TOKYO, Nov 08 (News On Japan) –
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other researchers have discovered that female saw-toothed grain beetles cultivate fungi in a special organ on their hind legs, using it to coat their eggs with protective fungal filaments that block parasitic wasps from laying their own eggs inside.
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This symbiotic system, in which the beetle nurtures the fungus and in turn gains protection for its offspring, reveals a sophisticated adaptation that enhances reproductive success. The finding overturns previous assumptions that the organ was an auditory structure, instead identifying it as a miniature “fungus incubator” essential for survival.
Source: 産経ニュース
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