Ecology & Zoology

Reading Bat Droppings

The Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale) is a bat species that, which the name implies, occurs in the Mediterranean region and Balkan peninsula. Unfortunately, the populations of these bats are declining. Conservation efforts have so far focu ...

Blog Post - Chris Jacobs - Oct 17 2015 - 7:54am

Wasps Instead Of Pesticides: How Horse Owners Can Manage Flies

Horses need help when it comes to insect pests like flies but many horse owners are in the dark about how best to effectively manage it. A new overview of equine fly management in the latest issue of the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, an open-acce ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 25 2015 - 7:48am

Bees: 'We're More Complicated Than You Think'

Chemical signaling among social insects, such as bees, ants and wasps, is more complex than previously thought, according to researchers whose results refute the idea that a single group of chemicals controls reproduction across numerous species. ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 21 2015 - 1:07pm

Ancient Safety Valve Linking Pollen To Bacteria Discovered

Like seeds, pollen loses most of its water during maturation, entering a state of suspended animation. This allows it to survive its journey from male to female organs of a flower, where it is rehydrated by sugary fluids secreted by the female organ, and ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2015 - 4:57pm

Elephants Blamed For Tree Losses In African Nature Reserve

Nature reserves and national parks play a crucial role in sheltering wildlife, such as African elephants, from hunting and habitat destruction, but they have no problem at all exhausting the wildlife around them. Researchers have examined the effect eleph ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 29 2015 - 4:19pm

Why Some Insects Kill Their Mothers

One day a few years ago, while working on wasps in a rainforest in Costa Rica, entomologist Kevin J. Loope, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside, began reading about the enigmatic matricidal behavior of some social insects. ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 5 2015 - 7:00am

Mufasa Or Scar? Leadership Clues From The Animal Kingdom

As the American media continues to speculate, analyze and in some cases choose the Republican and Democratic nominations for U.S. President, researchers in the journal Trends in Ecology&Evolution review the nature of leadership- at least in a set of s ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 6:25pm

We Can Start A Biblical Plague With Three Locusts

From the Biblical plagues of Egypt to a major infestation in Madacasgar two years ago, locust swarms have caused chaos throughout history. Just one swarm can cover 20% of the land surface of the Earth, affecting the livelihood of 10% of the world’s popula ...

Article - The Conversation - Nov 9 2015 - 7:30am

Marine Fungi Inhabit Previously Undescribed Branches Of The Tree Of Life

Researchers have discovered several new species of marine fungi inhabiting previously undescribed branches of the tree of life. Though there is always talk about what little we do know going extinct, little is known about species on land, now or in the pa ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 18 2015 - 7:00am

Why Mice Have Longer Sperm Than Elephants

In the animal world, if several males mate with the same female, their sperm compete to fertilize her limited supply of eggs. And longer sperm seem to have a competitive advantage, but even when it comes to sperm the size of the animals matter. The larger ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 19 2015 - 7:50pm