bugs

When it comes to butterfly migration in the United States, the species best known for making long distance treks is the Monarch. But there is another, much more globally widespread butterfly whose migration largely flies under the radar – the Painted Lady.

Pollination is a game of give and take …insects visiting flowers for the reward of nectar and plants using insects to transport pollen for fertilization. They both benefit from the interaction. But that’s not always the case.

Dinocampus coccinellae is a species of parasitic wasp that focuses on adult female ladybugs. Smaller than the ladybug host, the female wasp will use her needle-like ovipositor to inject an egg into the lady beetle’s body.

An international team of researchers at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic found a species of termite that takes the act of self-sacrifice to the extreme.

Called the “Snail Shell Spider”, this species of huntsman spider has devised a unique strategy to secure a room with a view.

There I was, calmly taking a shower, when I realized I was not alone. Sitting on top of a bottle of shampoo waving its antennae and staring at me with its red eyes was a Boisea trivittata. Despite their scientific label, there is nothing trivial about these ubiquitous pests known to us by their common name: boxelder bugs.

Aside from being really small, the petals of cacao flowers curve into a tiny hood that cover’s the stamen (the male, pollen-making part of the flower). This configuration of the petals basically makes it impossible for something the size of a honey bee to get the job done.

If any beetle was said to have an “explosive personality,” it would have to be the bombardier beetle.They may appear to be your average, everyday beetle,…

In this corner, weighing in with approximately 700 different species in the United States … the Butterflies. And in the opposite corner, weighing in with…

Thanks to the children’s novel Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, most of us are familiar with the circular shape of an orb weaver spider web. Charlotte…