When offspring become more “costly” to make, mothers make fewer of them. And these offspring start life with fewer energy reserves.
A ruddy darter dragonfly perches on a stalk in Coleshill Park, Wiltshire, UK.
Ian_Sherriffs/Shutterstock
While many surveys show the numbers of wildlife falling, there is good news for some species – including pondskaters and various mosses and lichen.
Caddisfly larvae rearrange pebbles on the river bed to build themselves a shelter.
FJAH / shutterstock
Rivers are shaped by storms, floods, humans and… aquatic invertebrates.
Honeybees: nature’s maths whizzes.
SR Howard
Honeybees are good at maths, but it was thought they could only count to four. That is, unless you present them with a task in which they are punished with a bitter-tasting drink for getting it wrong.
A Eurasian stone-curlew stands amid short grass.
Dhaval Vargiya/Wikimedia
Conservationists have found a shortcut in the race to save Earth’s threatened species.
Human-built structures are home to a wide variety of creatures.
When we build marinas, ports, jetties and coastal defences we introduce hard structures that weren’t there before, and which reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the water.
Sergey Ryzhov/Shutterstock
A recent report warned that insects ‘could vanish by the end of the century’. Here’s why that would cause a collapse of nature.
‘Amphy’ has features of both simple and more complex forms of life – and so can help us understand important steps in evolution.
from www.shutterstock.com
The marine creature amphioxus allows scientists to explore some of the steps that took place as simple creatures evolved to become complex animals.
Thanks to their consumption of invertebrates, Melbourne platypus likely receive half the recommended human dose of anti-depressants every day.
Denise Illing
Pharmaceuticals were found in every invertebrate sampled from six Melbourne streams - including a waterway in a national park.
A pelagic snail ensnares food with with a mucous web.
Linda Ianniello https://lindaiphotography.com
Biologists are finding new evidence that these ocean invertebrate grazers don’t just ingest whatever they catch. They can actually be picky eaters – and their choices might influence ocean food webs.
Shells.
Snail shells appear to be part of the creatures’ immune system.
Adélie penguin at the Mt Siple breeding colony, West Antarctica.
Jasmine Lee
Climate change is set to expand Antarctica’s ice-free area, potentially helping native species to flourish but also paving the way for invasive species to gain a foothold.
Avoiding celebrities.
Shutterstock
I’m an edible invertebrate … get me away from there.
Zastolskiy Victor / shutterstock
Bigger gardens and more greenery encourages insect diversity, some of which finds its way indoors.
Springtails come in variety of shapes and sizes.
Springtail image from www.shutterstock.com
Springtails are found in every habitat except the oceans.
The common grey silverfish, Ctenolepisma longicaudata, in Sydney.
Graeme Smith
Silverfish have disappeared from our homes as book-bindings - their favourite food - have improved.
The social huntsman, Delena cancerides , can be found in families of up to 150.
Linda S. Rayor
Huntsman spiders deserve a place alongside koalas and kangaroos as iconic Australian wildlife.
Latrodectus hasseltii, the redback spider.
Toby Hudson/Wikimedia Commons
Be thankful you aren’t a male redback spider.