Termite soldiers are able to chemically detect intruders in their colonies. While most trespassers are swiftly dealt with, some spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and insects are allowed to find shelter within termite nests. ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 13, 2015
0
6
Imagine millions of leafcutter ants on parade through a tropical forest. Driven by a craving mysterious to humans, they suddenly stream up a towering tree trunk. How do they know exactly which species of leaves to cut for ...
Evolution
Oct 26, 2020
0
158
A new 3D scanner, which photographs small animal specimens in meticulous detail, is also being used to teach computers how to spot and track critters.
Evolution
Apr 12, 2021
0
86
Tropical forests are one of the largest natural sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O), and a tiny insect may play a big role in how those emissions are spread out across the landscape.
Environment
Jan 9, 2019
2
127
Life existed without human beings for more than 99.9% of Earth's history. Yet we often ignore the achievements of species that preceded us by billions of years.
Plants & Animals
Apr 19, 2023
0
14
A complex genetic analysis has biologists re-evaluating some long-held beliefs about the way societies evolved following the invention of agriculture—by six-legged farmers.
Plants & Animals
May 9, 2018
0
50
Researchers in the department of entomology at the University of Illinois have shown how a species of ant uses its abdomen to add speed to its jump, in a recent study published in Integrative Organismal Biology. With a name ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 18, 2019
0
22
Half a million ants were enlisted at a German zoo Tuesday by ecologists from the conservation group WWF to call for the protection of the Amazon rainforest, ahead of a trip by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel to Brazil.
Ecology
Aug 18, 2015
0
22
Farming evolved independently in humans at least nine times. The practice was among the innovations that enabled complex civilizations to develop. But we weren't the first species to raise our own food: various leafcutter ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 12, 2016
0
34
