Jurassic insect that mimicked ginkgo leaves discovered

(Phys.org)—Researchers working in China have discovered an insect that lived 165 million years ago that they believe used its wings to mimic the leaves of an ancient ginkgo tree. The fossil finding, the team writes in their ...

Male wasps use genitalia to sting their predators

Female bees and wasps use modified ovipositors, formerly used in egg laying, to sting their attackers, including people. Now, a study in Current Biology on December 19 shows that male mason wasps use sharp genital spines ...

Precopulatory oral sex found in darkling beetles

A team of researchers from China, the U.K. and the U.S. has found that a species of darkling beetles engage in oral sex prior to copulating. In their paper published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, the group describes ...

Evolutionary rotation of fly genitalia tied to mating success

In the order Diptera, more-primitive species such as mosquitos generally do their deed in the end-to-end position. Higher (more evolved) species such as flies tend toward the male mounting the female from behind (male-above ...

Mosquitofish genitalia change rapidly due to human impacts

The road that connects also divides. This dichotomy – half-century-old roads connecting portions of Bahamian islands while fragmenting the tidal waters below – leads to rapid and interesting changes in the fish living ...

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