Ecosystems

Ecosystems

Dining: Bugged on Thanksgiving

Earlier this week, I met with Zack Lemann at the Insectarium, a roughly 18-month-old Audubon museum. He gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of its dozens of living exhibits hosting insects and more -- including tarantulas and, arriving that day for their Tuesday debut, white (non-albino) alligators. But the purpose of my noon-hour visit was to sample the local cuisine and learn details of preparations for a holiday menu that would be offered through tomorrow at the facility’s experiential cafe: Bug Appetit. There’s Thanksgiving turkey with a cornbread and wax worm stuffing, cranberry sauce with meal worms, and Cricket Pumpkin Pie. It’s cuisine most Americans would never pay for. But at the Insectarium, they don’t have to. It’s offered free as part of an educational adventure.

Agriculture

Nation by nation, evidence thin that boosting crop yields conserves land

Intensifying agriculture may not necessarily return farmland to nature without policy help.

Animals

Classic view of leaf-cutter ants overlooked nitrogen-fixing partner

A fresh look at a fungus-insect partnership that biologists have studied for more than a century uncovers a role for bacteria.

Ecosystems

Impatiens plants are more patient with siblings

Streamside wildflower holds back on leaf competition when roots meet close kin

Ecosystems

Windy with a chance of weevils

Scientists have traced the reappearance of cotton pests in west-central Texas to a tropical storm.

Ecosystems

Eels on the move

Study tracks European eels for the first 1,300 kilometers of their migration.

Ecosystems

Venom attracts decapitating flies

New study may help scientists improve control of invasive fire ants

Animals

Ants in the pants drive away birds

Yellow crazy ants can get so annoying that birds don’t eat their normal fruits, a new study finds.

Ecosystems

As climate shifts, birds follow

Most of the birds in California’s Sierra Nevada range are on the move in response to recent climate changes.

Agriculture

Potato famine pathogen packs unusual, sneaky genome

DNA of infamous Phytophthora microbe reveals big, quick-changing zones, possibly the key to the pathogen’s vexing adaptability

Ecosystems

Google works on a different web

Page ranking system inspires algorithm for predicting food webs’ vulnerability.

Life

Death-grip fungus made me do it

Infection may be driving ants to set their jaws in low-hanging leaves before they die.