Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

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.

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.

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.

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.

This study examines coevolution between a host and parasitic ant species across a climate gradient, revealing asymmetric genomic responses and shared adaptations to environmental pressures.

This study compares the visual physiology of two Australian stingless bee species, finding differences in contrast sensitivity but not spatial resolution.

This study investigates mound repair behavior in termites by creating breaches and observing repair dynamics, identifying light as a systemic cue that triggers repair through an extraocular mechanism.

This study investigates how bumblebees estimate height in 3D space using ventral optic flow and local/global cues during foraging.

This study shows that the temporary social parasite Lasius umbratus alters the nestmate discrimination patterns of its host L. japonicus through chemical mimicry.

This study investigates bumblebees' gustatory sensitivity to valine and lysine, finding valine detection at low concentrations but no response to lysine, suggesting receptor specificity.

The paper shows that uric acid accumulation in termite workers increases their susceptibility to infectious diseases by reducing reactive oxygen species levels, linking colony health to individual antioxidant balance.

This study shows that Japanese yellow hornets develop trapline foraging routes similar to bees and birds, optimizing flower visits over time without always taking the shortest path.

This study shows bumblebees adjust their flight altitude and orientation in dense environments to navigate and locate their nest more effectively.

The paper studies behavioral interactions between two ant species in the southeastern US, finding that D. smithi shows low aggression across sites, suggesting supercolony behavior, while D. bureni exhibits high aggression, and the species interact aggressively in pure nests.

The paper develops a SNP-based paternity assignment test to evaluate mating station effectiveness in honey bees and applies it to a specific location in Spain.

This study investigates the evolution of the ant olfactory system across the Formicidae phylogeny, revealing ancestral complexity and lineage-specific adaptations in olfactory pathways and recognition cue processing.

This study shows leaf-cutter ants use different cutting strategies based on leaf edge geometry, with scissor-cutting preferred for wide notches and knife-cutting for narrow ones, due to mechanical challenges.

The BumbleBox is an open-source platform for automated tracking and behavioral quantification of bumblebees using low-cost components, validated in Bombus impatiens.

The paper shows larval honey bees have reduced olfactory function and rely on taste for feeding, with downregulated olfactory receptor genes and upregulated gustatory receptor genes.

This study compares exploratory behavior and behavioral flexibility between male and female bumblebees, finding males more explorative and flexible in a learning task.

This study uses 16S rRNA sequencing to show that Xenos gadagkari parasitism replaces and homogenizes the microbiota of Polistes wattii, making it resemble that of strepsipterans.

This study investigates how dung beetle larvae modify their environment and assesses the impact on adult life-history traits, finding no benefit from conspecific modifications but faster development in heterospecific treatments.

The paper examines the role of a supergene haplotype in supercolonial Formica ants and finds it absent in supercolonial populations despite its association with polygyny.

This study examines DNA methylation patterns in different castes and developmental stages of the harvester ant P. californicus, finding significant variation and correlations with gene expression and metabolic activity.

This study examines how neuroanatomy and synaptic clusters influence behavioural plasticity in Argentine ants under varying environmental complexity.

This study examines gene expression of elongase- and desaturase-encoding genes in honey bees and links it to cuticular hydrocarbon profiles across task groups and subspecies.

This study shows that antibiotic exposure reduces social interactions in honeybees, disrupting collective fanning behavior.

The paper monitors swarming behavior of wild honeybee colonies to determine swarming rates and timing in a forest environment.

This study develops a lab-based method for rearing honey bee queens under controlled conditions and identifies factors like larval age and pollen nutrition affecting queen development.

This study shows that acorn ants socially learn navigational routes during tandem running and use them in future trips, with longer runs improving learning efficiency.