2026-05-14 09:56 UTC
Baby #bugs must play game of roulette to find survival partners before time runs out https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/05/14/leaffooted-bugs-symbiosis
"Leaffooted bugs nymphs hatch in the tree canopy, where their soil-living bacterial #symbionts are scarce. After hatching, a race against the clock begins. The journey from canopy to ground is a dangerous undertaking for nymphs measuring just a few mm. Risk of predation and the energetic demand are high. However, failing to acquire the #symbiont is also lethal"
#Insects #Bacteria
Replies (1)
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@joncounts@mastodon.nz 2026-05-14 10:41
@animalculum@scholar.social Cool study. That’s some fascinatingly weird natural history. If these soil symbionts are so important for the bugs’ fitness, it’s odd that the parent bugs lay their eggs so high in the canopy and not near the ground. It seems there is more of this story to be unravelled.