Tiny ants might seem like unlikely inspirations and sidekicks for a superhero, but real life ants have astonishing superpowers that make them formidable allies.
Lizards that do or do not share space with invasive fire ants will react differently to this scenario.
Tracy Langkilde and Travis Robbins
The ways eastern fence lizards have changed in response to red imported fire ants demonstrate how species can adapt to survive the presence of invasive predators.
New research shows rewilding with invertebrates – insects, worms, spiders and the like – can go a long way in bringing our degraded landscapes back to life.
Leafcutter ants cultivate fungus gardens that feed sprawling colonies.
Tim Flach/Stone via Getty Images
Over hundreds of million years of evolution, ants have come up with some pretty smart solutions to problems of agriculture, navigation and architecture. People could learn a thing or two.
Invertebrates are “the little things that run the world”. So researchers decided to count all the ants on Earth, to help monitor how they’re coping with environmental challenges.
Walking vertically – or even upside down – is a piece of cake for ants.
pecchio/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Ant feet are equipped with an array of tools – from retractable sticky pads to claws to special spines and hairs – enabling them to defy gravity and grip virtually any surface.
E.O. Wilson was one of the world’s leading experts on ants, but his other passion was convincing humans to see themselves as part of the natural world.
Many small animals make their teeth and claws from a smooth blend of proteins and heavy elements. These materials can form very sharp tools that make it possible to cut tough substances using tiny muscles.
Yellow crazy ants are one of the world’s worst invasive species. And it turns out they have unique systems of reproduction that make life in the queendom more complicated than we realised.
The spread of tawny crazy ants may be driven, in part, by their need for calcium. The calcium-rich limestone bedrock of the lower U.S. Midwest may provide ideal conditions for populations to explode.
A coat of sand makes an effective armor.
Eric LoPresti
For some sand-dwelling plants, stickiness is a defense tactic that keeps predators at bay.
Caribbean spiny lobsters normally live in groups, but healthy lobsters avoid members of their own species if they are infected with a deadly virus.
Humberto Ramirez/Getty Images