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Bugs

Scientists studied the fossils of prehistoric relatives of katydids.

Scientists Recreated the Long-Lost Chirps of Jurassic Insects. Listen to the Simulated Soundscape of 165 Million Years Ago

With artificial intelligence and careful modeling of fossilized wings, researchers reproduced how some extinct, katydid-like insects might have made noise

An artist's interpretation of what Chosha praecursor might have looked like while splitting its time between water and land 324 million years ago in what is now Texas.

This Ancient Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land

A previously undescribed critter that lived 324 million years ago appears to have been a transitional species that lived between land and sea. It could help researchers fill an 80-million-year gap in the fossil record of how crustaceans evolved into insects

A swarm of Chaoborus edulis flies over Lake Malawi

Why Don’t Insects Live in the Ocean? Scientists Just Ruled Out One Possible Explanation Thanks to Deep-Diving Fly Larvae

Researchers thought that insects might not live there because their respiratory systems would implode from water pressure. But certain fly larvae in East Africa make daily trips toward the bottom of Lake Malawi with the help of strong air sacs that contain a stretchy protein

Researchers tested the superworms' skeleton-cleaning abilities by letting them loose on a variety of animal skeletons, including those of a rook, an alligator gar, a Eurasian eagle owl, a gray wolf and a wild cat.

Flesh-Eating ‘Superworms’ Could Become a New Skeleton-Cleaning Crew for Museum and Research Specimens

A new study hints that the critters would be a good alternative to traditional methods used to remove flesh from bones, including dermestid beetles, chemical treatments and boiling, which can cause damage or be time-consuming

A cyborg cockroach wearing a diving suit, which provides oxygen.

Cyborg Cockroaches Could Help Find Survivors of Natural Disasters. New Diving Suits Allow the Insects to Expand Their Search Underwater

Previously, researchers created electrical implants to control cockroaches’ movements for search-and-rescue missions. Now, they’ve made 3D-printed suits that provide oxygen, allowing the critters to survive submerged for up to three hours

Researchers came up with the new count by studying insect biodiversity in a conservation area in Costa Rica.

Earth Might Be Home to 20 Million Insect Species—More Than Three Times as Many as Previously Thought, a Study Suggests

Recent estimates have come to the consensus that our planet hosts roughly six million species. But new research reveals that those counts may be drastically underestimated

A time-lapse of an individual D. melanogaster sperm cell. The head is artificially colored pink, and the tail is teal.

These Male Fruit Flies Have Sperm That Are Nearly as Long as Their Bodies. Here’s How the Cells Don’t Become a Tangled Mess

Males of the species Drosophila melanogaster pack thousands of almost two-millimeter-long sperm cells into significantly smaller storage organs. A new study reveals how they move in an orderly manner

Ants are pictured at the Metropolitan Natural Park, a protected area in Panama City, on January 26, 2025.

Ants Can Get Distracted by Cookies, Chips and Other Junk Food. Here’s Why That Could Be a Problem for the Environment

The insects enjoy snack crumbs, but new research shows that this unnatural food source can divert them from one of their most significant roles: dispersing plant seeds

The seizure included Madagascar hissing cockroaches—some of the largest roaches in the world—and dubia cockroaches.

More Than 100,000 Illegal Exotic Cockroaches Were Seized by Australian Authorities in a Record-Setting Bug Bust

The insects are estimated to be worth up to $141,000, according to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water. Exotic cockroaches could harm the country’s wildlife and agriculture

New World screwworm is the name given to the larval, or maggot, stage of the Cochliomyia hominivorax blowfly

Flesh-Eating Screwworms Have Been Detected in the United States 60 Years After They Were Eradicated From the Country

The parasites were identified in a bovine in southern Texas. This marks the third time the cattle-threatening pests have been found in the U.S. and the first in Texas since they were eradicated in 1966

An Aedes aegypti mosquito

Google Wants to Release 32 Million Mosquitoes in California and Florida. Here’s Why

The company is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for permission to release millions of sterilized mosquitoes in order to fight their disease-spreading counterparts

A mosquito drinking blood from a bag, accessible through mesh

Could Bug Spray Attract Mosquitoes? Lab Insects Learned That the Smell of DEET Would Lead Them to a Tasty Treat

Researchers don’t know how the findings might overlap with real-world settings. But the discovery suggests that we’re most vulnerable when our insect repellent is wearing off, meaning we should reapply it regularly

In laboratory experiments, house crickets groomed an antenna that had been touched by a hot soldering iron.

Can Insects Feel Pain? New Research Suggests That Crickets Do

Used for food, feed and research, the critters are among the most widely farmed bugs. The study authors say humans should work to reduce harm in insect farming, handling and experimentation

Now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, Fort Jefferson was built starting in 1846.

This Soldier Died of Yellow Fever During a Hurricane 153 Years Ago. Archaeologists Just Found His Grave

George Tupper, a 22-year-old from Massachusetts, was nearly a year into his military service when a yellow fever outbreak struck Fort Jefferson

3D rendering of an Eciton hamatum subsoldier ant

These Stunningly Detailed 3D Images of Ants Showcase the Remarkable Diversity Across Their Many Species

Scientists used a game-changing technique to scan about 2,200 preserved specimens in just one week to create the Antscan database

Common eastern bumblebee queens use underwater breathing and anaerobic metabolism to survive when submerged.

Bumblebee Queens Breathe Underwater to Survive Drowning, Revealing How They Can Live Submerged for a Week

After scientists accidentally discovered that the common eastern bumblebee can withstand flood conditions, they wanted to investigate what makes that super-ability possible

A blue morpho butterfly, native to the tropical forests of Central and South America

Most Insect Species Call the Tropics Home. But Climate Change Is Pushing Many of the Critters There to Their Heat Limits

Insects in the lowlands will have an especially hard time with rising temperatures, a new study suggests

A small underwater lens made a coral in Indonesia look like another common lifeform.

See the Beauty of Corals, Beehives, Mushrooms and More in These 11 Images From the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards

Now in its seventh year, the competition honors macro, micro and close-up images snapped around the world

Sceptobius beetles groom ants to steal the pheromones that they produce. The beetles cloak themselves in those pheromones to match the scent of the ant colony, gaining the ability to live among the ants undetected.

These Beetles Are Entirely Dependent on Ants for Survival. Here’s Why That’s Not an Evolutionary Death Sentence

Rove beetles cloak themselves in ant pheromones to sneak into the insects’ nests for protection. But in an odd catch-22, that makes them forever reliant on their hosts

Joshua trees rely on a single species—the yucca moth—to pollinate their flowers.

The American Southwest’s Iconic Joshua Trees Are Blooming Early—and Scientists Want Your Help to Figure Out Why

The spiky desert succulents typically blossom beginning in late February. But this season, many started growing flowers up to four months early

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