Two fungi work together to kill fig trees

In many countries, the number of fig trees have been declining. While there are numerous explanations, one key problem is fig-wilting disease. A recognized cause of this disease is a fungus, Ceratocystis ficicola, which is ...

Ambrosia beetles breed and maintain their own food fungi

Ambrosia beetles practice active agriculture: A bark beetle species breeds and cultivates food fungi in its nests and ensures that so-called weed fungi spread less. This has now been experimentally demonstrated for the first ...

'Helper' ambrosia beetles share reproduction with their mother

Fungus farming is a fascinating symbiosis that has evolved multiple times in social insects: once in ants, once in termites, and several times in weevils (beetles) from the subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae. The behavior ...

Researchers extract DNA from insects embedded in resin

For the first time, Senckenberg scientist Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer, together with lead authors David Peris and Kathrin Janssen of the University of Bonn and additional colleagues from Spain and Norway, successfully extracted ...

Bark beetles control pathogenic fungi

Ants and honeybees share nests of hundreds or thousands of individuals in a very small space. Hence the risk is high that infectious diseases may spread rapidly. In order to reduce this risk, the animals have developed special ...

New species of loquat-killing beetle identified

If you live in an area where winter temperatures routinely drop below freezing, you may have never even heard of the evergreen loquat tree and its delicious fruit. But it may be troubling to hear that a new bark beetle pest ...

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