Ecosystems

Animals

If mosquitoes vanished, would we miss them? Vampire spiders might

Vampire spiders get their meals from blood-filled Anopheles mosquitoes. But if those insects disappear, the spiders will likely adapt.

Animals

Some spikes in malaria cases may be tied to amphibian die-offs

Amphibian deaths from a fungal disease may have led to more mosquitoes — and an increase in malaria cases in Costa Rica and Panama.

Animals

Let’s learn about parasites that create zombies

Some parasites turn their victims into mindless puppets that do the parasites’ bidding, even at the cost of their own lives.

Animals

Several mammals use a South American tree as their pharmacy

Researchers in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest stumbled onto something very strange. They watched as animals “doctored” themselves with products from a tree.

Animals

Some ecologists value parasites — and now want a plan to save them

Parasites get a bad rap as disease-causing, unwelcome guests on other organisms. But parasites are also imperiled, and scientists don’t want to lose them.

Animals

When bees are away, moths come out to pollinate

Camera footage reveals that moths make roughly a third of the visits to red clover, working under the cover of night.

Microbes

This giant bacterium lives up to its name

The newly discovered Thiomargarita magnifica is about the size of your eyelash and is surprisingly complex.

Plants

Catnip’s insect-repelling powers grow as Puss chews on it

Damaging the leaves boosts the plant’s chemical defenses — and their appeal to cats.

Animals

Palm-size marsupials may face extinction from wild ‘house’ cats

After surviving Australian bushfires, the Kangaroo Island dunnart is losing ground as it's targeted by hungry predators.

Animals

‘Mystery monkey’ could mean its parent’s species may be in trouble

Changes to monkeys’ habitats — including some forest loss to oil palm plantations — might explain why this animal’s parents mated.

Plants

Some redwood leaves make food while others drink water

The two types of leaves grow at different heights in trees at dry versus wet areas. They may help redwoods adapt to climate change.

Animals

Orcas can take down the largest animal on the planet

For the first time, scientists observed that orcas can kill blue whales by using the same hunting techniques that have worked on other large whales.