How to Become a Vulture and Not Die Trying: Following Tropical Bees and Their Gut Microbes
Meat-eating bees made the news in late 2021, after a study examined the unique gut microbiomes of these unusual species.
Keep on Ticking: Entomologist Tells of Ticks’ 27-Year Lifespan
An entomologist at Binghamton University kept a group of African soft ticks alive in a lab for 27 years—and their offspring are still going at age 26.
Where Giant Honey Bees Rest Their Wings During Annual Migration
A bee researcher describes the discovery of a "stopover" site in Thailand where Apis dorsata honey bee swarms gather to rest during their annual migration between highland and lowland nesting sites.
Back-Seat Driver: The Parasite That Makes Bees Drop Off Its Babies
An insect that specializes in parasitizing bees changes its host's behavior to visit flowers and curl its body to deposit the parasite's larvae. The apparent "mind control" is another example of the unique lives of strepsipterans, or twisted wing insects.