The daisy Dimorphotheca pluvialis depends on insects like the pictured horsefly for its pollination.
A.G. Ellis
Half of all flowering plants mostly or completely rely on animal pollinators to make seeds. A decline in pollinators could cause major disruptions in natural ecosystems.
A monarch butterfly’s body can reveal where the caterpillar originated from.
(Shutterstock)
Isotope mapping reveals information about a monarch butterfly’s point of origin. Using strontium isotopes helps pinpoint more precise locations.
The bulloak jewel (Hypochrysops piceatus )
Michael Braby
There’s still a very good chance of recovery for most of these species, but only with new targeted conservation effort.
Kelsey Byers
The stench was once thought to originate from plants, but scientists have now pin-pointed its true origin.
A glasswing butterfly’s see-through wings help predators see right through them.
(Shutterstock)
Transparency is an evolved characteristic of some species to help them survive, even when predators are staring directly at them.
Insects are an inexpensive and effective way to teach children about science.
Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images Plus
Insects are plentiful and inexpensive. Even when children aren’t attending school in person, they can learn from the encounters they have with insects outside.
Monarch butterflies cover a tree at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico.
D. André Green II
Can a plan that brings together government and private landowners create enough habitat for monarch butterflies?
Scientists can now track butterfly migration in real time with the help of volunteers.
Mara Koenig/USFWS/flickr
Citizen scientists across North America have contributed over 1 million observations to this online platform, generating data useful for researchers.
Scientists need your help to protect Australia’s insects and track their numbers.
Joe Castro/AAP
Insects are vital to sustaining life on Earth – and their numbers are falling fast. So consider ditching the fly spray and see what you can do to help.
The silver-studded blue butterfly is among that species that may be flexible enough to thrive.
Callum Macgregor
We looked at 130 species to see which will be the winners and losers from global warming
The eight-mile ‘river of flowers’ that grows alongside a motorway near Rotherham, UK.
Pictorial Meadows
Britain’s councils are cutting roadside verges less often to allow vibrant wildflower meadows to bloom.
Sean Xu/Shutterstock
Wildflowers, bees and butterflies – your lawn is a vibrant ecosystem waiting to be unleashed.
A colour portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian by Dutch artist Jacobus Houbraken, circa 1700.
Wikimedia Commons
Maria Sibylla Merian’s meticulous observations laid the groundwork for the fields of entomology, animal behaviour and ecology. But the legacy of this scientific superhero has been sidelined by sexism.
Scientists are raising Miami blue butterflies in captivity and reintroducing them in south Florida.
Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History
How do you pack butterflies for shipping, or frogs for an overland hike to a new habitat? Three scientists explain how they keep threatened species safe on the road and in the air.
All a-flutter.
Shutterstock.
Evidence-based advice from experts on how to make your garden a friendly environment for pollinators.
Inside the pupa (or chrysalis), the caterpillar actually turns to liquid as it transforms into a butterfly or moth.
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Scientists were not sure if an adult butterfly could remember things it learned as a caterpillar. Then a study by a team of US scientists found something very interesting.
Michael Fitzsimmons/Shutterstock
There are countless nanoscopic architectures in nature, creating iridescence, sticky feet, magnetic navigation – and more.
Shutterstock
More and more evidence shows evolution isn’t as random as often thought.
A giant swallowtail butterfly feeds from the flower of an alternate-leaved dogwood.
(Nina Zitani)
We’re in the middle of an Insectageddon. But a garden of native plants can help insects, as well as birds and other wildlife.
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Lepidoptera insects are at least 70m years older than we previously knew.