Meddling in the Mutualism: Fly Larva Uses Nectar to Lure Ants for Lunch
In the Brazilian savanna, the larvae of a fruit-fly species exploits an ant-plant mutualism by trapping and preying on ants atop the plant's nectar deposits.
Got Aphids? Call in the Reinforcements With Banker Plants
To manage pest infestations in greenhouses, banker plants draw in different insect species that don’t feed on the main crop but do serve as hosts for predator insects that will also attack the pest on the main crop—a useful (and green) tool for integrated pest management.
Study Finds Sweeteners Lead Fire Ants to a Bitter End
By Josh Lancette Researchers from China have discovered that some sweeteners can be lethal to the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), a devastating pest found South America, the United […]
You’ve Got Ants: New 10-Minute Test Kit Detects Red Imported Fire Ants
The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is an invasive species from South America that is damaging to agriculture and wildlife and known for its painful, venomous sting. That venom, […]
Wild Plants Might Not Work as Refuges for Stem Borers in African Bt Crops
By Josh Lancette When using Bt crops, a constant concern is preventing insect pests from becoming resistant. According to a paper published in the Journal of Economic Entomology that contains […]
Kiss and Tell: How Ants Communicate Mouth-to-Mouth
Children are often admonished to not talk with food in their mouths. Ants, on the other hand, may be doing it regularly. Mouth-to-mouth food sharing, known as trophallaxis, is common […]
Walking Among Giants in Northwest Thailand
This post is the first in the “Travel Bug” series by Laura Kraft, a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, who will be chronicling her travels in Asia from […]
Ants Survive for Years in Nuclear Weapons Bunker without Food
Since 2012, as part of a campaign to count overwintering bats, scientists have examined an old nuclear weapons bunker in Poland. In the summer of 2013, they made another discovery: […]
Harvester Ants Have a Taste for Exotic Seeds
By Meredith Swett Walker Harvester ants live up to their name. Like a farmer bringing in a crop of grain, the ants are busy seed collectors. In some habitats they […]
New Species of Fly is First in Its Family to Parasitize Ants
By Josh Lancette Researchers in Panama have discovered a new species of fly in the family Chloropidae. The name of the new species is Pseudogaurax paratolmos, as reported in a […]
Adding Pheromones to Baits Helps Control Invasive Argentine Ants
By Josh Lancette Argentine ants have been marching across the United States for the past few decades, despite the best pest control efforts. However, the authors of a new study […]
Videos of Leafcutter Ants Show Their Division of Labor
Leafcutter ants may be the world’s first farmers. They basically collect leaves, bring them into their nests, and then eat the fungus that grows on the leaves. Now scientists have […]
Caterpillar Depends on Parasitic Plants and Nectar-drinking Ants
Several months ago, Aaron Pomerantz was walking through the Peruvian rain forest and he found a tree with strange yellow bulbs protruding from the bark. In addition, he found caterpillars […]
A Few Genes Allow Some Ants and Bees to Switch Castes
Two insect species from Latin America, the dinosaur ant and the red paper wasp, have been used to uncover the molecular mechanisms underpinning queen and worker roles in social insects. […]
Ant Fossils from Europe Resemble Modern Asian Ants
Professor Evan Economo of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and his team have compared a database of modern ants with a database of fossil ants. The […]
Two New Species of Door Head Ants Found in Kenya and the Ivory Coast
Most ant species have only two castes: reproductives and workers. Reproductives help to sustain the colony by laying eggs, while workers forage for food, care for the young, and defend […]
One Week Left for Entomologists to Apply for ICE 2016 Travel Grants
The 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE 2016) is expected to be the largest gathering of scientists and experts in the history of the entomological sciences, with an expected attendance […]