Dung dynasty: The plant boosting powers of beetle recyclers
Dung beetles, those unsung heroes of the insect world renowned for their prowess in breaking down cattle dung, have now been found to have a positive impact on plant growth.
Dung beetles, those unsung heroes of the insect world renowned for their prowess in breaking down cattle dung, have now been found to have a positive impact on plant growth.
Plants & Animals
Mar 20, 2024
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Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, researchers said Wednesday.
Agriculture
Mar 6, 2024
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For the first time, researchers in Canada have investigated the use of the sterile insect technique for controlling populations of the pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii, an economically significant crop pest in North America.
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 23, 2024
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Snakeflies (Raphidioptera), also known as camel-neck flies, have gained further notoriety with the selection of the Black-necked Snakefly as Insect of the Year 2022 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. These diurnal, predatory ...
Evolution
Feb 8, 2024
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University of Alberta research provides new insight into how harmful fungal infections could affect the ability of lodgepole pines to defend themselves from deadly mountain pine beetle attacks.
Ecology
Jan 25, 2024
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A small team of biologists and animal scientists from Lund University in Sweden, working with a colleague from the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, has discovered that pairs of opposite-gender dung beetles ...
Life on Earth runs on a 24-hour cycle as the planet turns. Animals and plants have built-in circadian clocks that synchronize metabolism and behavior to this daily cycle. But one beetle is out of sync with the rest of nature.
Plants & Animals
Jan 18, 2024
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Waste is a natural by-product of life on Earth and of productive human economies. Living systems have evolved to reconstitute waste—creatures like dung beetles fill an ecological niche of breaking down other organisms' ...
Environment
Jan 18, 2024
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Forest leaf litter, often likened to terrestrial coral reefs, supports an astonishing variety of life. Among the myriad arthropods dwelling in this ecosystem, beetles emerge as the most common and speciose group. Despite ...
Ecology
Jan 9, 2024
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In eastern Australia, the arrival of the summer holidays has traditionally been heralded by big iridescent beetles known as Christmas beetles due to their appearance during the Christmas season.
Plants & Animals
Dec 12, 2023
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