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There is an increasing awareness that pollinating insects need flowers rich in pollen and nectar. A new study shows that trees can be just as important for survival – at least for the red mason bee, and probably for other wild bees too. Researchers have investigated the types of habitats and flowers in the agricultural landscape that benefit the reproduction of the red mason bee – a common solitar
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/bees-need-more-trees - 2025-12-01
How do birds avoid collision when flying in dense foliage and other cramped environments with many obstacles? And what does flying in such complex environments entail for the birds? These were the questions Per Henningsson of Lund University in Sweden pondered before engaging the help of the family’s own pet budgie to get some answers. His study has now been published in Royal Society Open Science
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/pandemic-restrictions-enabled-unique-bird-study - 2025-12-01
Researchers have successfully mapped the entire genome of the Eurasian spruce bark beetle. The breakthrough paves the way for new research into bark beetles and better prospects for effective pest control of a species that can destroy more than 100 million cubic metres of spruce forest during a single year in Europe and Asia. Mapping the genome of the Eurasian spruce bark beetle enables a far deep
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/entire-genome-common-forest-pest-now-revealed - 2025-12-01
Can dragonflies migrate thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean, from India via the Maldives to Africa, and back again? An international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has used models and simulations to find out if the hypothesis could be true. In 2009, marine biologist Charles Anderson put forward a hypothesis after observing globe skimmer dragonflies (Pantala flavescens) on th
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/study-supports-theory-dragonflies-migrate-across-indian-ocean - 2025-12-01
Scientists at Lund University have discovered for the first time that it is possible to detect insect DNA in the air. Using air from three sites in Sweden, insect DNA from 85 species could be identified. This offers scope for exploring a whole new way to monitor terrestrial biodiversity. These preliminary results will be presented at Ecology Across Borders (13th-15th December) via an online poster
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/skys-limit-using-airborne-dna-monitor-insect-biodiversity - 2025-12-01
An international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has managed to study the flight behaviour of the mysterious black swift. They found, among other things, that the black swift rises to extreme heights during a full moon, seemingly catching insects in the moonlight. And, during a lunar eclipse, the birds simultaneously lost altitude. The results are published in Current Biology. The b
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/black-swifts-descended-rapidly-during-lunar-eclipse - 2025-12-01
Brain cells that control the behaviour of insects, extreme gene expression in Italian sparrows and how radiotherapy alters the microenvironment in aggressive brain tumours. Three researchers at Lund University have been awarded five-year grants from the European Research Council. Stanley Heinze, a researcher at the Department of Biology, will study insect brains and their neural circuits. His proj
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/two-researchers-biology-receive-erc-consolidator-grants - 2025-12-01
A 30-year-old genetic mystery has been solved. It has previously been established that touch can trigger stress reactions in plants. However, the molecular models for explaining this process have been quite spartan so far. Now researchers at Lund University in Sweden have found genetic keys that explain how plants respond so strongly to mechanical stimuli. Cracking this code could help lead to hig
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/what-happens-when-plants-have-stress-reactions-touch - 2025-12-01
The ostrich is genetically wired to adapt to rising or falling temperatures. However, when the temperature fluctuates more often, as it does with climate change, the flightless bird with a 40-gram brain finds it much more difficult. A research team at Lund University has shown that the ostrich is very sensitive to fluctuating temperatures in terms of whether it reproduces. If the temperature rises
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/ostriches-can-adapt-heat-or-cold-not-both - 2025-12-01
By analyzing DNA with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), an international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has developed a method that can accurately date up to ten-thousand year-old human remains. Accurately dating ancient humans is key when mapping how people migrated during world history.The standard dating method since the 1950s has been radiocarbon dating. The method, whi
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/researchers-develop-first-ai-based-method-dating-archeological-remains - 2025-12-01
The most common analytical method within population genetics is deeply flawed, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden. This may have led to incorrect results and misconceptions about ethnicity and genetic relationships. The method has been used in hundreds of thousands of studies, affecting results within medical genetics and even commercial ancestry tests. The study is published
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/study-reveals-flaws-popular-genetic-method - 2025-12-01
Solitary bees that ingested the pesticide clothianidin when foraging from rapeseed flowers became slower. In addition, the strawberries pollinated by these bees were smaller. This is shown by a new study from Lund University in Sweden. Strawberries are known to become bigger if bees have visited their flowers, but how strawberry growth is affected if the bees have been exposed to neonicotinoid ins
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/strawberries-were-smaller-when-bees-ingested-pesticides - 2025-12-01
Biology researchers Courtney Stairs and Sissel Sjöberg have been awarded just over SEK 15 million each in starting grants from the European Research Council, ERC. Their five-year projects will study marine interactions between microorganisms and complex migratory bird behaviour. Congratulations Courtney! Can you tell us a little bit about your project?- If we look through a microscope at a single
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/two-lund-university-biologists-awarded-erc-starting-grants - 2025-12-01
Roberto García-Roa, postdoc at the department of Biology has won yet another prestigious photo award. This time he’s the overall winner of “Capturing Ecology”, the British Ecological Society photo competition. Congratulations Roberto, what does this award mean to you?– It’s very special! First, it links two powerful allies, science and photography. They are probably two of the best tools we have t
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/sharp-shooting-biologist-winner-international-photography-award - 2025-12-01
Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study led by Lund University in Sweden. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency of flapping drones. Even the precursors to birds – extinct bird-like dinosaurs – benefited from folding their wings during the upstroke, as they develope
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/feathered-robotic-wing-paves-way-flapping-drones - 2025-12-01
Only males among the fish species crucian carp have developed a strategy to protect themselves from hungry predators, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden. The explanation could lie in that the surrounding environment affects the stress system in males and females differently. Some animals have evolved the ability to swiftly change appearance to defend themselves against predato
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/stress-may-trigger-male-defense-against-predators - 2025-12-01
Since antiquity, humans have been fascinated by birds’ intercontinental migratory journeys. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that two areas in their genome decide whether a willow warbler flies across the Iberian Peninsula to western Africa, or across the Balkans to eastern and southern Africa. Researchers have long known that the behaviour that causes songbirds to migrate in a spe
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/genes-decide-willow-warblers-migration-routes - 2025-12-01
The size of dragonflies and damselflies varies around the globe. These insects are generally larger in temperate areas than in the tropics. According to a new study from Lund University in Sweden, this is caused by a combination of temperatures and the prevalence of predators. In a large global comparative study of this ancient order of insects, researchers have studied how body size varies geogra
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/size-insects-are-shaped-temperature-and-predators - 2025-12-01
There is newfound evidence of how bees' pesticide exposure depends on their interaction with the environment. According to scientists from Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, more agricultural land surrounding the bees increases their pesticide-related risk, but only for the solitary bee and bumble bee, species that forage over smaller areas than the honey bee. The
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/bees-pesticide-risk-species-and-landscape-dependent - 2025-12-01
Exercising too much and not getting enough rest is bad for your health. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that the same is true for migratory birds. They need to rest not only to renew their energy levels but also in order to boost their immune system. After a period of physical exertion, vertebrates, including humans, usually need a period of recovery. Apart from the obvious – lowe
https://www.biology.lu.se/article/migratory-birds-take-breaks-boost-their-immune-system - 2025-12-01
