There are at least 14 million insect species on Earth, and they play highly diverse roles in sustaining the natural world. Insects provide many well-known benefits—what scientists often call "ecosystem services." For example, ...
Few insects have a more gruesome lifestyle than Darwin wasps. Rather than simply hunting other animals, these parasitic wasps lay their eggs on or inside living hosts, including caterpillars, beetles and spiders. Their larvae ...
Forest areas can act both as carbon sinks and as vital habitats for thousands of species—but not necessarily at the same time. This has important implications for how Europe should manage its forests, says a University of ...
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have identified a specialized lipid barrier in the fruit fly pupa that protects against dehydration in dry and hot environments. Their findings also expose the lipid barrier's limit, ...
Yale College junior Leah Mock did fieldwork in a remote quarry in western Colorado that exposes the 50-million-year-old Green River Formation.
High losses of honeybee colonies, which play a crucial role in global food production, have caused concern around the world. Many potential factors for the population declines have been cited, but a potentially significant ...
A group of genes may give some fire ants an advantage, increasing their chances of growing larger and potentially becoming queens, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.
There are no woodpeckers on the Hawaiian Islands, but a little yellow bird called the 'akiapōlāʻau (Ah-key-ah-pole-ah-ow) has evolved an unusual beak to drill into branches to find food.
Light pollution is one of the fastest-growing and least-regulated environmental changes worldwide. It disrupts biological processes at all levels—from genes to entire ecosystems—and contributes significantly to global biodiversity ...
The genital structures of male hawkmoths are lifesavers. By rubbing specialized scales on their genitals against parts of their abdomen, the nocturnal insects emit ultrasonic sounds that can potentially scramble the acoustic ...
