Insects

Fewer Honeybees Died Last Year, But Not Enough to Save Them

If losses continue at the same rate, honey bees in the U.S. won't survive on the long term

In an Emergency, We Act Like Ants

Like many animals, we tend to clump together when danger presents itself

Butterflies And Bees Drink Crocodile Tears

To the delight of winged invertebrates, crocodiles cry when they eat

Mosquitoes Kill More Humans Than Human Murderers Do

From a human perspective, this makes them the deadliest animal in the world by far

When Museum Specimen Get Infested With Bugs, Curators Have to Freeze Them

Freezing and heating can oftentimes keep invertebrate enemies at bay

Female on top: A female Neotrogla insect mates with a male in a cave in eastern Brazil.

In This Community of Brazilian Cave Insects, Females Wear the Penises, Literally

A genus of insect that inhabits caves in eastern Brazil has reversed sex organs, say scientists

Ice-Age Bees Uncovered at the La Brea Tar Pits

The samples were actually excavated back in 1970, but were set aside because there wasn't a way to analyze them at the time

"Make eggs, make eggs!"

A Loving Touch Triggers Cockroaches to Make Babies Faster

Female cockroaches make eggs more quickly if they cuddle with other roaches, but artificial antennae delivering gentle touches can also speed egg growth

This Firefly Time-Lapse Video Is Beautiful

A visit to a serene lake in Missouri kicked off an obsession with creating time-lapse images of fireflies

What happens when scientists expose wasps to outer space radiation? The insects mutate into giant killing machines—or, so say the makers of the 1958 film Monster From Green Hell.

Scream Queen: An Entomologist Dispels the Myths in Insect Horror Flicks

May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois, explains where the science goes wrong in these seven films—all featuring arthropod antagonists

An Anopheles mosquito, the blood-sucking culprit that delivers malaria.

As Temperatures Rise, Malaria Will Invade Higher Elevations

Malaria is already infiltrating highland areas in Colombia and Ethiopia that were previously protected from the disease by cool mountain temperatures

Ant Larvae Are Used as Living Floaties to Save the Queen From Floods

When the floods begin, the entire colony does its part in forming a living, floating mass, placing the queen at the protective center

According to a new study, fruit flies can be genetically modified to glow the moment they come in contact with cancerous cells.

Can Fruit Flies Be Bred to Detect Cancer?

The insects have been engineered to glow in different patterns when they identify the smell of various cancers

Sperm from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, magnified 50 times.

Mosquitoes' Sperm Can Detect Smells

Mosquitoes' individual sperm have scent-detecting sensors

Bombus flavifrons worker visiting a columbine in Grant Teton National Park

Bumblebees Can Fly Into Thin Air

Once thought to be unimpressive fliers, bumblebees may be able to summit Mount Everest, new research suggests

A three-toed sloth.

What Drives a Sloth's Ritualistic Trek to Poop?

Scientists trace the odd bathroom behavior to relationships with bacteria and moths that inhabit their fur

The Beautiful Flight Paths of Fireflies

Flirting lightning bugs illuminate a dark forest with golden flight during mating season

There are 40 ground-up crickets in every bar.

Are You Ready For Protein Bars Made From Crickets?

They’re good for you and the environment, but are they good enough to eat?

A locust swarm in Israel.

Grasshopper Gut Parasites Could Stop Ruinous Locust Swarms

The microbes confuse the chemical signals that tell pestilent locusts: swarm!

These Slave-Making Ants Use Stealth, Not Force, to Take Prisoners

Chemical camouflage allow these tiny ants to sneak past enemies' defenses and steal their babies

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