Aim A decline in body size has been proposed as a universal response to global warming, but this is often questioned. We describe and characterize recent morphological changes in the avifauna of Israel as a whole and test several hypotheses regarding their cause. Location Israel. Time period 1950–2020. Major taxa studied Aves. Methods  We analysed the morphology of 7,981 museum specimens. For each of the 106 species, we calculated the rate of change in mass, head and body length, wing length and approximate relative surface area, both over time and as a function of temperature anomaly (the difference between temperatures in a given year and the interannual average). We used phylogenetic generalized linear mixed models (PGLMMs) to determine trends and their relationship to the ecology of species. Results Over the last 70 years there have been consistent changes through time in mass, length and surface area‐to‐volume ratio. Mass decreased by 18.3%, length increased by 5.1%, and surface area‐to‐volume ratio increased by 28.9%. The increase in the ratio of surface area to volume through time corresponds to a 12.2% increase per degree Celsius of warming. In contrast, changes in wing length were few and inconsistent. Most species changed in either mass or length, but seldom in both. The effect of rising temperature on morphology was roughly an order of magnitude stronger than the effect of a comparable geographical difference in habitat temperature. Changes were modulated by migratory habits but not explained by human commensalism or diet. Main conclusions A decrease in mass and increase in length are widespread, both leading to higher relative surface area. Results conform with predicted responses to global warming, but not with any of our other tested hypotheses. If warming is the driver of these changes, the diverging responses observed between different species might represent different solutions to solve a common problem.

Aim: Whether marine species can respond to ocean warming by changing their depth remains controversial. Some evidence suggests that species can deepen to cope with warming climates, whereas other studies have found ecologically constrained depth distributions. Our study focuses on generalizing the depth response of species to warming and elucidating whether some species display a larger change in depth than others. This might help us to understand the future distribution of marine species and communities.

Fatty acids (FA) are the primary metabolic fuel for many organisms and the fundamental component of membranes of all living organisms. FAs can be saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), or polyunsaturated (PUFA). PUFA are not synthesized by most animals and are considered as essential nutrients. We examined the effect of climate on the saturation level of polar (mostly membranal) and neutral lipids in the body of the Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) from two extreme climatic zones: Mediterranean high elevation; and hot arid desert. In contrast to previous reports, the environmental temperature was shown to affect the hornet colonies’ thermal environments. The hornets nonetheless maintained their colony temperature within a narrow range. Analyses of the hornets’ unsaturation levels of polar and non-polar body lipids revealed caste differences: gynes and males contained less unsaturated lipids than workers. However, there were no differences in the respective castes between the two different climate zones tested. Experimentally manipulating the diet of queenless hornet colonies to a high Omega-3 diet (salmon) or a high Omega-6 diet (crickets) had only a minor effect on the worker-born males’ lipid composition. Although salmon-fed males had a higher Omega-3 content than cricket-fed ones, the proportion of these fatty acids was still low (below 1%). Cricket-fed males had significantly higher levels of Omega-6 than salmon-fed males. Our data show that the specific lipid composition of the hornet body is highly regulated and deficient in essential PUFA, even under different climates or high Omega-3 or Omega-6 PUFA diet. PUFA, especially Omega-3, is considered to have a beneficial effect on physiological processes. Our finding that these FA, when common in the diet, are almost absent in the body raises questions about how they affect animals’ physiology.

The main challenge facing a parasite of social insects lies in deceiving its host’s detection and defense systems in order to enter and survive within the host colony. Sphecophaga orientalis is an ichneumonid wasp that parasitizes the pupae of the Oriental hornet Vespa orientalis. In Israel’s Mediterranean region, this parasitoid infects on average 23.48% (8–56%) of the host pupal cells. Observation of colonies brought to the laboratory revealed that the parasite moves around within the colony without being aggressed by the host workers. To assess how the parasite evades host detection and defense, we compared the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of both species. There was little similarity between the parasite and the host workers’ CHC, refuting the hypothesis of chemical mimicry. The parasite’s CHCs were dominated by linear alkanes and alkenes with negligible amounts of branched alkanes, while the host workers’ CHCs were rich in branched alkanes and with little or no alkenes. Moreover, the parasite cuticular wash was markedly rich in oleic acid, previously reported as a cue eliciting necrophoric behavior. Since nests of Oriental hornets are typified by large amounts of prey residues, we suggest that, due to its unfamiliar CHCs and the abundance of oleic acid, the parasite is considered as refuse by the host. We also detected rose oxide in the parasitoid head extracts. Rose oxide is a known insect repellent, and can be used to repel and mitigate aggression in workers. These two factors, in concert, are believed to aid the parasite to evade host aggression.

During a series of explosions in a recent eruption of violence between Israel and Gaza, the metabolic rate of a Syrian Blind Snake Xerotyphlops syriacus peaked acutely, and its breathing pattern changed. This is the first record of a wild animal’s real-time physiological response to the noise of an incoming rocket attack and highlights the gap in our understanding of how anthropogenic noise – and military activity in general – affects individual wildlife.