This hot pink cricket is no mutant Arota festae’s unusual hue may help it blend in with immature plants

Scientists just found the hot pink Arota festae—a rare cricket once thought the conseuqence of deleterious genetic mutations—is pink as a normal stage of life.

The colorful coat likely helps it mimic budding jungle leaves that are often pink before they mature green.

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New at @science.org

Adult nutrition strongly affects insect cuticle thickness and injury resistance royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article... | #JRSocInterface #Biomaterials #Biomechanics

How a tiny bacterium turns itself into a “tunneling machine” Some symbiotic bacteria can invade micron-scale host passages by wrapping their flagella around themselves and moving like a tunneling machine. Our study reveals how this clever motion enables them to overcome extreme confinement and successfully colonize their hosts.

How a tiny bacterium turns itself into a “tunneling machine”

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http://dlvr.it/TRBsyB

Fluttering ‘tails’ on bird nests confuse would-be predators Blue manakins in Brazil use “disruptive camouflage” to protect their eggs, new study finds

Blue manakins in Brazil use “disruptive camouflage” to protect their eggs, a new study finds. https://scim.ag/45EcHZ6

Bt Corn Changes Corn Earworm Moths' Wing Shape, Possibly Boosting Migration Ability As corn earworms develop resistance to Bt corn, a new study shows adult moths have wings that are longer and stiffer, which favors long-distance migration.

As corn earworms develop resistance to corn engineered to be toxic to them, a new study shows adult moths that survive have wings that are longer and stiffer, which favors long-distance migration—potentially helping the pests spread resistance faster and undermining a key crop-protection strategy.

Energetically costly weaponry in the large morph of male stag beetles Males in many species develop disproportionately large weapons which often increase more quickly with body size in small than in large males. We used the stag beetle (Cyclommatus mniszechi) to invest....

Original paper here: doi.org/10.1111/jzo....

Response to Packard (2025): Energetic costs of large weapons could constrain their size in large male stag beetles Cyclommatus mniszechi Click on the article title to read more.

New publication alert! 📚 Our response paper on energetic constraints of weaponry in male stag beetles is now out in @jzoology.bsky.social

zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New #RSOS paper: Circadian activity predicts breeding phenology in the Asian burying #beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...