Symbiotic ants manipulate aphid reproduction rates to achieve a specific mix of green and red aphids, maintaining the inferior green aphids which produce the ants' favorite snack. Ants and aphids ...

This article is reposted from the old WordPress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. The blog is on holiday until the start of October, when I’ll return with fresh material. In your garden, ...

One of the major objectives in biology is to understand the factors and mechanisms that have led to the diversification of species on earth. Plant-feeding insects are the most diversified group of ...

Some ants treat their own infections by eating aphids containing an antiseptic ingredient. In previous laboratory experiments, silky ants (Formica fusca) with fungal infections chose to eat food laced ...

Does it ever seem that you look at one of the plants in your garden and it’s totally fine, and then the next time you look at it, it’s covered with aphids? That could be because aphid populations can ...

Aphids massed on brand-new buds is the gardening version of a leaky tap: small, constant, maddening. You watch the tight green spirals get sticky. Ants show up like tiny bouncers. And there you are, ...

You might want to leave those pesty little ants in your garden alone. New research says the tiny creatures are more effective than pesticides in helping farmers grow bountiful crops. The study ...

Late October in the Northland is a remarkable time. The leaf drop earlier in the month has changed the landscape. And, for the next seven months, we will be viewing the trees without their green ...