FUNGI VERSUS INSECTS

Dispersal Ecology of Insects Inhabiting Wood-Decaying Fungi

Can Insects Develop Resistance to Insect Pathogenic Fungi?

Microevolutionary adaptations and mechanisms of fungal pathogen resistance were explored in a melanic population of the Greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. Under constant selective pressure from the insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, 25(th) generation larvae exhibited significantly enhanced resistance, which was specific to this pathogen and not to another insect pathogenic fungus,...

Fungi That Infect Insects: Altering Host Behavior and Beyond

Approximately 1,000 species of the fungal phyla Microsporidia, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota (order: Entomophthorales), Basidiomycota, and Ascomycota are known to infect and kill insects [1]. Of these, species such as Beauveria bassiana andMetarhizium robertsii (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) are well-studied models for exploring the mechanisms of fungus–insect physiological interactions, and ...

Individual versus collective cognition in social insects

The concerted responses of eusocial insects to environmental stimuli are often referred to as collective cognition at the level of the colony. To achieve collective cognition, a group can draw on two different sources: individual cognition and the connectivity between individuals. Computation in neural networks, for example, is attributed more to sophisticated communication schemes than to the ...

Centralized versus decentralized control in manufacturing: lessons from social insects

In our increasingly competitive world, companies must become more flexible, adaptive and responsive. However, this can be difficult in the face of complexities and uncertainties such as worker absenteeism, machine breakdown, and variation in customer behavior. One group of economies that exhibits such flexibility, even in highly unpredictable environments, is social insects: colonies of ants, b...