healthy lawn? The truth is, it could be anything from drought to dog urine, fungal diseases, pests or too much fertilizer. But many homeowners automatically blame grubs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-lawn-grubs.html Ecology Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news705664081 In an effort to develop more environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic insecticides, researchers from Kyushu University have developed and tested a new insecticide made from compounds derived from garlic and spearmint. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-natural-insecticide-compound-garlic-spearmint.html Biotechnology Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:00:07 EDT news705317461 Zooming from her office, Michigan State University researcher Kelly Kapsar showed satellite images from across the United States. In some, different colors revealed the precise heights of the forested ridges in the Sierra Nevada or the craggy peaks of the Rockies and the valleys between them. Others showed the pine flatwoods of southern Florida or the smooth, rolling grasslands of the Kansas prairie. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mountain-peaks-microclimates-satellite-big.html Earth Sciences Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:40:03 EDT news705315421 Researchers from Kiel University and Trier University have shown, for the first time, that a widely used deworming product for grazing animals doesn't just harm individual plants and insects but also alters entire networks of ecological relationships. The active ingredient investigated was moxidectin in the formulation Cydectin, which farmers commonly use against parasites in grazing animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-deworming-products-grazing-animals-disrupt.html Ecology Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:00:04 EDT news705235205 Using satellite data, researchers at TUM have identified an unprecedented loss of aboveground biomass in Europe's forests since 2018. Unlike previous studies that focused solely on changes in tree cover, this study provides the first Europe–wide assessment of changes in forest biomass. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-unprecedented-biomass-loss-europe-forests.html Environment Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:00:03 EDT news705154856 For more than 60 years, evolutionary biologists have debated whether a unique genetic system found in ants, bees and wasps helps explain one of nature's most remarkable innovations: eusociality, a form of social organization in which colonies divide reproductive labor between queens and workers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-decades-theory-insect-societies-evolve.html Plants & Animals Tue, 04 Aug 2026 16:20:01 EDT news705071641 A review led by the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has revealed that tiny ground-dwelling invertebrates are overlooked but important seed dispersers, challenging the traditional focus on birds and mammals and offering new insights into forest regeneration and biodiversity conservation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-forest-floors-reveal-overlooked-seed.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:00:03 EDT news704991723 Approximately 40% of insect species worldwide are thought to be in decline and under threat of extinction. Among the key causes are habitat loss, pollution and climate change. Another threat is artificial light from sources like streetlights and security lamps. In new research published in the journal Biological Conservation, scientists say a simple change in artificial lighting could help reduce this particular threat. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-simple-amber-nights-safer-insects.html Plants & Animals Sun, 02 Aug 2026 15:20:01 EDT news704718953 Scientists have discovered a remarkably well-preserved 100-million-year-old beetle fossil that provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of the intricate sensory and communication systems used by fireflies and their relatives today. Fireflies belong to the order Coleoptera, which includes all beetles. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cretaceous-beetle-fossil-reveals-early.html Evolution Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:40:04 EDT news704718424 For the first time, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, has demonstrated that insects can mimic floral scents to manipulate pollinators. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-oil-beetle-larvae-bees.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:20:06 EDT news704533321 New research from Costa Rica's Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) suggests that tropical insects may be vulnerable to rising temperatures. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined the heat and cold tolerance of more than 100 species of rove beetles living between the lowland dry forest and the cloud forest of Volcán Cacao. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tropical-insects-room-temperatures.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:00:06 EDT news704461141 A moth caterpillar identified by the agribusiness sector as one of the most destructive pests of soybean, cotton and corn crops may harbor fungi and bacteria in its gut that can degrade expanded polystyrene, also known as Styrofoam. In an article published in the journal BMC Microbiology, researchers from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil presented the results of a study investigating the gut microbiota of Helicoverpa armigera and its role in degrading this petroleum-derived plastic. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-destructive-crop-caterpillar-harbors-fungi.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:30:01 EDT news704039282 Analysis of more than 3 million toad calls from locations across Australia gives rare insights into toad breeding behavior—and offers new hope for halting their advance. James Cook University ecology researchers discovered that the best environmental conditions for toad calling included low moonlight, low wind, high relative humidity and limited obstructions from surrounding vegetation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-toads-reveals-expansion-secrets.html Plants & Animals Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:00:04 EDT news703843683 Earth remains full of undiscovered species and unexplored interactions that continue to fascinate us, including, in the most ordinary places, the fields where our food is grown. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wasp-species-ernest-hemingway-efforts.html Ecology Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:40:06 EDT news703844882 A tiny Asian-origin beetle that has devastated ash forests in North America has been detected in the European Union for the first time, in Hungary and Slovakia, authorities said. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-devastating-asian-beetle-eu.html Ecology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:20:01 EDT news703419099 Dung beetles are quietly performing a vital climate change mitigation service for Australia's livestock sector, slashing methane emissions from cattle manure by 85%, a new Southern Cross University study has found. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-small-mighty-dung-beetles-big.html Environment Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:50:01 EDT news703417783 Humans have been turning seeds and soil into food for thousands of years. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-notill-farming-environment.html Agriculture Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news703255362 New research suggests that heat stress increases the occurrence of same-sex sexual interactions between male burying beetles—but also that a surprising number of male–male encounters occur under control conditions. This ongoing project is investigating whether a possible trade-off between heat protection and social-communication cuticular hydrocarbons may be involved in possible sex-recognition errors, and whether these behaviors may result in any costs to reproductive success. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hotter-climate-sex-mounting-corpse.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:00:13 EDT news702728117 Australia is racing to contain the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is now believed to have infected seven seabirds. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scavenger-animals-link-australia-bird.html Ecology Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:20:12 EDT news702721862 University of Newcastle researchers have documented one of the clearest examples of iridescence ever recorded in an amphibian, revealing that the endangered green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea) possesses intricate color-shifting skin previously unseen in the species. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rare-shifting-iconic-australian-frog.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:40:10 EDT news702637262 In Europe, trees are increasingly dying prematurely. A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) on French forests now shows that it is not only drought but also unusually warm or wet springs that increase the risk—even ideal growing conditions can prove fatal later on. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-trees-dying.html Ecology Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:40:06 EDT news702638796 A research team from the Natural History Museum of Denmark has published a compelling new study in insect taxonomy in the open-access journal ZooKeys, officially establishing a new genus of rove beetle: Luffy gen. nov. The inspiration for the name comes directly from Monkey D. Luffy, the iconic protagonist of the globally popular manga and anime One Piece. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-beetle-genus-piece-monkey-d.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Jul 2026 07:32:48 EDT news702627664