michael<p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SquashBugs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SquashBugs</span></a>, a common and difficult-to-control agricultural pest, need healthy bacteria in their gut to grow and stay alive. However, they do not acquire any bacteria from their parents when they are first born, leaving them vulnerable until their <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/microbiome" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microbiome</span></a> can be stocked. Researchers report in <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CurrentBiology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CurrentBiology</span></a> on June 28 that, to acquire these healthy bacteria, young bugs innately seek out and eat the poop from older squash <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bugs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bugs</span></a>.<br><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/993338" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">eurekalert.org/news-releases/9</span><span class="invisible">93338</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>science</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ecology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecology</span></a></p>