Heroes, Not Headaches: Reframing the Reputation of Harvester Ants
Dated perceptions of harvester ants as pests of crops and rangelands have been replaced with new understandings of the myriad beneficial roles they play in their native ecosystems.
Ants in the Nest: A Possible Emerging Pressure on Sea Turtles
Red imported fire ants and native ants may depress the emergence of sea turtle hatchlings, especially in nests near dune vegetation. A new study examines the interactions of ants with sea turtle nests and offers recommendations for reducing ant-related risks in sea turtle conservation.
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.
For an Understudied Ant Genus, Two Researchers Choose a “Bird Guide” ID Tool
The Rasopone genus of tropical leaf-litter ants gets a thorough taxonomic revision, and the researchers behind the long-term project present their identification manual in a "bird guide" format rather than the traditional dichotomous key.