How Ants’ Individual Encounters Influence Colony-Wide Behavior, and Vice Versa
A new review of ant research illuminates how ant behavior is driven by a cascade of individual decisions among colony members. Insights on ant movement and encounter rates also suggest parallels to collective behavior in another population under the microscope in 2020: humans.
How Mitochondrial DNA Offers Clues to Giant Hornets’ Invasion
When scientists discovered specimens of the invasive giant hornet Vespa mandarinia on both sides of the border between Washington and British Columbia in 2019, they sought to find out how they arrived from Asia. Analysis of their mitochondrial DNA provided an interesting twist: The hornets on each side of the border likely did not come from the same location in Asia.
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.