Finding the first fungus farmers

The development of farming was a key milestone in human history, but as a species we were quite late to the party. Insects got there first! One of the best documented examples happens in the termite world, where some species ...

Asexual succession strategy of termites

A study led by the Laboratory Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of the Université libre de Bruxelles shows that the humivorous French Guianan termite Cavitermes tuberosus routinely practice asexual queen succession (parthenogenesis).

What agriculture can learn from termites and fungi

Other living creatures were involved in agriculture way before humans. Termite species in Africa and Asia have been cultivating fungi for consumption for tens of millions of years. And they do it well as the harvests of a ...

Brazilian scarab beetles found to be termitophiles

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. ...

Biologists bore into Canadian termite invasion

Scientists at Western University have discovered why termites wreak havoc on megacities like Toronto and Paris and how new findings may lead to possible pest controls.  

Worker ants paralyze and kill termites from afar

Worker ants from a particular species of African ants have potent venom that can paralyze and kill termites from a distance, according to a study published Dec. 14 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

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