With support from the National Geographic Society, National Geographic Explorer Andrew Suarez’s team used 3-D X-ray imaging and high-speed cameras to unravel the anatomy of these unusual ant chops.
... When it rains, it pours—and to escape the deluge, some ants build floating rafts. Though scientists already knew about this strategy, little was known about the insects’ decisions behind their raft-building process. Now a study published February 19 in PLOS ONE shows that flood ants (Formica selysi) that live in the floodplains of Switzerland work together to protect...
By Ker Than Tropical leafcutter ants don’t need to stop and ask for directions—they have internal magnetic compasses that help them navigate. Now, scientists have figured out just how the insects get their “sixth sense,” which is also found in an increasing number of animals, including birds, bats, and rodents. (See “5 Amazing Animal Navigators.”)...
By Ker Than Tropical leafcutter ants don’t need to stop and ask for directions—they have internal magnetic compasses that help them navigate. Now, scientists have figured out just how the insects get their “sixth sense,” which is also found in an increasing number of animals, including birds, bats, and rodents. (See “5 Amazing Animal Navigators.”)...
What might be the best-titled research paper of the year comes to us courtesy of researchers at the University of Copenhagen, an investigation entitled “Chemically armed mercenary ants protect fungus-farming societies.” Have you got your popcorn ready? It’s a tale of three species. We begin with a fungus-growing ant called Sericomyrmex amabilis found in the tropical...
What might be the best-titled research paper of the year comes to us courtesy of researchers at the University of Copenhagen, an investigation entitled “Chemically armed mercenary ants protect fungus-farming societies.” Have you got your popcorn ready? It’s a tale of three species. We begin with a fungus-growing ant called Sericomyrmex amabilis found in the tropical...
The devil’s in the details when it comes to fearsome-looking ant species found recently in Central America and the Caribbean. When viewed under a microscope, some of these 33 new tiny terrors have distinctly fierce jaws and sharp teeth not seen in related ants, according to Jack Longino, an entomologist at the University of Utah. “You...