https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. When Joro spiders first arrived stateside more than a decade ago, scientists worried the massive black-and-yellow spiders would gorge themselves on the same bugs as native spiders (or even the native spiders themselves). If the invasive arachnids did make massive meals of Georgia's insects, the local orb weaver population—already facing dangers from insecticide and pesticide use—could suffer. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-joro-spiders-wider-range-insects.html Plants & Animals Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:00:08 EDT news707135881 In the dense forests of the Ecuadorian Andes, the survival of a spider relies not only on its ability to prey on insects but also on its capacity to resist a threat coming from the skies. A new study revealed that the heavy rainfall that hits the region acts as an "ecological filter," bombarding spider webs and, in the process, determining which species and silk architectures are able to master each environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-storms-impact-architecture-webs-survival.html Plants & Animals Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news702571236 Spider venoms contain ingredients that could lead to a new treatment to protect honeybees from the deadly Varroa destructor mite, according to a study led by the University of the Sunshine Coast. Researchers identified components in the venoms of the Tasmanian cave spider and the giant Japanese funnel-web spider that killed the parasitic mites without harming the bees. The study is published in the journal npj Drug Discovery. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spider-venoms-deadly-varroa-mites.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news702200161 The earliest evidence of spiders' fangs has been identified in a 518-million-year-old fossil by scientists at the University of Leicester and Yunnan University. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-urokodia-million-year-fossil-spider.html Evolution Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:10 EDT news702121023 In ecology, the principle holds that the more diverse and heterogeneous a habitat is, the more different species it supports. To promote species diversity in forests, clearings are therefore created for nature conservation purposes, or deadwood is deliberately left in place. For many species, such as birds, bats and beetles, this structural diversity is indeed beneficial. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-spiders-benefit-seemingly-monotonous-forests.html Plants & Animals Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:00:06 EDT news701953868 Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus in Borneo's jungles that preys on "zombie fungi" known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-hyperparasite-malaysia-borneo-jungle.html Ecology Fri, 19 Jun 2026 03:59:28 EDT news701060265 Citizen science data from the popular platform iNaturalist has helped uncover the evolution of parental guarding behavior in harvestmen spiders, as shown in research published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-devoted-dads-citizen-science-evolution.html Plants & Animals Sun, 14 Jun 2026 23:10:01 EDT news700485361 Fossil fragments found in the U.K. have been identified as remains of the largest scorpions ever. Measuring more than a meter in length, Praearcturus gigas was among the first large predators to ever stalk the land. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-world-largest-scorpion-revealed-million.html Evolution Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:40:02 EDT news699695521 Vibrant, tiny, and sporting a bright red grin on its back, the Happy-Face spider is one of the most famous and recognizable arachnids in the world. For over a century, this cheerful-looking creature was thought to be a unique resident of the Hawaiian Islands, a biological curiosity found nowhere else on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-happy-spider-species-indian-himalayas.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 09:20:06 EDT news698400543 The myriapoda group of arthropods includes the many-legged centipedes and millipedes that most people are familiar with. Although myriapods are all terrestrial creatures, researchers are unclear about when and how they evolved their many legs. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ancient-sea-fossils-millipede-centipede.html Evolution Thu, 07 May 2026 10:40:03 EDT news697292388 Scorpions wield some of the natural world's most formidable built-in weapons, from crushing pincers to venomous stingers. Scientists have long known that these structures contain trace metals that strengthen them, but only a small fraction of the roughly 3,000 scorpions have ever been examined for this trait. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-scorpions-weapons-fortified-metal.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:10:01 EDT news696586562 A German-Bulgarian research team led by SNSB paleontologist Christian Bartel has discovered a new species of harvestman in 35-million-year-old Ukrainian and Baltic amber. The animal is related to harvestmen that are now extinct in Europe. The researchers published their findings in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-exotic-harvestmen-europe.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:20:01 EDT news693819902 Members of the arachnid class—think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs)—are often the targets of revulsion, disgust and fear. Yet, they are crucial for ecosystems to thrive. Given the crash in worldwide biodiversity, including what some call the "insect apocalypse," a pair of ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst decided to check in on the general state of insects and arachnids in the U.S.—only to discover massive gaps in the data. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-spiders-real-horror-story-world.html Plants & Animals Mon, 02 Mar 2026 15:00:01 EST news691340307 Whether it's a sudden dash across the garage or silhouette in a backyard web, spiders evoke fear in many people. But researchers don't have a clear picture of why, exactly, this phobia is so common. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is using state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology to pinpoint the physical characteristics of spiders that may contribute to the unease. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-eye-tracking-explores-spiders.html Plants & Animals Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:20:01 EST news691675441 An international team of scientists has identified how to pinpoint and predict hotspots for some of the most dangerous species of scorpion in the world. The researchers have established the key environmental conditions that determine where lethal, venomous arachnids thrive—findings that could help shine a light on flashpoints for scorpion stings in tropical regions across the globe. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-field-world-deadly-scorpion-hotspots.html Plants & Animals Sun, 15 Feb 2026 05:00:01 EST news690201313 A research team from Munich has identified a previously unknown communication mechanism in harvestmen. Five closely related species show species-specific, strongly fluorescent structures on their backs that become especially visible under ultraviolet light. The results suggest that these patterns serve for species recognition—particularly at dusk and in moonlight. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-harvestmen-arachnids-apparently-fluorescent-patterns.html Plants & Animals Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:37:23 EST news688649821 About 300 years ago, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus set out on a bold quest: to identify and name every living organism on Earth. Now celebrated as the father of modern taxonomy, he developed the binomial naming system and described more than 10,000 species of plants and animals. Since his time, scientists have continued to describe new species in the quest to uncover Earth's biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-species-faster.html Plants & Animals Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:16:29 EST news685703761 Researchers may have discovered the world's biggest spider web, a massive subterranean structure spanning over 100 square meters in a sulfur cave on the Albania–Greece border. The multilayered web along a wall near the cave entrance is home to a colony of approximately 69,000 Tegenaria domestica (also known as the domestic house spider) and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans spiders. This is believed to be the first documented case of colonial web formation for both species. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-sulfur-cave-spiders-arachnid-megacity.html Plants & Animals Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:30:03 EST news681571619 A tiny fossil of a sea creature that lived more than half a billion years ago sheds new light on the evolution of arthropods, the most species-rich and successful group of animals to inhabit Earth, according to a study published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-ancient-signpost-minute-fossils-big.html Evolution Thu, 28 Aug 2025 05:00:05 EDT news675502081 A secret ingredient in snail trails is helping the pests save themselves from poisons spread to protect farms and gardens across Australia. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-super-snail-slime-pesticide.html Ecology Wed, 20 Aug 2025 09:15:49 EDT news674900145 When I tell people I study parasites that live inside ticks, I usually get one of two reactions: a shudder of disgust or a puzzled look that says, "Don't ticks already carry enough diseases?" https://phys.org/news/2025-08-uncovering-hidden-world-parasites.html Ecology Thu, 07 Aug 2025 09:00:02 EDT news673775649 A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids—spiders and their close kin—evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fossilized-nervous-ocean-spiders.html Plants & Animals Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:00:01 EDT news672299848 Scientists have discovered four new species of pseudoscorpions, blind cave-dwelling arachnids with dragon-like jaws. The subterranean creatures were found deep inside caves in South Korea by Kyung-Hoon Jeong and colleagues at Jeonbuk National University. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-pseudoscorpion-species-dragon-jaws-korean.html Plants & Animals Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:29:53 EDT news671372986 It's not easy to look at a sea spider and see an animal so representative of its kind that it may help scientists sort out the evolution of almost everything with eight legs. But that's the potential a new study finds in these spindly, strikingly strange bottom-dwellers. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-weird-sea-spider-evolution-legged.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Jul 2025 08:39:04 EDT news670750741 Imagine a lush forest with tree-ferns, their trunks capped by ribbon-like fronds. Conifers tower overhead, bearing triangular leaves almost sharp enough to pierce skin. Flowering plants are both small and rare. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-termite-poo-reveals-million.html Ecology Tue, 17 Jun 2025 12:50:04 EDT news669383402 It might be hard to imagine, but dropping a limb or two is routine for spiders. If molting goes wrong or a leg gets stuck, the pragmatic arachnids simply detach the limb just beyond the body joint. Then it regrows within a month when they are young. But how do impaired spiders cope when suddenly relieved of a couple of limbs? https://phys.org/news/2025-06-tarantulas-legs.html Plants & Animals Tue, 17 Jun 2025 11:24:24 EDT news669378260 Ticks pose a grave risk to public health, with nearly half a million cases of the tick-borne Lyme disease treated every year in the United States. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-borne-disease-molecular-method-differentiates.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Jun 2025 11:08:04 EDT news668945281 A team of scientists led by The University of Western Australia has discovered two new species of trapdoor spiders in the Kimberley region, marking the first time members of the species have been found in northern Australia. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-master-architects-spider-world-northern.html Plants & Animals Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:35:03 EDT news662297701 Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has led to a surge in environmental noise. The sounds of traffic, airplanes, construction and more clutter the outdoor soundscape, challenging animals' abilities to send and receive information—which is critical to their survival and reproduction. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-spider-tracks-web-arachnids-noise.html Plants & Animals Mon, 17 Mar 2025 10:38:04 EDT news661426681 A recent paper provides an updated perspective on the evolutionary history of chelicerates—a diverse and ecologically significant group of arthropods that includes spiders, scorpions, mites, and horseshoe crabs. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-arachnid-evolution-redefined-genome-duplications.html Plants & Animals Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:07 EST news659183941