Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

The paper identifies enhancer activity differences between social and solitary populations of Lasioglossum albipes, linking cis-regulatory variation to social behavior evolution.

The paper compares cuticular hydrocarbon profiles across six European honey bee subspecies to assess adaptation to climate and social roles, finding subspecies-specific differences and task-related variations.

The paper observes orchid bees collecting non-floral scents for perfume and notes their role in sexual communication and nest construction.

This study compares navigation behaviors in 15 ant species, finding that olfactory navigation is dominant, path integration is limited to arboreal ants, and view-based navigation is influenced by body size and eye size.

This study investigates how Australian desert ants learn and navigate during colony relocation, finding that relearning walks at both old and new nests are critical for successful relocation and foraging.

This study examines how social complexity in termites affects natural selection efficiency by analyzing dN/dS ratios across Blattodea species and termite transcriptomes.

This study shows that experienced Melophorus bagoti ants dump waste more efficiently and with spatial fidelity compared to naive ants, suggesting learning improves waste disposal and navigation.

This study develops a theoretical model showing that season length and development time can drive the emergence and coexistence of social and solitary behaviors in insects.

This study tests the thrifty phenotype hypothesis in carpenter ants, showing that caste structure adjusts plastically to environmental conditions.

The paper investigates whether honeybees use landscape memory from exploratory flights to estimate distance in their waggle dances, finding that landmark knowledge overrides optic flow in distance estimation.

This study evaluates in vitro rearing of Heterotrigona itama queens, finding similar body size to natural queens, developed reproductive organs, and comparable mating frequency.

This study shows that non-nutritive plant metabolites increase social interactions and reduce lifespan in turnip sawflies.

This study examines the impact of boric acid on the gut microbiome of Eastern subterranean termites, finding dose-dependent mortality and microbiome dysbiosis.

This study identifies genomic signatures of domestication in a fungus farmed by leafcutter ants using long-read sequencing, revealing gene expansions and losses linked to cultivation adaptation.

This study examines how human-induced changes in spider web architecture affect collective behavior and survival in social spiders.

This study shows ant queens eat infected larvae to stop disease spread and reuse nutrients for egg production.

This study examines how age, social role, and dietary protein affect fat synthesis in honey bees, finding that older bees and those with less protein have reduced fatty acid synthase activity.

This study shows that energy depletion during mate search in termites reduces their movement efficiency and selectivity in pairing.

This study shows that stronger sex pheromones in termites lead to more same-sex pairing, while weaker pheromones result in more accidental same-sex interactions.

The paper identifies lineage-specific sexually dimorphic antennal transcription patterns in Polistes fuscatus, highlighting differences from ants and honey bees.

This study shows that gut microbiota in honeybees affects the onset of foraging but not division of labor or associated physiological traits.

The paper describes a new trait in Lasius niger ants, where workers from the same nest complex show low aggression, promoting nest integrity and growth, but exhibit higher aggression towards workers from a distant monodomous population.

This study examines how red harvester ant nests affect soil compaction and temperature in suburban habitats, finding increased compaction but no temperature changes.

The study compares queen survival in pleometrotic groups from a hyper-dense and normal Lasius niger population, finding higher survival in the hyper-dense population.

The paper examines how group size, food availability, and food type affect social interaction networks in ants, finding increased compartmentalization with larger groups and limited storable food.

This study examines how bull ants respond to added odours on their foraging route, finding neophobic reactions and altered navigation behaviors.

This study shows that experienced dumpers in Melophorus bagoti ants are better oriented towards their nest than naive ones, indicating improved spatial knowledge from repeated dumping trips.

This study shows that ant colony demographics influence nest construction, with younger ants digging more and creating slanted tunnels, while older ants dig straight down after catastrophic events.

This study shows that age, not body size, primarily influences flight distance in bumble bees, with flight distance increasing six-fold between 7-14 days before declining at 21 days.

This study shows that invasive ants exposed to spinosad abandon food faster individually but collectively still prefer familiar odors, suggesting they do not develop conditioned taste aversion to the pesticide.