ENTOMOLOGY

Cockroaches Can Communicate Through Gut Bacteria

The cockroach microbiome is responsible for the insects’ ability to find friends, a new study finds.

Spider Webs Are Chock Full of DNA from Devoured Insects

A new study on the genetic material from spider webs finds that there’s more to them than we'd once thought.

Robber Ants Spend Their Days Stealing From Other Nests

Thieves may be an established caste among some ant species.

Male Crickets Bribe Their Mates With 'Gummy Bears'

The chewy nuptial gifts have no nutritional value.

15 Industrious Facts About Ants

Though they be but little, they are fierce. (Also: smart, resourceful, and clean.)

Study Finds Up To 14,000 Bed Bugs in Infested Apartments

A study/horror story followed a bedbug infestation for more than a month to see where the pests went. Answer: Everywhere.

CDC/James Gathany via Wikipedia // Public Domain

Thousands of Portraits of Mosquitoes Could Lead to Better Malaria Protection

Researchers set up infrared imaging to see how the mosquitoes interact with mosquito nets in the hopes of designing better defenses against the malaria-carrying bugs.

Study Figures Out Why Queen Bees Become Queens

A certain chemical compound fed to honeybee larvae determines whether they grow into queens or workers.

Stéphane De Greef // Screenshot via Vimeo

Watch a Group of Ants Take Down a Huge Millipede

Working together, stinging Leptogenys ants from Cambodia paralyze their prey, then drag it back to their nest for dinner.

15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees

They air-condition their own nests, eat constantly, and choose their children's sex.

15 Arachnophobic Facts About Camel Spiders

First off, they're not even spiders.

Where Do Insects Poop?

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.

7 Infested Facts About Bed Bugs

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

This Mysterious Caterpillar Builds a Toxic Fortress of a Cocoon

“Cuckoo” Butterflies Get Ants to Raise their Kids

There aren’t many things more beautiful than a butterfly—or many things creepier than parasites. It’s hard to think that you’d ever find one of the former that’s also one of the latter, but nature is full of surprises.

How Antlion Larvae Eat Without a Mouth

Are Bees Really All That Busy?

Some bees don’t really do any work at all.

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.