1,663 results
1,663 results for: Ants
- Plants
Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects
In a Yucatan nature park, engineered genes influence nectar production, affecting ants’ and maybe pollinators’ attraction to the wild cotton plants.
- Animals
Bee larvae drum with their butts, which may confuse predatory wasps
Dual percussion instruments — one on the head, the other on the rear — give mason bee larvae a peculiar musical gift that may be a tool for survival.
- Ecosystems
Wildfires launch microbes into the air. How big of a health risk is that?
How does wildfire smoke move bacteria and fungi — and what harm might they do to people when they get there?
- Animals
How a tiny spider uses silk to lift prey 50 times its own weight
Dropping the right silk can haul mice, lizards and other giants up off the ground.
- Animals
Naked mole-rat colonies speak with unique dialects
Machine learning reveals that these social rodents communicate with distinctive speech patterns that are culturally inherited.
- Animals
Mineral body armor helps some leaf-cutting ants win fights with bigger kin
Researchers have found that at least one species of leaf-cutting ant has a tough layer of calcite on its exoskeleton.
- Animals
Fire ants build little syphons out of sand to feed without drowning
To escape a watery death, some fire ants use build sand structures that draw the insects’ sugary, liquid food out of containers and to a safer place.
- Animals
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies and steal babies
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies, steal pups and evict any others left behind. The show of force may be central to their underground lifestyle.
- Plants
This parasitic plant consists of just flashy flowers and creepy suckers
With only four known species, Langsdorffia are thieves stripped down to their essentials.
- Animals
A wasp was caught on camera attacking and killing a baby bird
Some wasps scavenge carrion or pluck parasites off birds, but reports of attacks on live birds are rare.
- Animals
Some spiders may spin poisonous webs laced with neurotoxins
The sticky silk threads of spider webs may be hiding a toxic secret: potent neurotoxins that paralyze a spider’s prey.
- Quantum Physics
To live up to the hype, quantum computers must repair their error problems
Before quantum computers can reach their potential, scientists will need to master quantum error correction.
