ants

What Freezing Ants Can Tell Us About How Their Memory Works

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We humans are versatile and accomplished navigators, but insects might have navigation skills that are even better. For them, it’s literally a matter of life and death – and that’s why we decided to freeze some ants and beetles (don’t worry, they still survived) to learn more about how they remember their way home after … Read more

These Ants Can ‘Heal’ Wounded Trees in a Fascinating Symbiotic Relationship

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An accidental slingshot hit on a Cecropia tree in Panama has led to a surprising discovery: the Azteca alfari ants that live inside these trees are often ready to fix damage to their living homes.   When high schooler Alex Wcislo fired the 9 mm (0.35 inch) clay ball through the tree, leaving clean entry and exit … Read more

E. O. Wilson: The extraordinary ant researcher and sociobiologist who warned of biodiversity crisis

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By Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware Edward O. Wilson in his office in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, in 2014. Credit: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images E. O. Wilson was an extraordinary scholar in every sense of the word. Back in the 1980s, Milton Stetson, the chair of the biology department … Read more