Insects

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed.

Prying Apart the Mighty Bite of a Malaysian Trap-Jaw Ant

Its mandibles strike in a fraction of a blink of an eye, but how does it do it?

A small group of floating fire ants

Another Danger of the Harvey Flood: Floating Fire Ants

The stinging insects are floating around Texas floodwaters in giant mats

Male wolf spiders may have eight eyes, but they still can't tell whether the female they're mating with is dead or alive.

Whoa: Polygamous Wolf Spiders Have a Natural Form of Birth Control

Females have figured out how to get rid of unwanted sperm, allowing them to reap the benefits of multiple mates

Monarch caterpillars feeding on milkweed leaves and dropping their feces (taken in the laboratory facility).

How Insect Poop Could Solve All Our Problems

Bugs use their feces for weapons, navigation and gardening. Can we tap into this poop party?

This butterfly is the same species, white-letter hairstreak, as the one spotted in Scotland. But the little beauty is shown here in Dorset, UK.

Elusive Butterfly Spotted in Scotland For the First Time in 133 Years

The white-letter hairstreak has come under threat due to an outbreak of Dutch elm disease

The Joshua tree is one of the Mojave Desert's most iconic inhabitants. But it's under threat—and the key to saving it may lie in better understanding its tiny winged partner.

How a Tree and Its Moth Shaped the Mojave Desert

The partnership between the Joshua tree and the yucca moth may be key to understanding how plants and insects co-evolve

A green bluebottle fly, part of the Calliphoridae family of carrion flies.

How Fly Guts Are Helping Researchers Catalog the Rainforest

These tiny, buzzing lab assistants provide scientists with a treasure trove of conservation data

Little does it know, but getting eaten by a great tit is the least of this grub's worries.

Meet the Supervillain Worm That Gets By With a Little Help From Its Friends

This deadly nematode and its sidekicks reveal the power of bacterial symbiosis

How Fire Ants Build Incredible Writhing Towers

Using X-rays, researchers find simple rules help the ants raise each other up, which could be useful in robotics

This false-color image depicts various compounds that ants smell to detect where their nestmates stand in the colony's social hierarchy.

Studying Ant "Noses" Could Lead to Better Bug Repellents

The new class of repellents, called "excito-repellents," is similar to "getting on an elevator with someone who's put on way too much perfume"

Beet armyworm caterpillars turned to eating each other when the leaves they were placed on were made to taste foul.

Strong Plant Defenses Made These Hungry Caterpillars Eat Each Other

When left with the choice of nasty-tasting plants or each other, the choice is clear for the beet armyworm caterpillar

Genetically Modified Moth May Soon Be Coming to New York Crops

The move is an attempt to limit crop damage by the diamondback moth

Every species lights up the night in its own unique sequence of patterns, colors and flashes.

Illuminating the Secret Language of Lightning Bugs

For these light-up lovers, each flash in the night could mean sex or death

Crispy squares with whole crickets and falafel with ground crickets are two of the inventive offerings being served at Canada's Insectarium this summer.

This Summer, Try Termite Chocolate Sprinkles on Your Ice Cream

Canada’s Insectarium invites visitors to dine on insects as part of a special menu

The fire ant has spread like wildfire around the world, thanks to a winning combination of traits and a little help from humans.

How Humans Helped Ants Invade the World

Waves of globalization brought these warriors to new shores, where certain species spread like wildfire

“The Southern BBQ Trail” episode.

Come for the Bug Eating and Get a Lesson in Humanity from Andrew Zimmern

A Q&A with the Travel Channel’s 'Bizarre Foods' Chef

Nesting space is at a premium as humans tear down natural habitats.

The Early Birds Might Be Crowding Out the Bees

As humans expand, nesting space contracts—and competition heats up

The American Lobster, 'Homarus americanus,' found on the northern area of the Atlantic coast of America.

Climate Change, and Cod, Are Causing One Heck of a Lobster Boom in Maine

The complex relationships between humans, lobster, and cod are creating boom times--for now

Black soldier fly larvae

Got Food Waste? Get Some Maggots

In just a few hours, these tiny crawlers can eat more than their weight in food

Leeuwenhoek's early microscopic observations of rabbit sperm (figs. 1-4) and dog sperm (figs. 5-8).

The Long, Winding Tale of Sperm Science

...and why it's finally headed in the right direction

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