Insects
Where have all the butterflies gone?
Everyone likes butterflies. They're beautiful and they don't sting or bite us. But these colourful insects have seen a dramatic decline in the past …
This Giant Automated Cricket Farm Is Designed To Make Bugs A Mainstream Source Of Protein
If bugs are the next big food trend, we need to find a way to grow a lot of them. Cricket company Aspire has turned to robots.<p>Inside a new building in an industrial neighborhood near the airport in Austin, a robot is feeding millions of crickets, 24 hours a day. The facility–a 25,000-square-foot …
FarmingMy Complicated Relationship With Cockroaches
An typical early summer seasonal display for insecticide and cockroach traps at a Japanese supermarket. Photo by Nevin Thompson.I'm proud of my …
Is spider season coming early? Huge creature discovered in east London back garden
Arachnophobes should look away now as one mammoth spider was caught on camera by a creeped out a young east Londoner<p>As arachnophobes nightmare season …
Taking a ride in a giant mechanical dung beetle ... actually in the dung ball | NOLA.com
Dung beetles are a real thing. They are unsanitary bugs that form animal feces into orbs as if they were making a smelly snowman. Then they roll, …
New OrleansDo spiders scare you? A Scottish zoo is offering phobia sessions with the creepy crawlies
No need to whack one with a newspaper, you can learn how to overcome your fears.<p>As Scotland braces for a dramatic increase in the number of spiders …
SpidersWhat happens when you feed spiders graphene? Their silk gets crazy strong
Why it matters to you<p>Stronger than steel and more durable than kevlar, ultra-strong spider silk could be a dream material for engineers.<p>“You are what …
EngineeringThe hidden secrets of insect poop
Insect defecation may not seem like one of the pressing scientific inquiries of our time, but in fact the faeces of these wee creatures serves an …
Australian NewsHellgrammite, The King Kong of Aquatic Insects
I WAS ON THE WATER TROUT FISHING THE OTHER DAY, WHEN MY BUDDY ERIK ASHLIN SAID, "IT WAS JUST ABOUT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, WHEN ALL THE HELLGRAMMITES …
FishingLab experiments show why medium-sized ants can't crawl out of antlion larvae pits
A small team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in France has discovered why medium-sized ants have more trouble climbing out of …
PhysicsThe irresistible fragrance of dying vinegar flies
Markus Knaden and Bill Hansson, and their colleagues at the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, study ecologically relevant odors in the …
BiologySci-fi nightmares play out beneath the flowers
Dunwich Heath, Suffolk Brilliantly coloured jewel wasps use the living bodies of other insects to nourish their larvae<p>Much of the basic storybook that supplies the raw materials for horror films and novels seems to me to be derived from entomology. And here, at this place of autumn purple and gold, …
EnvironmentThose orange ladybugs you see may not be native, but they're still beneficial
You may have seen stories about the "invasion" of Asian lady beetles in Texas. But the bugs are really not a big deal.<p>The Asian lady beetle (<i>Harmonia</i> …
TexasAnts in your antipasto, pests in your pesto: Fine dining with wasps, gorse and jellyfish
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF<p>Chef Jacob Brown from The Larder in Miramar is holding a Wellington on a plate dinner, in which he will be serving pests as the …
New Zealand NewsPHOTOS: Jumping Spiders Eat Frogs, Lizards Bigger Than They Are
Photos of jumping spiders show the small arachnids eating frogs and lizards larger than they are, injecting them with venom and then feeding on their …
World NewsThis Footage of Carnivorous Wasps Devouring a Dragonfly Will Make Your Skin Crawl
Filmmaker and photographer Geoffrey Whitman was sitting on his back porch yesterday when he noticed a group of wasps picking away at a dead …
Watch an insect headbang to death metal - News - Alternative Press
Do insects like death metal? A viral video from Facebook page Guttural Extreme apparently shows that arthropods can get down with the brutal jams. …
Death MetalInsect burgers and balls: Swiss supermarket to sell bug-based food
Coop has set a date to introduce food items made from creepy crawlies to Switzerland. From bug burgers to "insect balls," food security authorities …
World NewsSwiss supermarket takes mealworms mainstream with bug burgers
FRANKFURT—Swiss shoppers will soon get the chance to buy burger patties and meatballs made out of beetle larvae as supermarket chain Coop tests …
Canadian NewsScorpions Have Been Maligned in the Trump Era
Donald Trump and a scorpion.Photo illustration by <b>Slate</b>. Photos by Carlos Barria/Reuters, Thinkstock. The analogy of scorpions in a bottle is perhaps …
American Museum of Natural HistoryTourist discovers terrifying spider nest
A TOURIST visiting a vineyard in Victoria has made the frightful discovery of giant nest of huntsman spiders on a wooden stake.<p>The image, taken at …
Eating bugs is good for the environment, the economy – and even your waistline
Dried crickets, ants and worm salt are infesting restaurant menus and snacks as insects becomes the next sustainable superfood<p>The latest health food …
MoneyRaising monarch butterflies at home could drive up numbers, naturalist says
Monarch butterfly populations have seen a 90 per cent drop over a few decades, Jim Wilson says<p>If you think you're seeing more monarch butterflies …
This Time-Lapse of a Spider Building Its Web is a Reminder of How Beautiful Nature is
Humans have a love-hate relationship with spiders. They’re creepy, have too many legs, and we don’t want them anywhere near us, but yet, if they’re …
NatureHow to Get Rid of Ants
Ants make for terrible houseguests: They come uninvited, get into everything, and are in no hurry to leave. Through the warmer months, the two types …
Consumer NewsFirst-Ever Mutant Ants Have Been Raised, And They Have a Messed Up Social Life
It was harder than you'd think.<p>Despite what you might've seen in 1950s monster movies, it's difficult to raise mutant ants. For years biologists have …
BiologyHot summer wasp overload: Experts unravel myths around the hated flying stingers
Unlike honey bees, wasps don’t suffer from the same cautious approach to interacting with humans<p>You may have noticed.<p>High temperatures and sustained …
BeesThe Daddy Longlegs: Creepy but Harmless
Watching a daddy longlegs meet his end in a Brooklyn spider web was a recent reminder that these graceful, somewhat creepy creatures are not spiders at all.<p>The delicate arthropod set out to cross the lines of a web that had been laid out to snare a meal among the grasses in a field. He was not more …
New York CityBuena Vista Library dealing with different kind of visitors — bed bugs
Patrons may be checking out more than just a book the next time they visit the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank.<p>During a Burbank City Council meeting on Tuesday, Elizabeth Goldman, the city’s library services director, told council members that bed bugs have been found in the city’s newest …
Scientists create world’s first mutant ants with gene editing technology
It may sound like a script for a science fiction movie, but scientists have created the world’s first mutant ants.<p>Two independent research teams have …
Biology