Insects

New anti-Zika measures go way beyond bug spray.

All the Extremely Absurd Ways People Are Fighting Zika at the Rio Olympics

Donning facial masks, wearing Zika-proof uniforms and freezing sperm: Does any of this stuff actually work?

Maratus bubo

Stunning Images Capture Peacock Spiders’ Flashy Colors

Beautiful and acrobatic, these tiny, vibrant creatures shake their tail fuzz in elaborate mating dances

Being a blood fluke is more popular than you might expect.

How Parasites Became So Popular

A new study finds that parasitism evolved independently 223 times. But that number is actually surprisingly low

Tiny nurse ants tending to white ant larvae are dwarfed by the queen ant in the upper right. All the ants feed upon protein-rich food produced by a white-grey fungus that they cultivate underground.

Were Ants the World's First Farmers?

A new study shows that a group of ants have been conducting a subsistence type of farming since shortly after the dinosaurs died out

Do Insects Have Consciousness?

A new theory has scientists buzzing

Screwworm Fly larva

Researchers Studying "Teen Sex" and Flesh-Eating Maggots Win 2016 Golden Goose Awards

Both quirky and important, these studies went against the grain

This pesky pest has a tendency to alter world history.

How the Lowly Mosquito Helped America Win Independence

The blood-sucking insect has played a leading role in the rise and fall of empires throughout history

Light- and dark-colored peppered moths. The black variety is thought to have evolved to camouflage moths on sooty surfaces during the Industrial Revolution.

New Evidence Shows Peppered Moths Changed Color in Sync With the Industrial Revolution

Scientists used “jumping genes” as a time machine to track down changes in moths’ appearance

A sketch of a Lycaeides melissa samuelis butterfly.

Vladimir Nabokov’s Butterfly Drawings Take Flight in This New Book

A little-known fact: The author of “Lolita” was also an avid lepidopterist

Though necessary for collecting pollen, bumblebees' fuzz may also help detect electric fields.

Bumblebees Detect a Flower's Electric Buzz With Their Fuzz

Using the tiny hairs that cover their bodies, bees can tap into the weak electric field in the atmosphere

A female mosquito in the process of feeding on a human host.

Malaria, Zika and Dengue Could Meet Their Match in Mosquito-Borne Bacteria

A common bacteria that infects mosquitoes seems to prevent them from carrying more deadly diseases.

Bug Poop Is Turning the Taj Mahal Green

To make matters worse, constant cleaning is damaging the monument’s delicate marble

Environmental cues mosquitoes to swarm inside a lab.

Kill All the Mosquitoes?!

New gene-editing technology gives scientists the ability to wipe out the carriers of malaria and the Zika virus. But should they use it?

Ground beetle (Carabus (Coptolabrus) elysii), detail

Eek! Each of These Insect Portraits Is Made From More Than 8,000 Images

With a mastery of macro, Levon Biss captures every hair and dimple on insects’ vibrant bodies

How to Build a Mosquito Trap From an Old Tire

Canadian researchers hope to curb the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases by luring the pests into homemade traps

This “Sweaty” Billboard Kills Mosquitoes

Gross gimmick or Zika-fighting innovation?

This bed bug has favorite colors, too.

Bed Bugs Are Picky About Certain Colors

But don’t buy new sheets just yet

Black widows’ red hourglass tells birds to back off but is almost invisible to insects.

The Deadly Cunning of the Black Widow's Color Scheme

Why did the spider evolve to have that crimson hourglass on its back?

Do Insects Have Consciousness and Ego?

The brains of insects are similar to a structure in human brains, which could show a rudimentary form of consciousness

The Northeast Prepares for Swarms of Cicadas This Spring

Billions of red-eyed cicadas will emerge from the earth in much of the northeast this spring, part of a 17-year-cycle

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