Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Jan-2026 08:11 ET (1-Jan-2026 13:11 GMT/UTC)
The azuki bean beetle is a common pest of stored beans and peas. Researchers at Kyushu University have found that when beetles infected with Wolbachia bacteria are exposed to elevated temperature and carbon dioxide they tend to produce larger eggs to enhance the survivability of their offspring. Interestingly, these larger eggs gave rise only to male larvae.
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