Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Do we need a paradigm change? Disputing coevolution in herbivorous insects

04-10-2007 · EurekAlert!

It is commonly accepted that phytophagous beetles and their host plants (mainly the likewise speciose angiosperms or flowering plants) have radiated in concert since the origin of both groups in the early Cretaceous. Indeed, this is a textbook example of coevolution and a straightforward interpretation of the forces driving evolution and the rise of new species. However, a new study by Dr. Jesús Gómez-Zurita and collaborators challenges this view.

Keywords: paradigm, change, disputing, coevolution, herbivorous, insects, herbivorou, insect

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Do we need a paradigm change? Disputing coevolution in herbivorous insects":

Ancient leaves point to climate change effect on insects
02-11-2008 · EurekAlert!
Insects will feast and leafy plants will suffer if temperatures warm and atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, according to a team of researchers who studied evidence of insect feeding on fossil leaves from before, during and after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Similar news · Read more »
Elevated CO2 in atmosphere weakens defenses of soybeans to herbivores
07-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
In research to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists in Chicago (July 7-11, 2007), scientists will show that elevated CO2 may negatively impact the relationship between some plants and insects. Elevated CO2 is considered to be a serious catalyst of global change. Its effects can be felt throughout the ecosystem, including the insect-plant food chain link. Safeguarding highly-usable crops is of great importance to many local and national economies.
Similar news · Read more »
Study links success of invasive Argentine ants to diet shifts
12-17-2007 · EurekAlert!
The ability of Argentine ants to change from carnivorous insect eaters to plant sap-loving creatures has helped these invasive social insects rapidly spread throughout coastal California, according to a new study, displacing many native insects and creating ant infestations familiar to most coastal residents.
Similar news · Read more »
Tough policing deters cheating in insects
11-25-2006 · Science News Online
In insect societies that have tough police, it's coercion, rather than kinship, that's preventing crime.
Similar news · Read more »
Old developmental pathways spawn revolutionary evolutionary changes
09-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
When the larvae of the primitive social insect Polistes metricus, a paper wasp, slips into the quiet pupal stage, she doesn't know if she'll arise a worker or gyne (future queen) -- unless she consults with Arizona State University's social insect researcher Gro Amdam. Amdam's group is shedding new light on the development of colonial insects from solitary ancestors through study of a primitive social order of wasps.
Similar news · Read more »
For the fruit fly, everything changes after sex
12-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
The females of many insect species change their behavior right after mating: mosquitoes look for a meal of fresh blood and flies begin to lay eggs. Researchers at the IMP managed to identify the molecular switches that are responsible for these behavioral changes. This could open up new possibilities to control agricultural pests or disease carriers. The science journal Nature reports on the discovery in its current online release.
Similar news · Read more »
Fossil record suggests insect assaults on foliage may increase with warming globe
02-11-2008 · EurekAlert!
More than 55 million years ago, the Earth experienced a rapid jump in global carbon dioxide levels that raised temperatures across the planet. Now, researchers studying plants from that time have found that the rising temperatures may have boosted the foraging of insects. As modern temperatures continue to rise, the researchers believe the planet could see increasing crop damage and forest devastation.
Similar news · Read more »
21st century water management: Calculating with the unknown
01-31-2008 · EurekAlert!
Climate change is making a central assumption of water management obsolete: Water-resource risk assessment and planning are currently based on the notion that factors such as precipitation and streamflow fluctuate within an unchanging envelope of variability. But anthropogenic change of Earth's climate is altering the means and extremes of these factors so that this paradigm of stationarity no longer applies, researchers report in the latest issue of Science.
Similar news · Read more »
Biting discovery: MU entomologist finds host of new aquatic insect species in Thailand
05-22-2007 · EurekAlert!
While in Thailand, a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher found a treasure-trove of previously unknown information about aquatic insects in the country. In the process, he learned firsthand that a few of these little critters pack quite a punch when they bite.
Similar news · Read more »
Tangled web of the insect, plant and parasite arms race
10-31-2007 · EurekAlert!
New insights into the evolutionary relationship between plant-dwelling insects and their parasites are revealed in the online open-access journal BMC Biology. Researchers shed light on how sawflies evolved to escape their parasites and gain themselves an 'enemy-free space' for millions of years.
Similar news · Read more »