INSECTS

How to Safeguard Your Home From Annual Asian Beetle Invasions

While we’re outside enjoying the crisp weather, these tiny critters are scrambling inside our houses to keep warm.

A Simple Way to Prevent Bed Bugs: Do Your Laundry While on Vacation

The dreaded critters may hitchhike from hotel to home in your suitcase full of dirty clothes.

Unfazed by Haters, This Bug-Loving 8-Year-Old Helped Author a Scientific Paper

It all began with a letter her mom wrote to entomologists asking them to assure her daughter that "she is not weird or strange"—and they didn't disappoint.

2017 Ig Nobel Prizes Celebrate Research on How Crocodiles Affect Gambling and Other Odd Studies

It's hard to pick a favorite from these off-the-wall studies exploring topics like whether cats can be both solid and liquid, the physics of walking backwards with coffee, and the brain activity of people who are grossed out by cheese.

Floral-Scented Pesticide Lures Mosquitoes to Their Death

"It's like having an irresistible chocolate shop on every corner."

Elusive Butterfly Sighted in Scotland for the First Time in 133 Years

Thanks to climate change and the destruction of its natural habitat, the white-letter hairstreak has migrated north.

Oakley Originals, Flickr Creative Commons // CC BY 2.0

Could Imported Sperm Help Save America’s Bees?

Scientists hope enlarging the gene pool will give our bees a fighting chance.

Mantises Regularly Catch and Feast On Birds, NBD

We’re talking hummingbirds, not eagles, but still.

7 Creepy Crawlies You Want in Your Garden

Don't kill them—consider them your friends!

Watch Weevils Invade California Palm Trees

The South American palm weevil is eating palms' hearts out.

Meet the Beautiful Beetle That Lives in (and Eats) Poop

Don't let the rainbow scarab's love of coprophagy put you off. It's a stunner.

15 Useful Facts About Lyme Disease

Look out for the bull's-eye.

Jelly Beans Are Delicious—and They're Made With Insect Secretions

Jelly beans are shiny because they're coated in shellac, which is a resin that's secreted by the female lac bug (laccifer lacca) after it drinks the sap of trees.

Olaf Leillinger via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.5

Exploding Moth Populations Threaten England's Historic Sites

Centuries-old tapestries, carpets, and taxidermied animals are at risk.

Watch: These Fruit Flies are Superheroes of Brain Science

Zap them and they fight. Zap them harder and they flirt.

Married Entomologists Donate Insect Collection Worth $10 Million

The duo is giving their collection to the university that brought them together.

A Swiss Restaurant Now Offers Bug-Based Cooking Classes

Insects are a sustainable and healthy food source, Bern's Löscher restaurant explains.

2017 Might be a Bad Year for Lyme Disease

Warmer temperatures have led to an increase in the tick population. Here's how to avoid them.

Oliver Koemmerling via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

Why Lady Mantises Eat Their Mates

Genetically speaking, getting eaten could be the best thing to ever happen to a male mantis.

13 Secrets of Forensic Entomologists

4. They rarely go to crime scenes.

The Most Rat- and Roach-Infested Cities in the U.S.

One city reported vermin in 2 out of 5 households.

Paul Ventner via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

15 Facts About Maggots

Maggot therapy is making a comeback.

John Tann via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 2.0

15 Fascinating Facts About Fruit Flies

Drosophila melanogaster may seem like nothing more than a nuisance when your fruit gets too ripe, but medical research owes a great deal to this tiny little menace.

Ants Communicate by Swapping Spit

Scientists say the mouth-to-mouth exchanges transmit hormones and other important chemical information.

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