Approximately 61 percent of the world's 356 turtle species are threatened or already extinct, and the decline could have ecological consequences.
These findings are according to a paper in the journal BioScience synthesizing the global status of turtles and their ecological roles by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, University of California,...
Beetle adapts chemical mimicry to parasitize different bee species
A beetle that tricks bees into carrying it into their nests where it can live off their pollen, nectar and eggs adapts its deceptions to local hosts, according to research by Leslie Saul-Gershenz, a graduate student in entomology at UC Davis.
Aggregations of the larvae of Meloe franciscanus beetles lure male digger bees (genus Habropoda) with...
Health of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem
A Montana State University study of Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area shows that increased population and density, as well as a changing climate, are affecting the overall ecological health of the region.
"The study quantified trends in the condition of 35 ecological 'vital signs' dealing with snow, rivers, forests, fire, wildlife and fish," said...
Bioinformaticians examine new genes the moment they are born
As most of us have learned at school, organisms evolve gradually due to the accumulation of many small genetic changes known as point mutations. Over millions of years, these mutations occur in the duplicated copies of established genes, occasionally contributing useful properties of their own. For decades it was considered inconceivable that completely novel genes...
Virus may help combat fire ants, but caution is needed
Native to South America, "red imported fire ants" were introduced accidentally into the United States in the early 20th century. These ants subsequently invaded other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, and more recently, Japan and South Korea.
A survey in Japan and Korea has revealed that fire ants are mostly confined to areas in...
Total of 21 new parasitoid wasps following the first ever revision of their genus
As many as twenty-one species of parasitoid wasps are described as new to science, following the first ever revision of their genus since its establishment back in 1893.
The study simultaneously updates the count of species within the genus (Chromoteleia) to 27 in total, produces a systematic revision of the world's representatives of this group of...