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For the first time, a research team led by Lund University in Sweden has mapped out exactly what happens when spruce bark beetles use their sense of smell to find trees and partners to reproduce with. The hope is that the results will lead to better pest control and protection of the forest in the future. The Eurasian spruce bark beetle uses its sense of smell to locate trees and partners. The odo

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/breakthrough-fight-against-spruce-bark-beetles - 2025-09-27

Long life is common among bird parents that get help with childcare. This finding comes from researchers at the universities of Lund and Oxford who reviewed data from more than 9,000 studies. Being a parent can be tough. In general, animals that care for many offspring die young, at least in species where parents are not helped by others. However, in some species things are different and parents r

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/bird-parents-receive-help-live-longer - 2025-09-27

Many species of bee are threatened by global warming, but not all. The buff-tailed bumblebee is the world’s most common bee and will likely remain that way, as researchers from Lund University have discovered that this species benefits from a warmer climate. Through research into buff-tailed bumblebees collected by amateurs and researchers over a period of 150 years, biologists and climate researc

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/warmer-climate-making-worlds-most-common-bumblebee-even-more-common - 2025-09-27

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have investigated how the X and Y chromosomes evolve and adapt to each other within a population. The results show that breaking up coevolved sets of sex chromosomes could lead to lower survival rates among the offspring – something that could be of importance in species conservation, for example. The study is published in the journal PNAS. The results prov

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/new-study-sheds-light-how-x-and-y-chromosomes-interact - 2025-09-27

Jerker Vinterstare at Lund University has studied the crucian carp species. In his doctoral thesis, he shows that residues of antidepressant medication in the water can cause changes in fish behaviour, making them nervous and cowardly. He also shows that when predatory fish such as northern pike are in the vicinity, the crucian carp can change their body shape, eye size and colour, but also modify

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/fish-behaviour-and-appearance-affected-stress - 2025-09-27

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered that bird blood produces more heat in winter, when it is colder, than in autumn. The study is published in The FASEB Journal. The secret lies in the energy factories of cells, the mitochondria. Mammals have no mitochondria in their red blood cells, but birds do, and according to the research team from Lund and Glasgow this means that the blo

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/birds-blood-functions-heating-system-winter - 2025-09-27

Great reed warblers normally migrate by night during its month-long migration from northern Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa. However, researchers have now discovered that during the few occasions when it continues to fly during daytime, it flies at extremely high altitudes (up to 6300 meters). One possible explanation for this unexpected and consistent behaviour could be that the birds want to avoid

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/migratory-songbirds-climb-extreme-altitudes-during-daytime - 2025-09-27

A new study may have uncovered why wall lizards have become the most successful reptile in the Mediterranean region. The results reveal how drastic changes in sea levels and climate 6 million years ago affected species formation in the area. The researchers believe they can now explain why the lizards became so diverse and widespread, something that has puzzled biologists since the 19th century. T

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/new-species-formed-when-mediterranean-dried - 2025-09-27

Great tits living in cities are genetically different from great tits in the countryside. This is what researchers have found in a unique study, where they examined populations of great tits in nine large European cities. The researchers compared the city bird genes with the genes of their relatives in the countryside. It did not matter if the great tits lived in Milan, Malmö or Madrid: in order t

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/stressful-life-city-affects-birds-genes - 2025-09-27

Researchers in Lund, Copenhagen and Norwich have shown that harmful mutations present in the DNA play an important – yet neglected – role in the conservation and translocation programs of threatened species. “Many species are threatened by extinction, both locally and globally. For example, we have lost about ten vertebrate species in Sweden in the last century. However, all these species occur el

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/genomics-informed-decisions-can-help-save-species-extinction - 2025-09-27

Extreme differences in flight altitude between day and night may have been an undetected pattern amongst migratory birds – until now. The observation was made by researchers at Lund University in Sweden in a study of great snipes, where they also measured a new altitude record for migratory birds, irrespective of the species, reaching 8 700 metres. Great snipes are shorebirds that breed in Sweden,

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/astonishing-altitude-changes-marathon-flights-migratory-birds - 2025-09-27

For the first time, researchers have been able to prove that city lights limit the ability of nocturnal animals to navigate by natural light in the night sky. Instead, they are forced to use streetlamps, neon light or floodlights to orient themselves. The findings are published in Current Biology. Some animals, including migratory birds, seals and moths, use light from the moon, stars and Milky Wa

https://www.biology.lu.se/article/artificial-light-disrupts-dung-beetles-sense-direction - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27

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 - 2025-09-27