In the forests of California’s Sierra Nevada, nature takes a dark, cunning turn. There’s a species of red ant, Polyergus mexicanus, that doesn’t just fight its neighbours. It kidnaps not a few, but ...

The pupae are carried back to the red ant nest, and when they hatch, the kidnappers coat them in secretions from specialised glands. This bathes the captives in the scent of the colony, fooling them ...

本研究针对社会寄生蚂蚁在免疫防御策略上的演化机制展开探讨。研究人员通过比较专性寄生蚁Polyergus rufescens、兼性寄生蚁Formica sanguinea及其共同宿主Formica fusca对真菌病原体Metarhizium pingshaense的防御行为，发现寄生蚁通过剥削宿主免疫服务并调整自身防御投入来 ...

An illustration of a magnifying glass. An illustration of a magnifying glass.

National Harbor, Md. — Looking at face patterns in photos of more than 11,000 kinds of ants struck entomologist Clint Penick as a fine pandemic-lockdown project for his students. From that socially ...

I was an entomologist, and author known for the lively style of my popular books on the lives of insects. I was an entomologist, and author known for the lively style of my popular books on the lives ...

This article was originally published on Nov. 16, 2018. For 60 years, scientists observing Formica archboldi, a species of ant native to Florida, have documented something…odd. The ants’ underground ...

Ants are said to be social insects that form a huge colony of a small number of queen ants that are responsible for breeding, a large number of worker ants that are responsible for raising children ...

(via Kurzgesagt) Everything changed when the slaver nation attacked. What used to be a thriving colony is now a captured country. Slaves do the work, serving their new masters until they die, only to ...