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Scientists report the earliest known historical incidence of the fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome, the disease devastating North American bat populations. They detected the fungus on a bat specimen collected in France in 1918 and housed at the National Museum of Natural. . . Read More

Ants are the dominant waste managers of tropical rainforests, new research shows. In a large-scale study in the Malaysian rainforest, ants were responsible for moving more than half of food resources from the forest floor — playing a significant role in keeping the ecosystem. . . Read More

Jet ants mark their trails with hindgut secretions that contain a special blend of pheromones. Large numbers of foraging ants commute on these trails, transporting honeydew collected from aphids and other insects in their social stomachs, or crops. One particular species of sap. . . Read More

The deep sea covers around 65% of the planet’s surface, making it the largest habitat on Earth. Yet, this vast area remains largely unknown. The remoteness of the deep sea, which lies below 200 m, makes traditional ecological data collection methods extremely difficult. As a. . . Read More

Researchers report that water buffaloes in the wetlands of northern Turkey are harboring strange hitchhikers all over their bodies — tiny frogs. In autumn, when domesticated Anatolian water buffaloes are released from their pastures to wallow in the marshes, they collect a. . . Read More