News From the Field
Wielding Microbe Against Microbe, Beetle Defends its Food Source

October 2, 2008

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. Full Story

Source
University of Wisconsin-Madison

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