Wielding Microbe Against Microbe, Beetle Defends Its Food Source
Thursday, October 9, 2008 - 21:35
in Biology & Nature
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.