Invasive ant species can be found in almost every ecosystem on earth, but the impact these invaders may have on plant health has only recently been investigated by scientists. A new study published in Journal of Ecology is ...
Ants are among the most diverse and abundant insects on the planet. Both native and invasive ants are capable of forming mutualisms with hemipteran insects, preying on non-hemipteran herbivores and indirectly affecting primary ...
In just the last 60 years alone, deliberately or accidentally introduced invasive species have cost the Australian economy AUD$389.59 billion, a new analysis has revealed, with that number likely to rise unless better investments, ...
Imagine the texture of a plant. Many may come to mind—the smooth rubberiness of many tropical houseplants, the impossibly soft lamb's ear, the sharp spines of cacti, or the roughness of tree bark. But stickiness, in the ...
What could Azteca ants in coffee farms in Mexico have in common with leopards' spots and zebras' stripes?
Partnerships between ant and plant species appear to arise from—but not drive—rapid diversification of ants into new species. Katrina Kaur of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in ...
Since its first introduction to the U.S. from Asia in the late 1800s, Japanese barberry has become one of the most dominant and widespread woody plants in Northeastern forests. Its allelopathic properties, shade tolerance, ...
Biologists Laura Carolina Leal and Felipe Passos have performed a series of experiments to determine how plants with extrafloral nectaries interact with ants in Brazil's Northeast region—specifically, in the interior of ...
In the 1960s, Penn biologist Dan Janzen, as part of earning his Ph.D., re-described what has become a classic example of biological mutualism: the obligate relationship between acacia-ants and ant-acacia trees. The acacia ...
A Concordia biology professor is calling on ant experts to develop a set of common principles that influence the way the insects respond when their habitat undergoes severe disruption.
