Review
Biology
Thomas S. Collett, Natalie Hempel de Ibarra
Summary: The learning flights and walks of bees, wasps, and ants are coordinated movements that allow them to remember their nest or other important places visually. These movements were discovered in the 19th century and provided the first evidence of insect learning. Over the years, research has focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors and their role in insect navigation.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Troy Wanandy, Thanh-Thao A. Le, Wun Y. Lau, Michael D. Wiese, Robert J. Heddle, Simon G. A. Brown
Summary: Jack Jumper ant venom allergy is a unique medical issue specific to Australia, causing insect venom allergy in southeastern Australia. The Tasmanian Jack Jumper Allergy Research group has successfully developed an effective venom immunotherapy-based treatment. This paper provides a summary of their 25-year research journey in developing this evidence-based treatment modality.
INTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Biology
Robin Grob, Oliver Holland Cunz, Kornelia Gruebel, Keram Pfeiffer, Wolfgang Roessler, Pauline N. Fleischmann
Summary: Many animals navigate using celestial cues in challenging environments. Cataglyphis desert ants use a time-compensated skylight compass to navigate efficiently. The ants must learn the sun's daily course before foraging, which leads to structural changes in their visual neuronal circuits. The rotation of skylight polarization during learning walks plays a key role in inducing learning-dependent rewiring in high-order integration centers of the ant brain.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pauline Formaglio, Marina E. Wosniack, Raphael M. Tromer, Jaderson G. Polli, Yuri B. Matos, Hang Zhong, Ernesto P. Raposo, Marcos G. E. da Luz, Rogerio Amino
Summary: Plasmodium sporozoites actively migrate in the dermis and enter blood vessels to induce infection. Through intravital imaging, researchers found that sporozoites adopt a strategy of alternating global superdiffusive skin exploration and local subdiffusive blood vessel exploitation, enabling them to find intravasation hotspots associated with pericytes, enter the bloodstream and initiate malaria infection.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Felix B. Oberhauser, Katharina Bogenberger, Tomer J. Czaczkes
Summary: The temporal order of experiences can significantly influence their salience. Studies have shown that humans and other vertebrates tend to remember the first and last items of a list more easily. However, not much is known about serial position learning and the impact of recruitment pheromones on learning in ants. This study found that trail pheromone did not affect ant choice, but ants exhibited a strong preference for the first odor they encountered.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Catherine L. Parr, Tom R. Bishop
Summary: Ants are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms globally and their response to climate change is a complex issue. Ant populations and communities may be affected by temperature changes, but species in temperate regions and those able to buffer temperature may not be impacted or could even benefit. The response of ants to other abiotic drivers associated with climate change is largely unknown, as is the impact of altered ant populations and communities on wider ecological networks. The social behavior of ants may allow them to adapt to or tolerate climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Katharina Wenig, Richard Bach, Tomer J. Czaczkes
Summary: Learning in animals can modify innate responses to changing environments, but there may be hard limits to this flexibility, as seen in ants' inability to learn to avoid pheromone trails even with cognitive flexibility. This study demonstrates rapid learning flexibility towards innate social signals, but also reveals a rarely seen hard limit to this flexibility.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Book Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Andrew Robinson, Alison Abbott
Summary: This article is about Andrew Robinson reviewing five of the best science picks.
Article
Biology
Adi Bar, Chen Marom, Nikol Zorin, Tomer Gilad, Aziz Subach, Susanne Foitzik, Inon Scharf
Summary: This study investigates how experience affects the behavior of ant workers towards pitfall traps. The study finds that ants improve their ability to detect and avoid traps after accumulating experience, and they can quickly adjust their behavior in response to changes in the environment.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniela Mera-Rodriguez, Herve Jourdan, Philip S. Ward, Steven Shattuck, Stefan P. Cover, Edward O. Wilson, Christian Rabeling
Summary: Studying the historical biogeography and life history transitions in ants contributes to our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms generating biodiversity in eusocial insects. The ant genus Myrmecia, endemic to Australia, except for one species in New Caledonia, provides a suitable system for testing evolutionary hypotheses. However, the biogeographic distribution of M. apicalis and the evolution of social parasitism within the genus remain unexplored.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Optics
Julien Zylberman, Giuseppe Di Molfetta, Marc Brachet, Nuno F. Loureiro, Fabrice Debbasch
Summary: This paper investigates numerical methods for efficiently simulating nonlinear fluid dynamics on universal quantum computers. It proposes an algorithm to solve quantum relativistic charged fluid equations using the generalization of the Madelung transform and discrete-time quantum walks. The algorithm is shown to be applicable on current NISQ devices and enables simulations of relativistic and nonrelativistic hydrodynamical shocks. The study demonstrates the potential of simulating fluid dynamics on NISQs and opens the door for further research on simulating other fluids.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Nicolas Rojas-Morales, Maria-Cristina Riff, Elizabeth Montero
Summary: A collaborative framework called Multiple Opposite Synergic Strategy for Ants (MOSSA) is proposed in this paper to improve the search process of ant-based algorithms using multiple Opposition-Inspired Learning strategies. By collaborating different strategies, the ants algorithm shows better performance in solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems.
KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Sara Zollota, Patricia Perez, Jenna Allen, Tori Argenti, Quentin D. Read, Marina S. Ascunce
Summary: We created an educational program called "The ImportANTs of ANTs" to teach students about ant species diversity, native and invasive species, and the impact of invasive species on the environment. By using pre- and post-surveys, we evaluated the program's effectiveness in changing students' perceptions of ants and invasive species. The survey analysis showed an increase in positive feelings about ants and a significant increase in awareness of invasive species' negative impacts on ecosystems.
Article
Plant Sciences
Muhammad Zaeem, Muhammad Nadeem, Thu Huong Pham, Waqar Ashiq, Waqas Ali, Syed Shah Mohioudin Gillani, Eric Moise, Sathya Elavarthi, Vanessa Kavanagh, Mumtaz Cheema, Lakshman Galagedara, Raymond Thomas
Summary: Intercropping of corn and soybean significantly improves the nutritional quality of forage, increasing protein content, reducing fiber content, and enhancing energy and digestible nutrients. Additionally, intercropping also enhances microbial activity, contributing to the improvement of forage quality.
Article
Biology
Sandor Csosz, Ferenc Bathori, Mathieu Molet, Gabor Majoros, Zoltan Radai
Summary: Parasites cause predictable alternative phenotypes in host individuals, but integrating these phenotypes into morphometric analysis has been challenging. This study presents an approach using algorithmic processing to reconstruct the healthy morphology of parasitized ants, enabling the integration of alternative parasitogenic phenotypes at the species level.
