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Parasitic Wasps Turn Spiders Into Zombie Weavers
Arachnids injected with a potent neurotoxin are forced to create shiny new web cradles for wasp larvae
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Why This Chicken is Black From Comb to Feathers to Muscles
The Ayam Cemani is the Goth of the chicken world
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Officials Had to Use A Snowplow to Reclaim a Bridge in Iowa Swarmed by Mayflies
An unusually large emergence of aquatic insects created temporarily hazardous conditions
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These Worms Hitchhike in the Belly of Slugs To Get Around
New study shows that worm their way into slug guts and feces to travel long distances
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Why Seahorses Have Square Tails
Engineers show that the animals’ prism-like tails are mechanically superior to cylindrical ones
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That Time a Mushroom Coral Ate a Sea Slug
Researchers observed the rare event off the coast of Thailand
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Here Are The Animals That Are the Best at Pretending to Be Poop
Moth caterpillars change their posture to look like bird dung, and they’re not alone
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Watch These Ants Hurl Themselves Out of Death Traps With Their Mouths
At least one trap-jaw ant species has coopted its exceptionally strong mandibles to escape its nemesis, the ferocious antlion
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How Our Modern Lives Became Infested With Bed Bugs
After being bitten by the tiny pests, author Brooke Borel set out to learn all she could about her blood-sucking foes
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Poop Eating Vampire Squids Aren’t Actually Squids at All
The strange-looking animals have a very different reproductive strategy than other cephalopods
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Droves of Elegant Blue Jellies Wash Up on Pacific Shores
Unusually strong winds have pushed Velella velellas, or “by-the-wind sailors,” onto West Coast beaches by the thousands
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Lady Wolf Spiders Use Silk to Flirt
Counter to the common wisdom, it’s not just males that do the pursuing
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Meet a Hermit Crab Who Has Shacked Up in a Lego
Weird things can become home sweet home when you are a tiny soft crustacean
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“Wereplant” Releases Its Pollen By the Light of the Full Moon
An unassuming shrub from the Mediterranean is the first documented case of a plant timing its reproduction to the lunar cycle
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We Finally Know How Chameleons Change Their Color
Chameleons’ secret involves tiny crystals under their skin
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Water Drops Leap Off Gecko Skin Thanks to Tiny Spines
Specialized hydrophobic structures on gecko skin encourage dewdrops to be swept away by the wind or to collide and shoot off one another like pool balls
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How Praying Mantises Can Jump Faster Than the Blink of an Eye
Stunning slow-mo videos capture juvenile mantises as they corkscrew through the air and precisely land their target
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Mark World Pangolin Day With a New Video About the Quirky Creatures
Awareness about this animal underdog is climbing, yet an estimated 10,000 pangolins still fell victim to the illegal wildlife trade last year
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A Scientist And a Slime Mold Are Set To Play a Duet
The blob-like creatures’ movements inspired a composer to create a way for slime mold to play the piano
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