The Macropis Cuckoo Bee is one of the rarest bees in North America, partly because of its specialized ecological associations. It is a nest parasite of oil-collecting bees of the genus Macropis which, in turn, are dependent on oil-producing flowers of the genus Lysimachia.
In fact, the cuckoo bee -- which much like its feather-bearing counterpart...
Plants play greater role than megaherbivore extinctions in changes to ecosystem structure
Plants may have exerted greater influence on our terrestrial ecosystems than the megaherbivores that used to roam our landscapes, according to new research.
Previously, scientists believed that the Late Quaternary extinction event, which took place between ~11,000 and 15,000 years ago across much of northern Europe, played a significant role in the subsequent expansion of woody...
Newly identified bacteria may help bees nourish their young
A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside have isolated three previously unknown bacterial species from wild bees and flowers. The bacteria, which belong to the genus Lactobacillus, may play a role in preserving the nectar and pollen that female bees store in their nests as food for their larvae.
The results were published...
Healthy soil lifts animal weight
Individual pastures on livestock farms yield surprisingly dissimilar benefits to a farm's overall agricultural income, and those differences are most likely attributable to the varying levels of "soil health" provided by its grazing livestock, reveals a study published today.
The study, produced by an interdisciplinary team of 13 scientists and two PhD students from Rothamsted Research,...
Crowded urban areas have fewer songbirds per person
People in crowded urban areas -- especially poor areas -- see fewer songbirds such as tits and finches, and more potential "nuisance" birds, such as pigeons, magpies and gulls, new research shows.
The University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology examined ratios of birds-to-people and found areas of high-density housing have fewer birds overall...
Extremely fast dives help peregrine falcons maneuver to catch agile prey
Computer simulations of peregrine falcon attacks show that the extreme speeds reached during dives from high altitudes enhance the raptors' ability to execute maneuvers needed to nab agile prey that would otherwise escape. Robin Mills and colleagues of the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and Oxford University, UK, report this discovery in PLOS Computational Biology.
By attaching...