Rain bugs come out during monsoons in Arizona

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Scientists have discovered only a tiny fraction of living insect species, but up to as many as 20 million insect species may exist

Amazing stuff!

"... according to a new study ... Using statistical methods borrowed from another field, a team of entomologists estimates there may be as many as 20 million insect species on our planet—more than three times the previous estimate. ...

Scientists have long debated exactly how many insect species there are, with the previous consensus being about 6 million. 

Over the past 3 centuries, entomologists have described about 1 million insect species, but finding and describing them all would be a daunting—if not impossible—task. ...

To obtain an improved estimate of insect diversity, Colwell and colleagues studied years of data from insect surveys in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste National Park and applied statistical methods borrowed from epidemiology. The researchers started by taking a closer look at a subfamily of parasitoid wasps known as Microgastrinae, which infamously lay their eggs inside living caterpillars. These wasps are extremely well-studied: Scientists have described about 3000 species of Microgastrinae, many of which are found in Costa Rica. So, the team decided to test how well insect surveys within the park have captured the diversity of the wasps living there.

Over the past several years, scientists conducting surveys of flying insects in the park have identified 388 species of Microgastrinae within a core set of traps and 578 within an additional set. Independently, when scientists looked at caterpillars that had been parasitized within the park, they identified 889 wasp species.

However, when Colwell and his colleagues examined these data sets, they were surprised to find little overlap in the species captured with traps and by examining caterpillars. That mismatch showed both methods must only be tallying a fraction of the total number of Microgastrinae species within the park. To estimate that total, the researchers used a statistical method developed by epidemiologists to estimate the size of a population affected by a disease based on incomplete tallies of the ill—as if the true number of wasp species was like the true number of sick people in an outbreak. The approach indicated the park is home to a whopping 2394 Microgastrinae species. ..."

From the significance and abstract:

"Significance

For more than 40 y, entomologists have attempted to estimate the number of insect species on Earth, with the current consensus—the figure most experts accept—at about six million. Using genetic information (DNA barcodes) for 1.6 million individual tropical insects, a deep census of a highly diverse group of parasitoid wasps, and powerful statistical strategies, we conservatively estimate that the true number of insect species is at least 14 to 20 million—two to three times higher than current estimates. Already known to be the most diverse group of animals, a doubling or tripling of estimated insect diversity has profound implications for our understanding of the scale, richness, and future of biodiversity on Earth.

Abstract

Estimating the number of insect species on Earth is a daunting challenge. The current consensus estimate—about six million species—is likely far too low, as we will show.

Our estimate of the global number of insect species rests on a sample of more than 1,600,000 DNA-barcoded insect specimens representing 53,945 species from 15 “core” Malaise traps deployed in dry forest, cloud forest, and rainforest ecosystems of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in Costa Rica. Even this massive sample fails to reveal the full extent of ACG insect species richness. To estimate total ACG insect richness, we adjust the observed count of insect species by an “undersampling ratio,” computed for a hyperdiverse subfamily of parasitoid wasps (Braconidae: Microgastrinae).

The ratio compares microgastrine richness from the core Malaise traps to a lower-bound estimate of true microgastrine richness—including undetected species—based on 21,669 specimens from three sources: the 15 core Malaise traps, 15 “peripheral” Malaise traps spanning all three ecosystems, and 11,373 DNA-barcoded specimens reared from some 1,500 species of microgastrine-parasitized caterpillars (Lepidoptera).

To estimate global insect richness, we apply Earth/ACG ratios for tree species and several animal taxa to upscale our estimate of ACG insect richness (nearly 333,000 species). Adopting conservative assumptions, we reach an estimate of 14 to 20 million insect species on Earth, depending on the upscaling group—two to three times the current consensus estimates. Upscaling instead from a point estimate of ACG richness with a wide CI, global estimates reach nearly 30 million species."

Scientists have discovered only a tiny fraction of living insect species | Science | AAAS "About 1 million insect species have been described, but a new analysis suggests tens of millions more may be out there"

Constructing a lower-bound estimate of the global number of insect species on a hyperdiverse empirical foundation (open access)

Surprisingly intelligent bumble bees

Amazing stuff!

"In a new study bumble bees solved a completely novel object-manipulation task. What makes this behaviour especially remarkable is that the bees had never been trained. The findings challenge the long-standing assumption that spontaneous problem-solving is restricted to humans and other large-brained vertebrates.

More than 100 years ago, psychologist Wolfgang Köhler famously showed that chimpanzees could solve novel problems by suddenly combining objects in new ways, such as stacking boxes to reach an out-of-reach banana. These experiments became some of the earliest and most influential demonstrations of insight and spontaneous problem-solving in animals.

Now, researchers from the University of Oulu, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Turku report strikingly similar problem-solving abilities in bumble bees. ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Recent research has revealed that bumble bees are much more cognitively advanced than previously thought: They play with balls, count, recognize faces, and even feel rhythm. However, it has not been shown that they could achieve one of the highest peaks of cognitive performance: the ability to spontaneously solve a problem. Bhambore et al. tested this ability by providing bees with a ball that could be used as a tool to reach an otherwise unreachable flower reward. Bees that had been allowed to play with a ball and experience the flower spontaneously learned to move the ball to access the flower when they were present together.

Abstract

Problem-solving using novel solutions without explicit training is often considered a hallmark of cognitive flexibility. We investigated whether bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) could solve a novel object manipulation task spontaneously.

Bees trained to associate a blue ring (“flower”) on the floor with a reward successfully moved a ball underneath a flower relocated to the ceiling to reach the flower. In control experiments in which the flower was out of sight when ball movement began and remained hidden during transport, bees still succeeded in the task. These results suggest that these were goal-directed actions rather than reinforcement-based associations driven by perceptual feedback. Our findings provide evidence that bumble bees can exhibit spontaneous problem-solving, challenging the notion that such advanced cognitive abilities are exclusive to large-brained vertebrates."

In Science Journals | Science

Bumble bees show spontaneous problem-solving in study published in Science (original news release)

Spontaneous problem-solving in bumble bees (no public access)

A bumble bee standing on a ball beneath the artificial flower containing reward, illustrating the experimental solution.

New, potent peptides discovered in carpenter ant venom with antimicrobial and antifungal activity

Good news!

"At first, it was thought the sting of all hymenopterans—from bees to ants—came predominantly from formic acid, which was first identified in the venom of wood ants back in 1670. Since then, toxinologists have come to appreciate the diversity of toxins in this insect order, especially when it comes to peptides, including honeybees’ inflammatory melittin to bullet ants’ excruciating poneratoxin. But until now, the idea has persisted that ants in the subfamily Formicinae, which includes carpenter ants, rely almost solely on formic acid.

When researchers compared the genomes of eight carpenter ant species, they spotted almost three dozen venom peptides—a veritable “arsenal” thus far unique to this subfamily of ants. Broadening their genetic search still wider, the team found these peptides—dubbed formicitoxins— in at least 20 other formicine genera.

These small proteins do all sorts of helpful things. “Some of the peptides demonstrate remarkable antifungal properties ,” ... which may explain why the ants spray their venom on their young. “While concentrated formic acid has strong immediate antimicrobial effects, the formicitoxins may serve as a persistent antifungal protective cloak after formic acid has lost its potency due to evaporation, dilution, or neutralization,” the team explained in the paper. Some formicitoxins were potent antimicrobials, which is especially intriguing given that carpenter ants are known to consume their own venom to modulate their gut microbiome ..."

"In addition to serving as biochemical weapons for offense and defense, the venoms produced by ants in the subfamily Formicinae also fulfill additional roles. For example, the ants use it to protect their nests from pathogens. It has long been assumed that the primary constituent of these venoms, formic acid, was responsible for these functions. ... a team of researchers ... has now shown that these venoms also contain a complex mixture of peptidic compounds and other bioactive substances. The discovery of these substances opens up new possibilities in the field of medical research. It also has the potential to shed new light on immune defenses and how social insect communities deal with microbes.  ..."

From the abstract:

"Venom peptides are key to the evolutionary success of most venomous animals, including stinging ants. The stingless ant subfamily Formicinae is thought to rely solely on formic acid in their venoms, despite early, unsubstantiated hints of proteinaceous venom constituents.

Here, we show that carpenter ants, the largest formicine genus, produce a diverse venom peptide arsenal. Mass spectrometry and transcriptomics across eight geographically distant species uncovered 35 peptides, formicitoxins, belonging to two gene families.

Several formicitoxins display antifungal activity. Application to pupae delays fungal outgrowth, suggesting a role of the peptides in colony hygiene. Genome analyses revealed that formicitoxins are widespread but variable across the Formicinae. Our findings overturn the paradigm of formicine venoms as simple acid sprays and establish them as a source of bioactive peptides."

ScienceAdviser

Ant Venom Serves Many Functions (original news release) "Groundbreaking discovery of antimicrobial peptides in ant venom has far-reaching implications"

Beyond formic acid: Peptides in carpenter ant venoms aid in disease protection (open access)

Fig. 1 Fig. 1. Analysis of C. nicobarensis venom.

(A) C. nicobarensis major worker during acidopore grooming.

(B) Total ion current chromatogram of C. nicobarensis venom. Major peaks corresponding to venom peptides are labeled as formicitoxins FRTX1-Cnic1a (LDIKEIINKIISDIKEKIAKAL), FRTX2-Cnic1a (DIVSFLLELPKIIEEFFLKLINLFKLIF), and FRTX2-Cnic2a (NILSNIIDSIIHLLFEDFSRIFL). Signals corresponding to N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) are labeled as linoleoyl ethanolamide (LEA), oleoyl ethanolamide (OEA), linoleamidoethyl formate (LEA-f), and oleamidoethyl formate (OEA-f).

(C) Dissected venom apparatus of a C. nicobarensis major worker as used for extraction of venom and RNA.

(D) MALDI mass spectrum of C. nicobarensis venom showing molecular ions of FRTX2-Cnic1a and FRTX2-Cnic2a along with potassium adducts (+39 Da) and formyl esters (+28 Da). Inset: Magnified mass/charge ratio (m/z) range 3350 to 3550.

(E) Structures of LEA, OEA, LEA-f, and OEA-f.

Garlic compound kills mosquitoes by halting mating and blocking egg-laying

Good news! I love garlic! Scientists were looking for an aphrodisiac and found the anaphrodisiac!

"... In fact, a new Yale study finds that garlic also functions as a de facto birth control for mosquitoes and other winged insects, an insight that could lead to eco-friendly pest control strategies. ...

the presence of garlic blocks mating in mosquitoes and a variety of fly species. ...

the idea that since fruit flies normally mate on fruits, maybe there’s something in fruits or vegetables that acts as an aphrodisiac and stimulates their mating. So, she went to the supermarket and bought 43 different fruits and vegetables. She made purées from each and put them in Petri dishes for the flies to sample. ...

The startling result was that garlic abolished mating completely. It blocked egg-laying, too. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• A “phytoscreen” identifies garlic as a potent deterrent of fly and mosquito behaviors

• Diallyl disulfide, a garlic compound, inhibits mating and egg laying

• Mating and egg-laying effects depend on taste and the TrpA1 channel

• Garlic exposure increases expression of a gene that encodes a satiety hormone

Summary

One means of controlling insect disease vectors and pests is with compounds that manipulate their behavior. An extraordinary variety of phytochemicals, i.e., compounds produced by plants, activate insect chemosensory systems. Fruits and vegetables present a source of compounds that are inexpensive and safe.

A “phytoscreen” of 43 fruits and vegetables identified garlic as a potent deterrent of mating and egg laying in Drosophila. 

Diallyl disulfide, a garlic compound, deters both behaviors. Mating and egg-laying effects depend on taste and the TrpA1 channel. 

Garlic inhibits mating and egg laying in Aedes vector mosquitoes and mating of the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans.

Garlic exposure increases expression of Drosophila head genes, including female-specific independent of transformer (fit), which encodes a satiety hormone that is essential for the effect of garlic on egg-laying preference."

From pantry to pest control: Garlic kills the mood — for mosquitoes, too | Yale News "Yale researchers discovered a naturally occurring compound in garlic that halts mating and egg-laying in insects."

A phytoscreen identifies a garlic compound as a deterrent of mating and egg laying in Drosophila and mosquitoes (no public access)

Graphical abstract

Könnten wir Stechmücken ausrotten?

Empfehlenswert! Wer braucht schon diese Blutsauger!

"... Keine dieser Methoden [der Vergangenheit} ist dazu geeignet, eine Mückenart komplett auszurotten. Aber es gibt eine Technik, die es schaffen könnte: der Gene-Drive. Eine einzige im Labor genetisch veränderte Mücke könnte ihre ganze Art ausrotten. ..."

NZZ Quantensprung

Bee Dancing performance is better when more or particular hive mates are watching

Amazing stuff! There is nothing like show business! Bee dance of be damned!

"Honey bees perform their food-directing “waggle dance” with less precision when fewer hive mates are watching, a finding researchers say shows the insects adjust their communication based on the audience."

From the significance and abstract:

"Significance

We show that the honey bee waggle dance changes depending on how many followers a dancer has and how many appropriately aged bees are available to follow it. When followers were scarce, dancers became less precise, even if the dance floor was crowded with young bees that do not follow dances. These declines in precision appear to arise because dancers search more widely for an audience, increasing their movement during the return run. The results suggest that dancers use simple social cues, such as tactile contacts, to sense follower availability. Thus, waggle dancing is not a one-way signal but a socially responsive behavior shaped by feedback from followers.

Abstract

The honey bee waggle dance, which encodes food location, is often thought to involve only one-way information transfer from dancers to signal receivers. Here, we show that the information content of the dance is influenced by the presence of followers and the number of appropriately aged potential followers in the hive, rather than the total number of bees on the dance floor. Dancers reduced the precision of directional and distance communication when they had fewer actual and potential followers. Even when the dance floor was crowded with young bees that do not follow dances, dancers showed the same declines in precision. These declines appear to arise as a byproduct of audience seeking during the return run, when dancers with fewer followers spent more time moving and covered greater distances across the dance floor. Although their mean waggle run duration and the distance covered per waggle run remained unchanged, both measures became markedly more variable when followers were scarce. Dancers likely use quorum sensing of tactile contacts and, potentially, age-specific odors to sense audience size. These results reveal that waggle dancing is a socially responsive process shaped by feedback from followers, demonstrating bidirectional information flow within this communication system.

"

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 - Join The Flyover

Bee Dancing is Better with the Right Audience "Precision of the food-directional ‘waggle dance’ fluctuates with audience size and who’s in attendance"

The audience shapes the information content of the honey bee waggle dance (open access)

Fig. 1 Increasing the audience size significantly increased waggle dancing.

Microscopic spikes on snakeskin block bacterial buildup

Amazing stuff!

"Ball pythons get their name from a classic defensive maneuver: They coil up into a ball and tuck in their heads. But their scales conceal another, far more subtle form of defense: microscopic spikes that inhibit bacterial buildup. The discovery ... could inspire antimicrobial materials that work mechanically rather than chemically. ..."

From the abstract:

"Microscale surface structures on natural materials can provide unique functional properties, inter alia, for biological defense. Here, we report that the dorsal scales of ball python (Python regius), feature regularly distributed sharp microprotrusions (spikes) that may serve as a model surface for topography-driven prevention of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation.

The chemical composition and microarchitecture of the skin grain and flesh sides were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confirming a keratin-rich, highly organized outer surface bearing dense arrays of spikes with micrometer-scale height and spacing. SEM imaging further corroborated markedly reduced colonization of the spike-bearing dorsal scale surface.

Quantitative biofilm assays based on standard colony-forming unit (CFU) enumeration were performed using the newly developed scale-pair model. Relative to the smooth polystyrene reference, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus attachment and subsequent biofilm formation decreased by 88 and 78%, respectively, after 48 h of incubation in 37 °C.

Other cultivation experiments ruled out chemical effects of any residual antimicrobial substances on the skin on bacterial growth, demonstrating that the topography alone mediates inhibition. These findings indicate that P. regius scale microstructures may function as a passive antimicrobial defense, and could inspire biomimetic, antibiofilm materials for biomedical and industrial applications."

Microscopic spikes on snakeskin block bacterial buildup | Science | AAAS

Microarchitecture of Python regius Scale Surface: A Natural Strategy for Bacterial Adhesion Prevention

Graphical abstract

Figure 1. P. regius skin shed: (a) macroscopic view of target area with spikes, (b) sharp protrusions and ridge arrays on P. regius dorsal scales visualized using SEM.

Image of the day

Source

This hot pink cricket is no mutant/Arota festae’s unusual hue may help it blend in with immature plants

 

How do busy bees avoid overheating from flying?

Amazing stuff! 

Was it necessary to kill the bumble bees to make these measurements? "Upon completion of the experiments, unneeded individuals were humanely euthanized in accordance with approved protocols." and "To precisely measure this airflow’s cooling potential, Glass and his colleagues then euthanized 18 bumble bees. Into each they inserted a tiny temperature probe, heated the body to 50°C, and placed it into a wind tunnel that could mimic the air patterns and velocities the team had measured around a hovering bumble bee."

"... But no one had quantified the cooling that comes from air flowing around a bumblebee’s body generated by its beating wings. ...

They calculated that as a bumblebee hovers in place, the breeze it generates can lower the insect’s body temperature by 5°C. The “whopping” magnitude of that cooling means that this fanning effect is a big deal for a flying insect  ..."

From the abstract:

"Understanding how flying insects manage heat exchange is critical for predicting their survival in dynamic thermal environments. To fly, insects propel air downwards to offset body weight, inducing airflow over their bodies. Remarkably, the potential cooling effect of this self-generated airflow is largely unstudied.

We measured induced airflow and wingbeat kinematics for hovering bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) across a range of body sizes and then measured the cooling effect of airflows of the same magnitude in a vertical wind tunnel. We combined these data in heat balance models to predict transient and equilibrium body temperatures of hovering bumble bees with and without self-generated wind. Measured self-induced airflow was substantial (up to 1 m s−1) and varied with body size and wingbeat kinematics, contributing significantly to thermal stability. Without this self-induced airflow, simulated bees of all sizes rapidly overheated across a range of environmental conditions, highlighting the importance of this overlooked heat-loss mechanism in the heat budget of flying insects.

Our findings suggest that shifts in wingbeat kinematics required for altered force production not only affect energetics and, therefore, heat production, but also alter the induced airflow and associated convective heat loss."

ScienceAdviser

How do busy bees avoid overheating from flying? "New measurements could help predict pollinators’ ability to withstand climate change [??? really]"

Induced airflow cools hovering bumble bees (open access)

Fig. 1 Factors affecting the body temperature of a hovering bumble bee in still air. To stay airborne, a bumble bee relies on flight muscle metabolism

Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers

Amazing stuff!

"The life of a bee isn’t all nectar and pollen. Bees have to watch out for trickery, because some plants entice them without offering any reward. Certain orchid flowers, for example, look and smell like female bees, prompting males to pollinate them when they try to mate. “Deception is everywhere,” says May Berenbaum, an entomologist at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.

A newly discovered form of deception is more convoluted yet: The larvae of blister beetles emit a mix of volatile scents that resemble a flower, attracting bees. The beetles then latch onto the bee, hitch a ride to its nest, and eat the eggs. This luring strategy, described last week in a preprint on bioRxiv, is the first known example of an animal mimicking the smell of a flower.  ..."

From the abstract:

"Animals are not known to biosynthesize floral signals to manipulate pollinators, although such mimicry could profoundly shape plant-pollinator interactions. Larvae of the poisonous European blister beetle Meloe proscarabaeus parasitize multiple solitary bee species, yet the mechanism enabling host attraction has remained unresolved.

Here we show that these larvae lure bees by emitting a bouquet of volatile compounds that closely resembles floral scent.

Chemical analyses reveal a complex blend of monoterpenoids derived from (S)-linalool, a ubiquitous floral volatile.

Behavioral assays demonstrate that these compounds function as floral cues, eliciting attraction in bees.

Transcriptomic and functional analyses identify cytochrome P450 enzymes that oxidize (S)-linalool, demonstrating that larvae biosynthesize these plant-like volatiles de novo.

Together, these findings broaden the scope of interkingdom chemical mimicry and uncover a striking form of sensory deception in which an insect chemically assumes the signal identity of a flower, revealing that animals can evolve biosynthetic pathways to exploit plant–pollinator communication."

Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers | Science | AAAS

The floral illusion: A parasitic beetle mimics the scent of flowers to attract bees (open access)

Fig. 1 Lifecycle and volatile emissions of Meloe proscarabaeus triungula.

An Infected terminally ill worker Ant pupa Sends disinfect me Signal to Colony Workers, but the disinfectant also kills the pupa

Amazing stuff!

"Adult ants that have been infected with deadly pathogens often leave the colony to die so as not to infect others. But, “like infected cells in tissue, [young ants] are largely immobile and lack this option,” said ... a researcher ... who studies how social insects such as ants fight diseases collectively as superorganisms, in a statement. ..."

"Ant colonies operate as tightly coordinated “superorganisms” with individual ants working together, much like the cells of a body, to ensure colony health. Researchers ... have now discovered that terminally ill ant brood, like infected cells in a body, release an odor signaling their impending death and the risk they pose. This sophisticated early warning system facilitates rapid detection and removal of pathogenic infections. ...

Upon receiving the signal, worker ants respond swiftly by unpacking the terminally ill pupae from their cocoon, creating small openings in their body surface and applying their antimicrobial poison, formic acid, which functions as a self-produced disinfectant. While this treatment immediately kills the pathogens multiplying inside the pupa, it also results in the pupa’s own demise. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sick individuals often conceal their disease status to group members, thereby preventing social exclusion or aggression. Here we show by behavioural, chemical, immunological and infection load analyses that sick ant pupae instead actively emit a chemical signal that in itself is sufficient to trigger their own destruction by colony members.

In our experiments, this altruistic disease-signalling was performed only by worker but not queen pupae. The lack of signalling by queen pupae did not constitute cheating behaviour, but reflected their superior immune capabilities. Worker pupae suffered from extensive pathogen replication whereas queen pupae were able to restrain their infection.
Our data suggest the evolution of a finely-tuned signalling system in which it is not the induction of an individual’s immune response, but rather its failure to overcome the infection, that triggers pupal signalling for sacrifice. This demonstrates a balanced interplay between individual and social immunity that efficiently achieves whole-colony health."

Sick, Immobile Young Ants Send “Kill Me” Signal to Colony Workers | The Scientist "Cocooned ants infected with a deadly fungus call on workers to kill them to protect the colony—the first example of altruistic disease signaling in social insects."

Ants Signal Deadly Infection (original news release) "Early disease detection in the colony: Ants signal incurable sickness to save others"

Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies (open access)

Thousands of years ago bees burrowed into bones of rodents left over by predators

Amazing stuff, but bizarre!

"Thousands of years ago on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, a family of giant prehistoric owls feasted on chunky rodents known as hutias, regurgitating the bones onto the floor of their cave. These grisly leftovers, scientists report in a new study, turned out to be prime real estate for bees.

When researchers excavated Cueva de Mono, a tarantula-infested cave in what is now the southern Dominican Republic, they often found thousands of fossilized skulls and other bones belonging to an extinct species of hutia. Some of the rodent jawbones had smooth, cup-shaped structures lodged in the tooth sockets. These strange deposits bore a striking resemblance to the nests of modern bees, and some even contained grains of ancient pollen. The finding, a paleontological first ..."

From the abstract:

"Bees (Anthophila) are well known for their species and remarkable behavioural diversity, ranging from solitary taxa that nest in burrows to eusocial species that construct highly compartmentalized nests. This nesting variation is partially documented in the fossil record through ichnofossils dating from the Cretaceous to the Holocene.

Here, we report a novel nesting behaviour based on ichnofossils recovered from a late Quaternary cave deposit in Hispaniola. Isolated brood cells, described here as Osnidum almontei ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., were found inside cavities of vertebrate remains, including mandibular alveoli, pulp chamber and vertebral canal of mammals.
Cell size, morphology and smooth inner walls indicate that the tracemaker was a medium-sized burrowing bee likely from the family Halictidae. Micro-computed tomography scans of the host bones show multi-generational use of the same cavity, suggesting repeated use and some degree of nest fidelity.
Similarly, the high abundance of nests throughout the deposit indicated that this cave was used for a long period as a nesting aggregation area by this solitary bee. The use of vertebrate remains in cave soils represents a poorly documented behaviour in modern bees and may reflect the scarcity of suitable soil substrates in a karstic landscape dominated by denuded limestone."

ScienceAdviser

 

Ancient Bees Burrowed Inside Bones, Fossils Reveal "Bones of now extinct species became a haven for bee babies thousands of years ago, scientists report in a first-of-its-kind discovery"

Trace fossils within mammal remains reveal novel bee nesting behaviour (open access)

Fig. 1 (a) Map of cave locality in the Dominican Republic. Purple diamond represents Cueva de Mono.
(b) Photograph of heavily vegetated landscape outside Cueva de Mono.
(c) Photograph of active excavation of Cueva de Mono sediment.
(d) Photograph of entrance to Cueva de Mono.

Fig. 3 CT scan and photograph images of left dentary of Plagiodontia araeum ... and type specimen of the ichnofossil Osnidum almontei.
(a–b) Dentary in occlusal view.
(a) Photograph.
(b) CT scan.
(c) Cross-section view in anterior view from CT scan, highlighting ichnofossil cells with white arrows.
(d) Cross-section view in lateral view from CT scan.
(e) Cross-section view in occlusal view from CT scan.
(f–h) Dentary in lingual view.
(f) Photograph.
(g) Non-transparent view from CT scan.
(h) Transparent view from CT scan, highlighting ichnofossil cell in tan.
(i) Isolated infilling of ichnofossil cell, white lines = maximum cell height and width.
(j) Isolated aperture opening of ichnofossil cell, white line = maximum aperture width.

Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared

Amazing stuff!

Unfortunately, Google and Bing did not find any image of the antennae of these beetles! Very disappointing in the age of AI! I have also looked at least at half a dozen different articles about this subject, but none of the articles had any such images.

"To attract their pollinators, plants have long produced vivid flowers—but the [plants were not] always so colorful. Long before flowers arose and the first bees and butterflies flitted about, palmlike plants called cycads offered a different kind of lure to insects: cones that heat up to act as thermal beacons to their beetle pollinators.

Now, scientists have discovered that beetles detect these beacons with tiny infrared sensors in their antennae. ... that infrared radiation attracts these beetle pollinators.

Plants have evolved the ability to produce heat about a dozen times, always in their reproductive structures. The heat can be considerable. To attract pollinators in late winter, the eastern skunk cabbage raises its temperature by more than 30°C. Naomi Pierce, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, recalls seeing cycads at night for the first time with an infrared camera.  ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Plants have evolved an astonishing repertoire of signals to lure pollinators. Although color and scent are well-established pollination signals, some plants also produce heat. Valencia-Montoya et al. discovered that plant-produced heat is an early pollination signal and describe the molecular basis of both heat generation in cycads and heat sensing in beetle antennae (see the Perspective by Glover and Webb). By integrating detailed molecular analysis with field documentation of pollination, this study reveals an ancient sensory channel in plant-pollinator communication and contributes to elucidating the early evolution of pollination. ...

Abstract

Color and scent are well-known pollinator cues. Some plants also produce heat, but its role remains unclear.

Here, we report that plant-generated thermal infrared radiation serves as a pollination signal and describe the underlying mechanisms of heat production and infrared detection.

Mitochondrial adaptations heat plant reproductive structures in a circadian pattern, radiating infrared that is sufficient to attract beetle pollinators.

Beetle antennae contain infrared-activated neurons with thermosensitive ion channels that are structurally tuned to match host plant thermogenesis. Comparative analyses revealed that infrared is among the earliest pollination signals, and indicate a deep-time transition from infrared-based to color-dominated signaling in flowering plants.

Our findings uncover an ancient sensory modality shaping the early evolution of pollination, one of the world’s most vital processes linking plants and animals."

Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared | Science | AAAS "Pollinators’ antennae act like thermal cameras to spot self-heating plants"

Infrared radiation is an ancient pollination signal (no public access)

A thermal image of two male cones of the cycad Zamia furfuracea. The cones heat up during pollen release. Some areas of the cones can heat differentially, and these patterns serve as pollination guides. (Source)

What Happens When a Fly Lands on Your Food?

It leaves nasty footprints! Shit happens! Kill or be killed! Caution: satire!

Caveat: I did not read this article!

What Happens When a Fly Lands on Your Food? | The Scientist "Flies carrying disease-causing microbes will likely contaminate the food they touch, but different factors determine whether the person who eats it will get sick."

Cockroaches release indoor allergens

Cockroaches are more nasty than we have previously known!

"The presence of cockroaches, particularly in lower-income urban households, is a known risk factor associated with the development of allergies or asthma among children. However, a causal relationship between cockroach presence and levels of endotoxins in homes was unclear. Kakumanu et al. addressed this with laboratory assays from apartments in North Carolina. They found that roach feces, especially from females, increased allergen and endotoxin levels in homes. Compared with bedrooms, kitchens had more allergens because they provided the main sources of food for roaches. Importantly, when exterminators eliminated the pests, air quality greatly improved, illustrating the need for effective pest control to protect children’s health."

From the abstract:

"Background

Cockroach allergens are well recognized as important risk factors in the development and prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma in children, especially in low-income urban households. The German cockroach gut hosts a diverse community of highly abundant microbes, including gram-negative bacteria that shed large amounts of endotoxins in cockroach feces.

Objective

We sought to delineate the causal relationship between the presence of cockroaches in homes and levels of household endotoxins.

Methods

In laboratory assays, we measured the amount of endotoxin produced by cockroaches.

In-home monitoring estimated the size of the cockroach population in each home and quantified cockroach allergen Bla g 2 and endotoxin levels in household dust and on heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) filters. An environmental intervention was implemented in a subset of the infested homes to eliminate cockroaches. Bla g 2 and endotoxin levels were quantified for 6 months after the intervention.

Results

Large amounts of endotoxin are excreted by female (2900 endotoxin units [EU]/mg feces) and male (1400 EU/mg) cockroaches.

At baseline, household dust and HVAC filters in infested homes had significantly higher levels of allergen (Bla g 2) and endotoxin than uninfested homes. Environmental intervention resulted in significant declines in cockroaches as well as allergen and endotoxin levels. In contrast, cockroach numbers and allergen and endotoxin concentrations remained high in infested-control homes.

Conclusions

Cockroaches are a significant source of both endotoxins and potent allergens, potentially resulting in coexposure of asthmatic children to both."

In Other Journals | Science

Indoor allergens and endotoxins in relation to cockroach infestations in low-income urban homes

A miniscule tracker to track individual Monarch butterflies on their long migration

Amazing stuff!

"Cellular Tracking Technologies, a wildlife-tracking hardware company, has built radio tags light enough to ride on a Monarch butterfly, letting scientists track individual insects across their long migration routes."

"... The breakthrough is the result of a tiny solar-powered radio tag that weighs just 60 milligrams and sells for $200. Researchers have tagged more than 400 monarchs this year and are now following their journeys on a cellphone app created by the New Jersey-based company that makes the tags, Cellular Tracking Technologies."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies

Revolutionary Tracking Study Follows Monarch Butterflies from Canada to Mexico Using Groundbreaking Technology and Continent-Wide Collaboration (original press release) "Over 400 ultra-light transmitters deployed by over 20 partner organizations deliver unprecedented, individual-level view of monarch migration using dedicated receivers and crowd-sourced location networks"

Project Monarch Collaboration 2025

The transmitter is hard to see. I suspect it is the tiny black object behind the head of the butterfly.

How parasitic ants take over entire ant colonies via matricide

What a horror story about ant colonies! Don't exclusively trust your sense of smell!

"The queen is dead, long live the queen!

After disguising herself and sneaking behind enemy lines, an invader manipulates a group of loyal subjects into attacking and murdering their own queen. She flees the scene of the crime, returning later to institute a new regime—with herself as matriarch. ... a fairly typical life cycle for some parasitic ant species.

Lasius orientalis and L. umbratus, which take over colonies belonging to related ant species rather than founding their own, are what’s known as temporary social parasites. And as scientists report in Current Biology, they follow the same gruesome playbook .

The parasitic queen ant first avoids suspicion by mingling with host workers, cloaking herself with the characteristic scents of the colony. After locating the host queen, the invader douses her with multiple jets of a foul-smelling abdominal fluid. This substance likely contains formic acid, which masks the queen’s natural odor and makes her smell like an enemy—thus transforming her “from mother to menace,” ...

While the intruder beats a hasty retreat, the host queen’s subjects attack and dispose of their unfortunate ruler, who is, biologically speaking, also their mother. The parasitic queen then returns to lay eggs and take control of the workers, who serve their new queen until they die."

From the abstract:

"Matricide — the killing of a mother by her own genetic offspring — is rarely observed in nature, but not unheard-of. Among animal species in which offspring remain with their mothers, the benefits gained from maternal care are so substantial that eliminating the mother almost never pays, making matricide vastly rarer than infanticide.

Here, we report matricidal behavior in two ant species, Lasius flavus and Lasius japonicus, where workers kill resident queens (their mothers) after the latter have been sprayed with abdominal fluid by parasitic ant queens of the ants Lasius orientalis and Lasius umbratus."

ScienceAdviser

This parasitic ant tricks workers into killing their own queen "Scientists capture a unique—and gruesome—example of matricide in the animal kingdom"

Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers (open access)

Ants around two similar looking smelling "queens"

After infiltrating a colony and disguising her scent, an invading Lasius orientalis queen (black) sprays a L. flavus host queen (brown) with abdominal fluid—tricking the host workers into attacking and killing their own queen.

Figure 1 Behavioural sequences of two socially parasitic queens causing unwitting matricide by host workers.

Bees learn to read simple visual cues to distinguish reward and dislike

Amazing stuff!

"Researchers ... have shown for the first time that an insect—the bumblebee Bombus terrestris—can decide where to forage for food based on different durations of visual cues. ..."

"... In Morse code, a short duration flash or ‘dot’ denotes a letter ‘E’ and a long duration flash, or ‘dash’, means letter ‘T’. Until now, the ability to discriminate between ‘dot’ and ‘dash’ has been seen only in humans and other vertebrates such as macaques or pigeons. ...

They built a special maze to train individual bees to find a sugar reward at one of two flashing circles, shown with either a long or short flash duration. For instance, when the short flash, or ‘dot’, was associated with sugar, then the long flash, or ‘dash’, was instead associated with a bitter substance that bees dislike.  

At each room in the maze, the position of the ‘dot’ and ‘dash’ stimulus was changed, so that bees could not rely on spatial cues to orient their choices. After bees learned to go straight to the flashing circle paired with the sugar, they were tested with flashing lights but no sugar present, to check whether bees’ choices were driven by the flashing light, rather than by olfactory or visual cues present in the sugar.   

It was clear the bees had learnt to tell the light apart based on their duration, as most of them went straight to the ‘correct’ flashing light duration previously associated with sugar, irrespective of spatial location of the stimulus. 

Bees showed "remarkable" ability to learn light patterns ...

“Since bees don’t encounter flashing stimuli in their natural environment, it’s remarkable that they could succeed at this task. The fact that they could track the duration of visual stimuli might suggest an extension of a time processing capacity that has evolved for different purposes, such as keeping track of movement in space or communication. 

“Alternatively, this surprising ability to encode and process time duration might be a fundamental component of the nervous system that is intrinsic in the properties of neurons. Only further research will be able to address this issue.” 

The neural mechanisms involved in the ability to keep track of time for these durations remain mostly unknown, as the mechanisms discovered for entraining with the daylight cycle (circadian rhythms) and seasonal changes are too slow to explain the ability to differentiate between a ‘dash’ and a ‘dot’ with different duration. ..."

From the abstract:

"The ability to process temporal information is crucial for animal activities like foraging, mating and predator avoidance. While circadian rhythms have been extensively studied, there is limited knowledge regarding how insects process durations in the range of seconds and sub-seconds.

We aimed to assess bumblebees’ (Bombus terrestris) ability to differentiate the durations of flashing lights in a free-foraging task. Bees were trained to associate either the long- or short-duration stimulus with a sugar reward versus an unpalatable solution until reaching a criterion and then tested without sucrose solution with the same stimuli.

In experiment 1, we tested the ability to discriminate between a long stimulus (2.5 or 5 s) versus a short stimulus (0.5 or 1 s). The bees learned to discriminate between the two stimuli.

To check whether bees solved the task without using the absolute difference in proximal stimulation as a cue, we ran a second experiment.

In experiment 2, the flashing stimuli were presented for the same total amount of time in a cycle. Bees could discriminate between durations when the amount of stimulation in each presentation cycle was the same.

This shows general learning abilities in bumblebees, that can discriminate second/sub-second intervals in visual flashing stimuli."

Bees learn to read simple 'Morse code'

Bees learn to read simple ‘Morse code’ (original news release)

Duration discrimination in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (open access)

Fig. 1 Experimental apparatus and temporal patterns of light stimuli.

A Bumblebee's optimism is contagious to other bumblebees

Amazing stuff!

"... This phenomenon, known as affective contagion, had previously been demonstrated in a variety of social animals—but only ones with bones. Meanwhile, wee bumblebees have demonstrated remarkable cognitive complexity, including different emotional states, learning by watching, and even a penchant for play. So, researchers wondered if these bees might similarly pick up on their hive members’ vibes.

They trained bees to associate certain colored flowers with a food reward, then put some of them in a good mood by giving them an extra sugary treat. The bees that received this yummy bonus more readily landed on ambiguously colored flowers, indicating they were feeling optimistic about getting a treat. But so, too, did bees that simply observed their fellow insects excitedly rushing towards these flowers. ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Being able to adopt a knowledgeable conspecific’s perspective is highly adaptive. Likely for this reason, emotional contagion, or the spread of emotion from one individual to another, is widely distributed among vertebrates. Such an ability, however, would also be adaptive in nonvertebrates, especially those that are social. Whether insect brains are capable of such coordination has been unknown. Romero-González et al. looked at this behavior in bumble bees, whose tiny, but seemingly mighty, brains have already been shown capable of many unexpected cognitive feats. They found that a demonstrator’s positive attitude toward the potential for a reward was readily picked up by an observer. ...

Abstract

Affective contagion, a core component of empathy, has been widely characterized in social vertebrates but its existence in any invertebrate is unknown. Using a cognitive bias paradigm we demonstrate positive affective contagion in bumble bees.

After being trained on colored flowers with different reinforcements, bees that interacted with a conspecific in a positive affective state were quicker and more likely than controls to land on ambiguous colored flowers, indicating the transfer of a positive judgment bias between bees.

Additional observations and experiments showed that affect could be transmitted between bees without physical contact, i.e., through visual modality alone. Our findings suggest that affective contagion may be an evolutionarily widespread mechanism present in both social vertebrates and social insects."

ScienceAdviser

Positive affective contagion in bumble bees (no public access)

The Bee Lab At Southern Medical University, China