Ants News

Whether a source of curiosity or annoyance, ants are central to life on Earth. Their microscopic world may seem foreign to us, but without them our world would be just…

With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find…

Scientists describing a new species of ant, Strumigenys ayersthey, have broken with conventional naming traditions and used the pronoun “they” instead of the traditional male or female form to promote…

Over 25 years ago, world-renowned scientist Edward O. Wilson (often referred to as E.O. Wilson), published his celebrated homage to his personal journey as a scientist, biologist, and human being,…

More isolated oceanic islands harbor fewer native species due to the fact that plants and animals are less capable of naturally dispersing to and colonizing those islands. This is known…

Tropical forests are key defenders in the fight against climate change. They lock down around 25 percent of the world’s carbon in their canopies, trunks and soils, a function so…

On today’s episode: the sounds of Buller’s shearwaters in New Zealand’s Poor Knights Islands. Listen here: Our guest today is Megan Friesen, a behavioral ecologist who is currently working with…

High up in the treetops of Borneo live “exploding ants,” so named because of their unique defensive behavior. When a potential enemy threatens their colony, these ants kill themselves by…

A 2015 study found that humans activities are driving species loss at a rate 100 times faster than historical baseline levels — which the researchers behind the study characterized as…

Dr. Christoph von Beeren of Germany’s Technical University Darmstadt was collecting “ant guests” during the nightly emigration of an army ant colony at La Selva Biological Station, a lowland Atlantic…

Scientists have discovered what they’re calling an “unintended and ironic” consequence of building roads to aid agricultural expansion in Brazil: those same roads are providing the perfect habitat for insects…

Giant river toad. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. It's no secret that vital biodiversity hotspots in Southeast Asia are under threat from logging and the spread of oil palm plantations.…

Ants appear more resilient to forest degradation than termites Scientists have long studied how birds, mammals, and amphibians respond to forest degradation, but what about the most abundant animals in…

Adult female of the new wasp species, the bone-house wasp. Photo courtesy of Staab et al.

Deforestation is destroying forests around the world, but its effects are especially obvious in the Amazon Basin. Due to cattle ranching, soybean farming, logging, and slash-and-burn agriculture, the rainforest is…

The notion of spiders using ants as bodyguards seems a bit contradictory, but that is exactly what occurs on the tropical forest floors of the Philippines. The jumping spider (Phintella…

A new species of ant has recently been discovered in the Hortarium of the Los Baños University in the Philippines. Scientists named it the pirate ant (Cardiocondyla pirata) due to…

Oil palm estate in Malaysia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Ants are an important ecological group in both degraded and natural habitats. They interact with many other species and mediate…

Sazima's tarantula: one of the top ten new species discovered in 2011 according to the annual list by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. Photo by:…

Murciélago Islands as seen by Google Earth. The Murciélago Islands are seven small islands off the northwest coast of Costa Rica in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), home to…

As everyone knows, human zombies are created when an uninfected human is bitten by a member of the brain-craving undead. But what about ant zombies? Yes, that's right: ant zombies.…

An image of nocturnal ant silhouettes systematically devouring a leaf in Costa Rica has given Hungarian photographer, Bence Máté, the much-coveted Veolia Wildlife Environment Photographer of the Year award. In…

Leaf-cutter ants test theories about the Amazon's stunning diversity Leaf-cutter ants test theories about the Amazon's biodiversity Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com July 23, 2008 No one knows for certain how many…