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  This Ancient #Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-insect-had-24-legs-and-could-help-explain-how-the-ancestors-of-modern-day-bugs-took-over-the-land-180989420/ The first #insects had way more than six legs https://www.science.org/content/article/first-insects-had-way-more-six-legs Amphibious stem-insect sheds light on colonization of land https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-02...

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  #Lichen-like life 600 million years ago may push back origins of fungal-algal partnerships https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lichen-life-million-years-fungal.html Fungal–algal associations from the early #Ediacaran herald increasing symbiotic complexity before modern #lichens https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2075/20260673/482576/Fungal-algal-associations-from-the-early-Ediacaran "fungal filaments in the #fossils were found to interact with photosynthetic cells, surround...

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  Glowworms shine again in North Yorkshire after larvae reared in garden shed https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/07/glowworms-shine-again-north-yorkshire-larvae-reintroduction "The bioluminescent beams of 'fairy folk' are shining again from a nature reserve in North #Yorkshire for the first time in a century after the successful #reintroduction of endangered glowworms. Female #glowworms were spotted over multiple weeks at Nosterfield nature reserve this summ...

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  Long-term oyster #ReefRestoration shows clear success in murky waters https://umbc.edu/stories/oyster-reef-restoration-success-in-murky-waters/ Paper by Allison Tracy et al.: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70750 "Large-scale #OysterReef restoration in the #ChesapeakeBay is successfully creating three-dimensional habitats that support larger, more diverse #fish communities... #restoration efforts are shifting underwater ecosystems from communities dominated...

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  #Amphibians and #fungi weather is the best weather. UL: Salamandra salamandra terrestris LL: Boletus reticulatus UR: Bufo spinosus LR: Favolaschia claudopus #FungiFriday

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  Spanish #Amber Deposit Offers Rare Window into #Cretaceous Life https://www.sci.news/paleontology/el-soplao-amber-15065.html "Among the discoveries are the oldest #tick known to science, a #lacewing larva that camouflaged itself with plant debris, and a fly preserved mid-meal with #pollen from an extinct gymnosperm group clumped on its body — direct evidence of #pollination before flowering #plants took over that ecological role. Theropod #dinosaur feathers have also turned up&quot...

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  Last night I learned that sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) has a strong UV #fluorescence. This is one of the most common #mushrooms in European broadleaf woodlands. #Fungi #MushroomMonday

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  @YannC Yes! They always look like they are smiling 🖤 💛 🖤 I used to encounter them by chance. This year, I tried for the first time deliberately... and it's not that hard. You can check on iNaturalist where they are often observed: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?subview=map&taxon_id=27726 Best time to see them is at night after rain, when it's below 18 degrees.

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  Night Gardeners and Sticky Bottoms: The Unlikely #Mistletoe Dispersers of #Madagascar https://www.botany.one/night-gardeners-and-sticky-bottoms-the-unlikely-mistletoe-dispersers-of-madagascar/ @botanyone "Two species of nocturnal #lemurs are not only the most voracious consumers of Bakerella #fruits, but Crossley's Dwarf #Lemur has a rather peculiar planting method: after digesting the fruit, the sticky seeds adhere to its anal fur, prompting the small primate to rub its botto...

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  Might be of interest to some of you... 🚅 #Interrail has 15% to 50% discount until 30 September. The passes are valid for 11 months. It came handy for me just now as I'll need to travel Brest-Prague-Brest this autumn but I'm not yet sure exactly when. Great opportunity for some exploring on the way. About the discount: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924726921/en/Interrail-Invites-Travelers-to-Experience-The-Interrail-Effect-with-50-Off-Passes or https://parissecret.com/en...

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  Astonishing Mycorrhizal Networks https://smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2026/09/astonishing-mycorrhizal-networks/ Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu4373 "they predicted an average global hyphal density of 4.4 m per cubic cm. If stretched end to end, these tiny thread-like structures could extend approximately 110 quadrillion km. To put this in perspective, this length is equivalent to thousands of light-years and almost a billion times the distance between Earth...

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  New Lighting at Train Stations Reduces Light Stress for Insects https://leibniz-lib.de/en/news/11092026-new-lighting-at-train-stations-reduces-light-stress-for-insects.html Paper by Carmen Ludreschl et al.: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320726002764 "The amber-coloured 1800 K LED attracted significantly fewer #insects than the current standard (cool white 4000 K LED) and the old high-pressure sodium lamps (2000 K)... #DeutscheBahn has already responded to the findi...

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  After Decade-Long Hunt, Scientists Find #EastAsia’s Tallest Tree https://www.sci.news/biology/heaven-sword-tree-14824.html The journey of finding the tallest #tree in Formosa #Taiwan: Rebecca Chia-Chun Hsu et al. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2026.1746112/full "Deep in the #mountains of northern Taiwan, a towering Taiwania cryptomerioides—a large coniferous tree in the cypress family—has been confirmed as the tallest known tree in Eas...

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  African #frogs haven’t forgotten the ice ages. Scientists can tell by where they live https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/african-frogs-havent-forgotten-the-ice-ages-scientists-can-tell-by-where-they-live/ paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73207 "the #CongoRainforest remained stable throughout the #Pleistocene ice ages. But as Earth’s #climate cooled and dried, the #Congo’s forest borders receded in some places, creating pockets of more or less stable forest...

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  Kraken-like giant #octopuses 100m years ago crunched bones of prey: Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/23/kraken-like-giant-octopuses-crunched-cretaceous-bones paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6285 "One species, Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, was found to have a beak larger than that of the modern giant #squid, a creature that reaches about 12 metres in...

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  #SilentSunday #Brest #BZH

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  #BloomScrolling #Cactus #Succulents #CactusBlossom #CactusFlower

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  How #oak trees outwit their predators https://www.myscience.de/en/news/2026/how_oak_trees_outwit_their_predators-2026-uni-wuerzburg Satellite data show #trees delay budburst across landscapes to escape #herbivores https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03071-9 "If #OakTrees are heavily infested by #caterpillars, they react to this the following spring: they delay their leaf emergence by three days... This strategy is highly effective: the three-day delay is sufficient to drastical...

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  #Mutualism in disguise: #CarnivorousPlants and wasps blur the line between friend and food https://phys.org/news/2026-05-carnivorous-wasps-blur-line-friend.html paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70395 "the #PitcherPlants get a boost in nitrogen by consuming a wasp every now and again, and the #wasps get a stable food source in the form of nutrient-rich nectar. By forgoing the immediate reward of capturing many #insects, these #plants may be ensuring a s...

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  Millipede and centipede ancestors evolved their legs while still underwater https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ancient-sea-fossils-millipede-centipede.html A marine stem-myriapod from the #Silurian Waukesha Lagerstätte, Wisconsin: terrestrial traits pre-date the transition to land https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2070/20260131/481605/A-marine-stem-myriapod-from-the-Silurian-Waukesha "a long-lost ancestor of #myriapods already had many unbranched legs while still living u...

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  Dinosaur dental #fossils reveal bird-like parental care bonds https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dinosaur-dental-fossils-reveal-bird.html "Baby #dinosaurs were likely fed more nutritious food than their adult counterparts... Paleontologists uncovered this by studying wear on the fossilized teeth of #Maiasaura peeblesorum, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived during the Late #Cretaceous... The urge for a bird to feed a youngster is a very old behavior... it probably goes much further than the o...

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  Metamorphosis in #newts proves costly https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metamorphosis-newts-sex-paying-heavier.html "In the palmate newt, metamorphosis is optional: depending on conditions, an individual may remain in a paedomorphic state or undergo metamorphosis... The transformation involves both a costly bodily reorganization and a reduction in energy intake... Females begin to lose weight earlier, lose more weight, complete metamorphosis later... males are more frequently observed unde...

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  Nocturnal Gardeners: The Case of Tent-Roosting Bats https://www.botany.one/the-jungles-heaviest-courier-service-the-case-of-tent-roosting-bats/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.70179 "Unlike #birds, many #bats do not consume fruit where they find it; they capture it in flight and transport it to a safe refuge to eat in peace. In the case of tent-roosting bats, these shelters are plant leaves that the bats themselves modify to form a kind of tent or canopy... Tent-roosti...

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  How symbiotic bacteria with minimal genetic information support #insect hosts https://phys.org/news/2025-08-symbiotic-bacteria-minimal-genetic-insect.html paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s44319-025-00525-2 "#Symbiotic #bacteria support larvae by producing amino acids... They also support the adult #beetles by producing an enzyme that breaks down plant cell walls... There are two types of symbiotic association within #ReedBeetles. There are beetle species in which #symb...

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  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 t...

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  Hairy new #fish species discovered in the Great Barrier Reef https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hairy-fish-species-great-barrier.html Solenostomus snuffleupagus sp. nov., a hairy ghost #pipefish from the Southwest Pacific, with an integrative comparison to S. paegnius https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.70497 "These close relatives of seahorses and sea dragons often closely match the color of their surroundings and develop skin filaments that look like algae or coral."...

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  #ClimateCrisis: Heat Blankets #Australia, Fuels Bushfires https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152232/heat-blankets-australia-fuels-bushfires "The #heatwave was especially intense in #WesternAustralia, where temperatures reached above 40°C (104°F), which is up to 10°C (18°F) above normal for the time of year" #ClimateChange #ExtremeWeather #wildfires #climate

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  Scientists uncover #beetle transport system for newly identified towering nematodes https://phys.org/news/2026-05-scientists-uncover-beetle-newly-towering.html paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73510 "In 2025, #Konstanz scientists looked very closely at rotting fruit in local orchards, and observed what no one had before–hundreds of #worms twisting skyward into self-assembled living towers... #nematodes may be trying to hitchhike on #animals to reach new habitats....

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  Why are mountain #forests in Mexico and Central America hotspots for oak #trees? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mountain-forests-mexico-central-america.html paper: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2537040123 "Red and white #oaks independently migrated into the #mountains of Mexico about 25 million years ago. The two groups diversified along a parallel path, rapidly evolving into a remarkable array of species. Now, #Mexico and #CentralAmerica are home to at least 160 different oaks: 40% o...

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  Nocturnal migratory #birds follow rhythm of the moon https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nocturnal-migratory-birds-rhythm-moon.html Moonlight drives the energy balance and annual cycle of a nocturnal forager https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aed8204 "Moonlight determines when the red-necked #nightjar feeds, migrates and raises its young... the bird's entire annual cycle follows the moon's rhythm... when the moon is full, the bird can hunt insects for much of the nig...