Wielding Microbe Against Microbe, Beetle Defends Its Food Source

Courtesy ScienceDaily  Thu, 10/09/2008 - 22:30

As the southern pine beetle moves through the forest boring tunnels inside the bark of trees, it brings with it both a helper and a competitor.

The helper is a fungus that the insect plants inside the tunnels as food for its young. But also riding along is a tiny, hitchhiking mite, which likewise carries a fungus for feeding its own larvae.

Tags:

 

More related items

Beetles May Be Source Of Food-Borne Pathogens In...
A new study suggests that darkling beetles and their larvae can transmit harmful food-borne pathogens to chicks in broiler houses in successive rearing cycles.

How do bacteria swim? Brown physicists explain
(Brown University) Brown University physicists have completed the most detailed study of the swimming patterns of a microbe, showing for the first time how its movement is affected by drag...

Cataloguing invisible life: Microbe genome emerges...
(University of Washington) A UW-led team has taken a sample of Lake Washington mud and successfully sequenced a complete genome for an unknown microorganism. Their method provides a way to...

Carson Micro Max Lighted Microscope
Carson's MicroMax™ is a powerful 60-100x magnification microscope with an extremely lightweight and portable design. Features a built-in light that provides a bright, clear image and a...

Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and...
In Cathedrals of Science, Patrick Coffey describes how chemistry got its modern footing-how thirteen brilliant men and one woman struggled with the laws of the universe and with each other....


 

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
science-nature.marc8.com