Acid-filled pitchers complete with fangs. Labyrinthine chambers decorated with bristles. Leaves that snap shut in less than a second. Employing strategies like these, carnivorous plants have a reputation as fearsome predators, but they may do more to help their insect neighbors than previously thought. 

Using mass spectroscopy to analyze the nitrogen isotope levels of wasps and pitcher plant leaves, researchers found that the nectar of carnivorous pitcher plants comprises an important part of the insects’ diet. This research provides evidence that this interaction isn’t as simple as a predator eating their prey, and that these pitcher plants likely play a larger role in their local ecosystems than was first thought. 

A new nematode: the first worm “towers” ever observed in the wild are an undescribed species named C. apta.

Possible tower vector: C. apta was found in huge numbers on two beetles invasive to Europe, pointing to likely tower vector.

Global dispersal: C. apta may have co-invaded and established in Europe with their beetle hosts, which might impact native nematode species.

Scorpions wield some of the natural world’s most formidable built-in weapons, from crushing pincers to venomous stingers. Scientists have long known that these structures contain trace metals that strengthen them, but only a small fraction of the roughly 3,000 scorpions had ever been examined for this trait. A new study published April 28 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface dramatically expands that understanding. Researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute analyzed 18 scorpion species and uncovered striking patterns in the concentration and distribution of these metals.