Insects

A wasp larva perches on its hapless spider host.

Parasitic Wasps Turn Spiders Into Zombie Weavers

Arachnids injected with a potent neurotoxin are forced to create shiny new web cradles for wasp larvae

This Robotic Insect Can Jump on Water

Why? Because it’s cool

A blue Egyptian water lily, a potential inspiration for flower petals painted on a casket found in Tut's tomb.

How Flowers Changed the World, From Ecosystems to Art Galleries

A new book by entomologist Stephen Buchmann explores the beautiful and sometimes bizarre history of flowering plants

Serpentine columbine may use dead bugs to lure in spiders to do its dirty work, researchers report.

This Plant Murders Bugs and Decorates Itself With Their Dead Bodies

Talk about a roundabout defense strategy

A swarm of mayflies in Ontario

Officials Had to Use A Snowplow to Reclaim a Bridge in Iowa Swarmed by Mayflies

An unusually large emergence of aquatic insects created temporarily hazardous conditions

This Fungus Eats the Butts off Cicadas

It’s totally not a big deal, though

An Anopholes mosquito, the vector for malaria, taking a blood meal from a tasty human.

Mosquitoes Can Carry, and Deliver, a Double Dose of Malaria

Insects that are already carrying one strain are more likely to pick up a second infection and harbor higher numbers of parasites

Some scientists think that humans have aided the spread of ticks that carry Lyme bacteria in a few different ways.

Lyme Disease is Spreading, and It's People's Fault

Thanks to climate change and human population growth, cases have been on the rise for decades

Does she look like she would enjoy being jabbed with a needle? Conservationists have used assassin bugs to test the blood female Iberian lynx, like the mother picture above with her cubs, for pregnancy.

How Do You Give an Iberian Lynx a Pregnancy Test? Use an Assassin Bug

Researchers used the insects to keep tabs on population growth in the threatened species

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Bumblebees Are Getting Squeezed by Climate Change

Across North America and Europe, the insects are just not keeping up with shifting temperatures

Some ants, like the unidentified species above, take lazy breaks while others work.

Despite Their Industrious Reputation, Some Ants Are Super Lazy

Research suggests that some worker ants excel at inactivity

What Did Insects Evolve From and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Photographer Joseph Michael explored the 30-million-year old limestone caves of New Zealand's North Island, a favored spot for glowworms, to create these dazzling long-exposure shots.

Captivating Long-Exposure Photos of New Zealand’s Glowworm Caves

These new shots show the otherworldly magic created by a carnivorous fungus gnat

A small cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) hovers on a hedge mustard plant (Sisybrium officinale). While the butterfly might look harmless enough, its caterpillars engage in a chemical war with this mustard plant's cultivated relatives.

Mustard Is A Product Of Evolutionary Warfare Between Plants And Caterpillars

Plants produce mustard oils to fight off pests in a chemical conflict that’s been waged for millions of years

A cereus in Arizona in 2009. These night-blooming flowers spring forth from cacti just one night a year, in concert with other nearby cereus. They usually wilt the next day.

See the Flowers that Bloom All At Once, One Night a Year

The mysterious night-blooming cereus just dazzled a garden in Tucson. Scientists still aren’t sure exactly how they bloom at the same time

New research suggests hawkmoths, like the one pictured above, slow down their brain's ability to process light in order to see at night.

Hovering Hawkmoths Slow Down Their Brains to See in the Dark

The insects’ night vision appears to be finely tuned to the movement of their flower food sources

Two species of mites make their home in the hair follicles on your face.

Meet the Mites That Live on Your Face

These microscopic organisms live and die on your face

Male wolf spiders vibrate dead leaves to create purring noises and court females.

Listen to the Dulcet Purr of a Wolf Spider

Males seduce females by making leaves vibrate

A monarch feasting on milkweed.

Migrating Monarch Butterflies Might Actually Take to the Highway

Threatened pollinators get a trans-continental right of way

The Habronattus sunglow (male pictured above) is a species of jumping spider that has trichromatic or "true" color vision.

How Jumping Spiders See in Color

The agile arachnids see in three color channels, and they can actually see more colors than humans can

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