insects

5 Itchy Facts About Fleas

There are several thousand species of fleas around the world—and 300 of these bloodsucking pests call the U.S. home.

How Do Anthills Survive the Rain?

The ant fortresses you find on your lawn have a number of defenses.

Alberto Salguero, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY SA 4.0

How a Lying Plant Steals from a Thieving Fly

The smearwort (Aristolochia rotunda) dupes fruit flies into entering its flowers and then traps them there, getting pollinated without offering any reward.

Stink Bugs Still Terrorize American Homes

Do stink bugs smell like skunks—or cilantro? How can we end the invasion? Do they taste good in a taco? Here are the answers to your most pressing stink bug questions.

7 Ways Animals Behave Badly

If you like to romanticize the natural world and its creatures, you're in for a few unpleasant surprises.

10 Intense Facts About the Giant Weta

The giant weta is one of the biggest insects on Earth, easily dwarfing most bugs and even some small rodents. Here are 10 facts you probably don't know about this New Zealand native.

Flowers are Pharmacies for Sick Bees

Female Butterflies Have A Second Stomach—Inside Their Vaginas

Scientists Aren't Releasing the Colombian Cocaine Moths Just Yet

7 Infested Facts About Bed Bugs

Scientists Turn Disease-Spreading Female Mosquitoes Male

A Rainbow of Butterflies

(Almost) Everything We Know About the Orchid Mantis is Wrong

Ants Make Little Toilets for their Nests

This Bug Only Warns You Not to Attack It After You Attack It

Bug’s Color is Warning for One Predator, Invisible to Another

16th Century Spanish Ships Took Tropical Fire Ants Around the World

Study Claims To Show Cockroaches Have Distinct Personalities

These Flies Go Headhunting for Dinner

Watch this Guy Serve as an Incubator for Bot Flies

Elsa Youngsteadt via North Carolina State University

NYC Insects Eat a Lot of Food Waste

How Antlion Larvae Eat Without a Mouth

Mosquitoes Get Bug Bites, Too

This Moth’s Love Song Has a Dual Meaning

When love is in the air for certain moth species, the female secretes a pheromone to signal that she’s ready to make little moths. An interested male will approach and “sing” her a courtship song composed of a series of ultrasonic pulses.