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Insects

Coyotes and people coexist in San Francisco, despite an effort to eradicate the canines a century ago. This image and its portfolio won the Photojournalist Story Award.

See the Stunning Winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest, Capturing the Splendor and Drama of Nature

These 19 recognized images highlight the diversity across our planet and the value in appreciating and protecting the natural world

A newly identified stick insect species, Anchiale mabiensis, can be found in the Mabi Forest of Australia.

Two New Stick Insect Species Have Been Discovered in Australia—and Another One Was Hiding in Plain Sight

The new discoveries emphasize that scientists have a lot left to learn about insect diversity, even in areas with many observations

At least 800,000 bees were stolen from several properties in far north Queensland, Australia. The theft coincides with the recent spread of a bee-killing parasite throughout the region. 

More Than 800,000 Bees, Worth Tens of Thousands of Dollars, Have Been Stolen in ‘Sophisticated’ Heists Across Northern Australia

The recent spread of a bee-killing parasite has contributed to an uptick in brazen thefts, experts theorize

This year's Ig Nobel Award ceremony took place in Zurich, Switzerland.

Stealing Candy From Children, Splash-Proof Urinals and Buried Panties, Oh My! Here Are the Winners of the 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes

The awards are an unaffiliated spoof of the Nobel Prizes. They highlight research achievements that are surprising and silly-sounding—but also make people think

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

This might be the view a seal gets as it comes up from underwater to breathe: a polar bear, looking down for its prey.

See 16 Stunning Animal Images From the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

Now in its 62nd year, the famed competition has released a sneak peek of the entries from this contest ahead of announcing the winners in October

How did Europeans build enormous, complex cathedrals before they had complex mathematics? 

How Did Medieval Builders Construct Complex Cathedrals Before Advanced Mathematics? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

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

Brazil experienced its first urban outbreak of yellow fever in decades from late 2016 through 2018. During that time, people flocked to health centers to get a vaccine, which can provide lifelong protection.

Brazil’s First Urban Yellow Fever Outbreak in Nearly a Century May Have Been Fueled by a Surprising Culprit

Extremely wet conditions are known to help spread mosquito-borne diseases like yellow fever. But based on computer simulations, researchers suspect that a severe drought may have contributed to the South American country’s recent deadly epidemic

A koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, with her babies at Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, 2011

This Amazing Archive of Animal Photography Reveals 18,000 Species and Counting. Here’s How Joel Sartore Built His ‘Photo Ark’

For 20 years, the National Geographic photographer has showcased Earth’s animals in a series of striking images that make even the tiniest creatures look immense

The small blue, shown here, has lost about 40 percent of its habitat in the United Kingdom over the last 150 years.

Butterflies Around the World Are Moving to New Habitats, Largely Because of Climate Change, a Study Suggests

Researchers examined data on 1,758 butterfly species—about ten percent of all those known—from 105 countries and estimated that about one in ten global species has shifted its distribution range

The sticky hairs on the alpine flower trap tiny insects. 

Charles Darwin Theorized That These Plants Were Carnivorous 150 Years Ago. A New Study Proves Him Right

As the naturalist predicted in 1875, some Saxifraga plants consume insects—using sticky hairs to trap them

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

Scientists studied the sweat bee species Megalopta genalis​​​​​​, native to Central and South America.

In This Bee Species, Why Do Some Daughters Leave Home While Others Stay ‘Bee-hind’ to Help Mom?

Biologists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute investigated a flexible social bee species, which helps shed light on the evolution of more complex organizational structures among other insects

A bumblebee sticking out its tongue, potentially a sign that it liked a flavor

Bumblebees Seem to ‘Lick Their Lips’ After Sweet Treats and Shake Their Heads at Bad Tastes, Hinting at the Insects’ Inner Lives

Slow-motion videos suggest that the insects display distinct behaviors when they like or dislike a snack. The findings might offer a new way to study their emotion-like states

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

Illustration of what Praearcturus gigas may have looked like

After Decades of Debate, Scientists Say These Fossils Belong to the Largest Known Scorpion, Which Lived 415 Million Years Ago

Researchers have wondered whether Praearcturus gigas was a giant crustacean called an isopod or some other creature. A new analysis of museum specimens suggests that it was a scorpion that stretched more than three feet long

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

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