These sea anemones eat ants
The giant plumose anemone is an animal, but it looks a bit like an underwater cauliflower. Its body consists of a stalk-like column that attaches to rocks and other surfaces on one end, and to a crown of tentacles on the other......»»
How do ants crawl on walls? A biologist explains their sticky, spiky, gravity-defying grip
How do ants crawl on walls?—Ethan, age 9, Dallas, Texas.....»»
Anti-insulin protein linked to longevity and reproduction in ants
An insulin-suppressing protein may be the fountain of youth for ants and provides clues about aging in other species, according to a study led by New York University researchers......»»
Honeybees ultra-connected by their microbiome
Some insects (e.g., ants and some bees) live in intricately structured societies or colonies. Their colonies can comprise thousands of individuals specialized on different tasks. Most individuals are sterile, devoting their lives to colony tasks such.....»»
Invasive pests have cost New Zealand billions
Getting rid of invasive pests such as agricultural weeds, stoats, possums, and fire ants will provide New Zealand with massive economic and ecological benefits, a new study has found......»»
From fish to ants: 139 new species named in Australia
In a win for biodiversity, CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, has revealed 139 new species were named and described by its researchers and partners in the past year. With only about 25 percent of Australia's species known to science, scienti.....»»
Robot helps reveal how ants pass on knowledge
Scientists have developed a small robot to understand how ants teach one another......»»
New global map of ant biodiversity reveals areas that may hide undiscovered species
They are hunters, farmers, harvesters, gliders, herders, weavers, and carpenters. They are ants, and they are a big part of our world, comprising over 14,000 species and a large fraction of animal biomass in most terrestrial ecosystems. Like other.....»»
560-million-year-old fossil is earliest known animal predator
Geologists have found the fossil of the earliest known animal predator. The 560-million-year-old specimen is the first of its kind, but it is related to the group that includes corals, jellyfish and anemones living on the planet today......»»
Ant colonies behave like neural networks when making decisions
Temperatures are rising, and one colony of ants will soon have to make a collective decision. Each ant feels the rising heat beneath its feet but carries along as usual until, suddenly, the ants reverse course. The whole group rushes out as one—a d.....»»
Ant brain complexity at a cellular level revealed for the first time using single cell technology
International researchers led by China's BGI-Research used single cell technology to study the brains of ants, explaining for the first time how the social division of labor within ant colonies reflects in the functional specialization of their brain.....»»
Collaborating bacteria sacrifice themselves for the greater good
Like ants, termites and bees, some bacteria work together as a multicellular group. There is a strict division of labor in such colonies, to make the group more resilient to the outside world. Now researchers have found that some parts of the bacteri.....»»
How Ants Inspired a New Way to Measure Snow With Space Lasers
Photons wander through snow like ants through a nest. That inspired a clever new NASA technique for measuring the fluffy stuff from orbit......»»
Method used to track ants underground could revolutionize how we measure snow depth from space
Ants may be the unlikely heroes when it comes to better understanding the health of our planet in the midst of a climate crisis. In a paper published to Frontiers in Remote Sensing, a team of scientists, including those from NASA, have found a way to.....»»
Jellyfish"s stinging cells hold clues to the emergence of new cell types
The cnidocytes—or stinging cells—that are characteristic of sea anemones, hydrae, corals and jellyfish, and make us careful of our feet while wading in the ocean, are also an excellent model for understanding the emergence of new cell types, acco.....»»
A Killer Parasite Is Wiping Out Hordes of Ants—in a Good Way
A microsporidian pathogen is annihilating tawny crazy ants, an invasive menace of the highest order......»»
Gene linked to hearing in humans also linked to touch in sea anemones
Researchers have discovered a developmental gene linked to touch in the tentacles of sea anemones as well as hearing in humans. The gene, called pou-iv (pronounced 'pow four'), is important for the development of auditory cells in the human inner ear.....»»
Invasive ants hit Texas hard—now a killer fungus is coming for them
When crazy ants roll into new parts of Texas, the invasive species wipe out local insects and lizards, drive away birds, and even blind baby rabbits by spewing acid in their eyes......»»
Gene linked to hearing in humans also linked to touch in sea anemones
An international team of investigators, including several researchers in biological sciences from the U of A, have published a paper that reports the discovery of a developmental gene linked to touch in the tentacles of sea anemones as well as hearin.....»»
Fungus foils invading hordes of crazy ants, and that’s great for Texas
Fungal infections spread rapidly through crazy ant populations, wiped out 62% entirely. Enlarge / Tawny crazy ants (Nylanderia fulva) feeding on a cricket. (credit: Lawrence E. Gilbert) Several years ago, staffers at Estero L.....»»
Invading hordes of crazy ants may have finally met their kryptonite
When tawny crazy ants move into a new area, the invasive species is like an ecological wrecking ball—driving out native insects and small animals and causing major headaches for homeowners. But scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have g.....»»