INSECTS

Geckos and shrubs and sharks, oh my! 2013 was a big year for new species. Scientists found hundreds of them this year. Here are some of our favorites.

In the jungles of Panama, a group of farmers ekes out a living by raising fungi for food. They’re peaceful, and when more aggressive neighbors come into their territory, looking for a cut of the crop, they oblige the guests and don’t fight them. But while

At this invisible line, two related species of millipedes meet, but don’t mix—and no one knows why.

Some entomologists, the scientists that study insects, have a work life that presents a challenge: they’ve devoted their careers to creepy-crawly animals, work with them every day, sometimes get up close and personal with them and are maybe even fond of t

Black widow spiders, nature’s femmes fatales, have earned their name from a long-held belief that the females often devour their male counterparts immediately after mating. But recent research has uncovered at least one species of the spider in which this

Don't let Mother Nature have all the fun!

In 1996, the cicadas of Brood II (the “East Coast Brood”) swarmed the northeastern United States and then disappeared almost as quickly as they came, leaving only their eggs and molted exoskeletons behind. Once the eggs hatched, the new generation of cica

There are plenty of intrepid scientists doing strange-sounding field work. Here are two.