PREPRINT ALERT!
No preference for performance: Host plant preference, offspring performance and host plant distribution in the butterfly Aricia artaxerxes
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#Ecology #Evolution #HostPlantPreference #Butterflies #BehaviouralEcology #PlantInsectInteractions #Lepidoptera

Marvelous 2025 paper by Walthaus et al.:

Biomechanical components of the plant–insect herbivore arms race: a model test in leaf-cutter ants

tinyurl.com/bdffsma9

#WIS

#PlantandEnvironmentalSciences

#Plants

#Herbivory

#PlantInsectInteractions

Fig.1

🐜🌱🛋️#PhDAlert! MSc in #Biology or #EnvironmentalSciences? Experience with #ChemoEcologicalMethods, #PlantInsectInteractions or #ArtificalLightAtNight? We offer a #PhD position in our Forest Entomology group: apply.refline.ch/273855/1816/... #ScienceJobs

A photo of a green plant stem covered in a mass of black aphids, America regwort aphids, being tended by tan brown Australian ants, in New Zealand. For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320306081

Another photo of a green plant stem with black aphids, America regwort aphids, being tended by tan brown Australian ants, in New Zealand. My hand is there for scale holding the plant. For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320313017

A photo of a greyish hairy plant stem covered in black aphids, America regwort aphids. This plant is the NZ Pahohoraka, Senecio quadridentatus. For details and higher resolution photos, see my iNat observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/320306091

Watch out: the weather is warming and the American ragwort aphids are *multiplying*.

American ragwort aphids specialise on Senecio plants, of which NZ has many species, including some threatened endemic species.

The aphid arrived in NZ (somehow) in 2023, and […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

A swallowtail caterpillar (I think?) munching on wild carrot by the Limmat River in Zürich.

Spotted this swallowtail caterpillar munching on wild carrot by the Limmat River in #Zürich. A quiet reminder that urban #biodiversity is not to be underestimated!🌿🐛

#UrbanEcology #PlantInsectInteractions #TrophicInteractions

Climate matching models for Ceratapion basicorne (Coleoptera: Apionidae), a biocontrol agent of yellow starthistle Abstract. Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Apionidae), a weevil native to Europe and western Asia, shows promise for enhancing the control of ye

My open-source models to help guide the release of a new biocontrol insect for invasive yellow starthistle are officially published! academic.oup.com/jee/article-... @entsocamerica.bsky.social

#model #insect #plantinsectinteractions #climate #invasivespecies #yellowstarhistle #weed #ipm #weevil

An 8-year-old’s backyard discovery about ants changed Earth science Children and scientists discover how wasps trick ants into protecting their larvae, changing our understanding of nature's connections.

An 8-year-old’s backyard discovery about ants changed Earth science: Nature’s connections can show up in the most unassuming places.

#AntBehavior #WaspGalls #PlantInsectInteractions #Myrmecochory #ScientificDiscovery#EarthDotCom #EarthSnap #Earth

Herbicides disrupt the co-evolution of plants and insects Morning glory plants resist glyphosate and insects, reshaping plant-insect interactions and agriculture strategies.

Herbicides are disrupting plant-insect interactions: Morning glory plants resist glyphosate and insects, reshaping plant-insect interactions and agriculture strategies.

#HerbicideImpact #PlantInsectInteractions #EnvironmentalScience #BiodiversityLoss #SustainableFarming #EarthDotCom #Earth