Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Pumping Venom: Valvilli Architecture and Implications for Stinger Functionality

This study characterizes the internal structure of ant valvilli using imaging techniques, revealing non-uniform morphology and movement patterns that challenge existing models of stinger functionality.

Adaptive Cell Size, Merging, Tilting, and Layering in Honeybee Comb Construction

This study investigates honeybee comb construction strategies in response to varying cell sizes, identifying three distinct modes: merging, tilting, and layering.

Evolution and Regulation of Decoupled Dimorphic Scaling Patterns in Ants

The paper reveals decoupled allometric scaling patterns in ant castes and shows how social and developmental factors influence trait-body covariation.

Juvenile Hormone Signalling Underlies the Switchpoint and Differentiation of Soldiers in Camponotus floridanus

This study identifies a juvenile hormone-mediated switchpoint for minor worker to soldier differentiation in Camponotus floridanus and characterizes the JH signaling pathway involved.

Identification of the trail-following pheromone receptor in termites

The paper identifies PsimOR14 as the trail-following pheromone receptor in termites by functionally characterizing it using single sensillum recording and molecular dynamics simulations.

Exposure to non-nestmate odours changes the odorant receptor profile in Acromyrmex echinatior ants

This study shows that exposure to non-nestmate odours alters the odorant receptor profile in Acromyrmex echinatior ants, suggesting a peripheral mechanism for colony-specific olfactory adaptation.

Improving allometric models to estimate the proboscis length of tropical bees

The paper develops new allometric equations to estimate proboscis length in tropical bees, finding that existing temperate models lack accuracy for tropical species.

Taxonomic Diversity of Ants (Formicidae) in Forest Fragments of Tropical Dry Forest in Atlantico, Colombia

This study documents ant taxonomic diversity in tropical dry forest fragments of Atlantico, Colombia, highlighting differences in species composition and identifying El Morro as a key conservation site.

Host and Microbe Scale Processes Shape Spatial Variation in Aphaenogaster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Genetics and Their Microbiota

This study examines how host and microbe-scale environmental selection and dispersal shape genetic and microbiota variation in Aphaenogaster ants across space.

Observation of tandem running behavior in mating pairs of Asian dampwood termite, Hodotermopsis sjostedti

This study observes tandem running behavior in mating pairs of Asian dampwood termite, Hodotermopsis sjostedti, showing leader roles and coordination effects of dish size.

Dietary Resilience of Termite Gut Microbiota and Enzymatic Function Reflects Feeding Strategy

This study compares the gut microbiota and enzymatic responses of two termite species to dietary shifts, finding that a polyphagous species maintains stable microbial communities and enzymatic profiles, while a specialist shows reduced enzymatic activity and transcriptional suppression under altered diets.

Foraging Ants as Liquid Brains: Movement Heterogeneity Shapes Collective Efficiency

This study uses a liquid brain framework to show that ant foraging efficiency arises from a simple feedback mechanism modulated by two movement behaviors.

Envenomation leads to venom protein reduction and recovery delay in bumblebee workers

This study examines proteomic changes in bumblebee venom sacs after envenomation, finding reduced venom proteins and delayed recovery, suggesting molecular costs of venom usage.

Dual strategies in ant social immunity: Chemical diversity and pathogen specificity in antimicrobial defense

This study investigates how ants use chemically diverse and pathogen-specific antimicrobial compounds to combat disease in social settings, finding that five out of six tested species inhibit the drug-resistant fungus Candida auris.

Nest attributes influence choice accuracy, but not decision speed in acorn ants

This study examines how nest attributes affect decision accuracy and speed in acorn ants, finding no effect on speed but increased accuracy with more attributes.

Variation in social organization and supergene control along a latitudinal gradient

The paper examines how environmental variation affects the distribution of phenotypic and genetic traits in the ant species Formica podzolica, revealing variation in supergene haplotype frequencies and phenotypic mismatches along a latitudinal gradient.

High environmental temperatures put nest excavation by ants on fast forward: they dig the same nests, faster.

This study shows that higher temperatures increase the digging rate of ants but do not alter the shape of their nests.

Pollen diet, more than geographic distance, shapes provision microbiome composition in two species of cavity-nesting bees

The study shows that pollen diet, not geographic distance, primarily shapes the microbiome composition in provisions of two cavity-nesting bee species.

Are ant-plant mutualisms stronger at lower latitudes? A case study using the castor plant in the Indian subcontinent

This study examines ant-plant mutualism strength across a latitudinal gradient in India, finding stronger mutualism at lower latitudes but increased herbivory, contradicting the Biotic Interactions Hypothesis.

Genetic mapping in the red mason bee implicates ANTSR as an ancient sex-determining locus in bees and ants

The paper maps a CSD locus in the red mason bee, identifies ANTSR as the sex-determining gene, and suggests it is an ancient locus in Hymenoptera.

Landscape-wide metabarcoding of the invasive bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) shows interactions among the gut microbiome and pollenbiome

This study uses metabarcoding to analyze how environmental and nutritional factors influence the gut microbiome of invasive bumblebees in Tasmania.

Navigating in clutter: How bumblebees optimize flight behaviour through experience

This study shows that experienced bumblebees optimize flight in cluttered environments through learning, not just reflexes, as transparent obstacles affect naive bees more than experienced ones.

Dispersal behavior rather than dispersal morphology creates social polymorphism in Formica ants

This study shows that dispersal behavior, not morphology, drives social polymorphism in Formica ants, suggesting a 'behavior first' evolutionary mechanism.

Easternmost distribution of Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax, du Buysson 1905) in Slovakia: Urgent need for advanced detection and interregional monitoring

The paper confirms the presence of the invasive Asian hornet in Slovakia using molecular analysis and radio telemetry, emphasizing the need for improved detection and monitoring.

Adaptive decision-making by ants in response to past, imminent, and predicted adversity

This study shows that ants use internal states to modulate beacon-aiming behavior in response to past, imminent, and predicted adverse substrate conditions.

Density-dependent spatial patterns and habitat associations of a dominant desert ant

This study examines how environmental changes affect the spatial distribution and density of Pheidole bergi ant colonies in the Monte desert, finding density-dependent patterns and shifts in colony interactions over time.

Male attraction to short-range multimodal gyne signals in bumble bees

This study investigates short-range multimodal signals from gynes in bumble bees and finds that visual cues and pheromones are essential for male attraction and mating.

Comprehensive Analysis of RFID Performance of the iID BEEscience system

This paper evaluates the performance of the iID BEEscience RFID system in tracking bees, finding high accuracy in controlled and field settings with some limitations in high-density scenarios.

Monitoring free-living honeybee colonies in Germany: Insights into habitat preferences, survival rates, and Citizen Science reliability

This study monitors free-living honeybee colonies in Germany, finding differences in nesting preferences and survival rates between personal monitoring and Citizen Science, with notable reporting biases in the latter.

Are you my mother?: When host genetics and gut microbiota tell different phylogenetic stories in the Africanized honey bee hybrid (Apis mellifera scutellata x sspp.)

The paper compares gut microbiota of African, European, and Africanized honey bees, finding that despite genetic dominance of African genes in Africanized bees, their gut microbiota is more similar to European bees due to social and environmental transmission.