Insects, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2008

Bug's Incredible Leaps Explained

Lickety-split, insects called froghoppers can leap a distance of 100 times their body length. Now, scientists have found the bugs' secret: They sport bow-like structures that work like catapults. Froghoppers are also called spittlebugs because the nymph stage of these insects produces a frothy sap for protection. The adults store...

Jul 31, 2008

Flypaper No Match for This Slippery Bug

In the United States it’s not only summer, it’s insect season. While flypaper is among the many items used to keep the buzzing to a minimum, in South Africa, they don’t need it. Hanging a few leaves of the Roridula gorgonias plant from the rafters will take hold of pests....

Oct 31, 2009

Ants Save Mates Trapped in Sand

Helpful acts, such as grooming or foster parenting, are common throughout the animal kingdom, but accounts of animals rescuing one another from danger are exceedingly rare, having been reported in the scientific literature only for dolphins, capuchin monkeys, and ants. New research shows that in the ant Cataglyphis cursor, the...

Sep 30, 2009

Dragonfly Nymph Attacks Pregnant Mussels

For female freshwater mussels, reproduction is a stressful affair. Now zoologists have discovered an extra burden on pregnant Texas hornshell mussels, Popenaias popeii: an unexpected assailant that eats them away from within. A mussel mom’s stresses start when her fertilized eggs enter tubes within her gills and develop into glochidia,...

Jul 31, 2009

Ants Ruin Plants' Sex Life

Ants and ant-housing trees are a classic example of mutualism. The trees provide room and board for ants that ward off herbivores in return. But friends aren’t always what they seem, a new study shows. Cordia nodosa is a South American tree colonized by ants, and one of them, Allomerus...

Apr 30, 2009

Ants Can Smell Death

When an ant dies, its nestmates quickly pack it off. That way, the risk to the colony of infection is reduced. But how do they know its dead? Theory has held that dead ants release chemicals created by decomposition (such as fatty acids) that signal their death to the colony's...

Jun 30, 2010

Is Bug Spray Dangerous?

A summer necessity, bug spray keeps insects away – but is it also bad for our health? Researchers are debating whether the anti-pest sprays with which we douse ourselves are putting our health in danger. One chemical found in many repellents is DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide). Developed and tested in the 1940s...

Jun 30, 2010

Fireflies' Synchronous Flashes Are Booty Calls, Study Reveals

The beautiful, but seemingly random, blinking patterns of fireflies have been decoded. Turns all, it's all about love. Scientists have been attempting to understand the purpose of large groups of fireflies' mysterious synchronized flashes since the 1930s. A new experiment, the first ever to create a virtual environment for fireflies...

May 31, 2010

Why Are Bedbugs Such a Problem?

Bedbugs are stubborn little beasts. They are a growing problem in cities across the United States, and experts are unsure of the safest way to go about exterminating these pesky insects. The federal government recently rejected Ohio officials' request to use an industrial pesticide to fight household infestations of bedbugs....

Apr 30, 2010

Why Do Bee Stings Hurt So Bad?

A mosquito bite? That's child's play. Spider bite? No problem. But a bee sting - heck, does it ever hurt! About 2 million people in the U.S. are allergic to the venom of stinging insects, according to WebMD, and even those who aren't allergic can be afraid because of the...

Dec 31, 2009

Spikes on Genitals Help Flies Hook Up

When fruit flies hook up, they really hook up. Scientists now find that spikes on the genitals of male fruit flies literally help them hold onto females. Using a laser, researchers zapped off tiny claw-like spines from the genitals of virgin male fruit flies (Drosophila bipectinata) from Cape Tribulation in...

Dec 31, 2009

Termite Battles May Explain Evolution of Social Insects

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Natural selection argues for small biological changes that yield greater chances of survival and successful reproduction. Yet, that process does not square well with the evolution of social insects, particularly when their colonies can...

Aug 31, 2011

True Colors of Ancient Beetles Revealed

Even after being locked in rock for millions of years, some ancient beetle fossils retain a metallic rainbow sheen. But a new study finds that these bugs undergo changes during fossilization that makes them look slightly redder than they did in life. Beetles flash some of the most intense colors...

Jun 30, 2011

Marla Spivak: A Scientist With A Real Bee In Her Bonnet

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. How do we study bees and why are they disappearing? How are scientists working to save them? Marla Spivak — a MacArthur Fellow and Distinguished McKnight Professor and extension entomologist in the Department of...

Nov 30, 2012

Dragonfly Shows Human-Like Power of Concentration

Dragonflies lack humans' big brains, but they still get the job done, according to new research that suggests that these insects have brain cells capable of feats previously seen only in primates. Specifically, the dragonflies can screen out useless visual information to focus on a target, a process called selective...