Animals
- Animals
Unway Sign: Ant pheromone stops traffic
Researchers have found a new kind of traffic sign on ant trails, a chemical "Do not enter" that keeps foragers from wasting their time on paths that don't lead to food.
- Animals
Tszzzzzt! Electric fish may jam rivals’ signals
An electric fish appears to sabotage a rival's electric signals as a fight starts. With Audio and Video.
- Animals
Yikes! The Moon! Bat lunar phobia may come from slim pickings
A study of creatures that fly around at night suggests that scarce food may account for why some bats avoid hunting under a full moon.
- Animals
Beyond Falsetto: Do mice sing at ultrasonic frequencies?
Male mice may serenade prospective mates at pitches about two octaves higher than the shrillest sounds audible to the human ear. With Audio.
- Animals
Great Galloping Crinoids: Lilylike sea animal takes a brisk walk
A sea creature called a stalked crinoid may look as motionless as a flower on a stem but a video has revealed it practically jogging across the ocean floor. Video.
- Animals
Cool Birds
Emperor penguins go to such extremes to cope with life in Antarctica that they've inspired interesting science as well as a hit movie.
- Animals
Proxy Vampire: Spider eats blood by catching mosquitoes
Researchers studying food preferences among spiders report finding the first one with a taste for vertebrate blood.
- Animals
Baited camera snaps first live giant squid
For the first time, researchers have photographed a living giant squid in the wild.
- Animals
Looks Matter: If swallows aren’t spiffy, mates’ fidelity is iffy
If a male barn swallow's plumage is more attractive than that of other males, his mate is less likely to have furtive flings with other wooers.
- Animals
Balls of Fire: Bees carefully cook invaders to death
Honeybees that defend their colonies by killing wasps with body heat come within 5 degrees C of cooking themselves in the process.
- Animals
Perfect Match: Tied contest gives fish no hormone rush
A male fish produces a burst of hormones as he fights off an intruder, but this surge isn't triggered simply by fighting.
- Animals
Bumblebee 007: Bees can spy on others’ flower choices
Bumblebees that watched their neighbors feast on unusual flowers often later checked out the same kinds of blossoms themselves, a behavior that amounts to social learning.
