These Beetles Withstand Cyanide Blasts to Eat Millipedes
Flat-backed millipedes that defend themselves with cyanide have a fearsome foe in Promecognathus beetles, which are unfazed by the potent poison. A new study shows the beetles have evolved a unique tolerance for cyanide—rather than avoidance behavior or some other countermeasure—but the underlying mechanism remains unclear.
Limb Regeneration in Lady Beetles: Product of Selection or Developmental Byproduct?
Researchers studying the ability of several lady beetle species to regrow detached limbs during their pupal stage say the trait may be linked to genes that offer survival advantages when activated, but more research is needed.
Little Organisms, Big World: Insect Gut Bacteria Partnerships
A recent review in the open-access Journal of Insect Science shines a light on the diversity of host-symbiont relationships among holometabolous insects.
The Curious Case of the Spiders in the Ant-Acacia Mutualisms
Deep in the Panamanian rain forest, researchers document two species of orb-weaver spiders that have inserted themselves into the typically two-way relationship between certain ant colonies and the acacia plants they live in.