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Insects

Four radioactive wasp nests were found at a former nuclear site in South Carolina, according to a government report and statements from officials. The image is not one of these nests; individual wasps were not found, and the wasp species was not disclosed.

Officials Discover Radioactive Wasp Nests at Facility That Once Produced Parts of Nuclear Weapons in South Carolina

A report from the Department of Energy says the finding did not impact other activities and operations

New research suggests Neanderthals ate rotten flesh and maggots, explaining why the levels of nitrogen-15 found in their remains are so high.

Neanderthals Might Have Eaten Maggot-Infested, Putrefying Meat, Explaining a Mysterious Chemical Signature in Their Remains

Maggots might have helped our long-extinct relatives avoid protein poisoning by providing a nutritious source of fat, a new study suggests

A Squamellaria plant grows on a tree in Fiji. As an epiphyte, its roots don't attach to the ground, so it needs to find an alternate source for nutrients rather than the soil.

Enemy Ant Colonies Are Peaceful Roommates in Apartment-Like Plants on Fiji. Scientists Discovered How This Delicate Coexistence Works

New research explores the surprising symbiotic relationship between tubers and different ant species at rainforest heights

A 99-million-year-old fly encased in amber shows infection with a prehistoric zombifying fungus.

Rare Amber Fossils Capture ‘Zombie’ Fungus Infecting Insects During a Time When Dinosaurs Still Walked the Earth

An ant and fly from the Cretaceous period offer insights into the history of Ophiocordyceps, the fungal parasite made popular by HBO’s “The Last of Us”

A veery gets ready to rise into the Vermont skies, not long before setting off on an annual migration to the species’ wintering grounds in Brazil.

Scientists Are Tracking Worrying Declines in Insects—and the Birds That Feast on Them. Here’s What’s Being Done to Save Them Both

In Vermont, researchers have investigated the types of creepy, crawly bugs that their avian predators consume and may have found the answers to keeping them both alive

Bogong moths are brown, nondescript creatures—but scientists now suggest they are the first known invertebrates to use the stars for navigation.

Australian Moths Are the First Known Insects to Navigate by the Stars, Revealing a Migratory Superpower

Bogong moths use both Earth’s magnetic field and the starry night sky to make twice-yearly migrations spanning hundreds of miles, according to new research

Asian needle ants are small, shiny and dark brown, with lighter-colored leg tips and antennae.

Watch Out for These Invasive, Stinging Ants That May Cause Life-Threatening Allergic Reactions

First introduced in the 1930s, carnivorous Asian needle ants appear to be spreading across the United States

Formosan termites (Coptotermes formosanus) are among two invasive termite species that are interbreeding in South Florida.

Two Invasive Termites Are Interbreeding in Florida, Raising Concerns That the Hybrid Pests Could Spread Around the World

Previous research found that Asian and Formosan termites could produce offspring together, and now, scientists have found these creatures established in the wild

A Cape sundew wraps its sticky leaves around a helpless fly.

Carnivorous Plants Have Been Trapping Animals for Millions of Years. So Why Have They Never Grown Larger?

Plants that feed on meat and animal droppings have evolved at least ten times through evolutionary history

The driver likely erred while making a sharp turn, setting millions of bees free.

14 Million Honeybees Escaped From an Overturned Truck in Washington State. Local Beekeepers Helped Corral Them

Most of the bees have now been recovered, and the road is open to the public again

Bedbugs that feed on humans experienced a sharp rise in numbers after the development of the first cities, according to new research.

Bedbugs Could Have Been the First Urban Pest to Plague Human Cities, New Study Suggests

Scientists examined the genomes of two bedbug lineages to trace how their population sizes have changed over time

Whatever happend to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's tradition of fireside chats?

What Happened to FDR’s Fireside Chats? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Soaring through the sky can be hard work, so why not land on a flower for a nectar break?

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Be Blown Away by These 15 Images of Beautiful Butterflies

These shots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show just why butterflies have floated into our hearts

A Brood XIV cicada in 2008, the last time this group of the insects emerged

Watch for Cicadas: Billions From Brood XIV Will Soon Emerge After 17 Years Underground

The insects from this group were last seen in 2008 and will appear across the eastern U.S. for a brief, dramatic frenzy of mating and dying

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do Mosquitos Bite Some People More Than Others? Your Blood Type, Sweat Contents and Even Alcohol Consumption May Make You More Attractive to the Pesky Insects

Scientists are working hard to discover the factors that drive the blood-sucking insects to target certain individuals

The 113-million-year-old fossil of Vulcanidris cratensis is the first known hell ant preserved in rock rather than amber.

Scientists Discover the Oldest Known Ant Fossil, a 113-Million-Year-Old ‘Hell Ant’ Preserved in Rock in Brazil

The odd-looking specimen with scythe-like jaws indicates that early ants were spread widely across the globe while dinosaurs still roamed

A "bone collector" caterpillar sits in a cobweb with a spider and its egg sac. The newly discovered moth species disguises itself as a larva by covering itself with insect parts.

Researchers Discover a Rare, Carnivorous Caterpillar That Wears Dead Insect Parts to Fool Spiders

The species, dubbed the “bone collector,” belongs to an ancient lineage of moths older than the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which is the only place it’s known to live today

A Schaus’ swallowtail (Papilio aristodemus) rests on a plant.

Why Does This Endangered Butterfly Thrive After Hurricanes?

For Schaus’ swallowtail butterflies, the powerful storms mean clear skies and bright futures

A subset of more than 1,000 neurons, representing just a snapshot of the complexity mapped within a cubic millimeter of mouse brain tissue

In a World First, Researchers Mapped Part of a Mouse’s Brain in Incredible Detail. It’s a Leap Forward for Neuroscience

The 3D brain map includes more than 200,000 cells, 523 million synapses and over two miles of axons, representing the most detailed wiring diagram of a piece of mammal brain ever constructed

A species of remipede known from the Caicos Islands. The photograph was taken by a member of a multinational team looking for rare species. Remipedes are crustaceans that are close relatives to insects.

You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land

A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life

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