Shield bug guarding her eggs in the Ecuadorean rainforest.
Andreas Kay/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The perils of bug parenting.
Crunchy, and sustainable.
Entomophagy image from www.shutterstock.com
Humans have eaten insects for centuries, but western diets seem to have lost the taste for them.
OwenMartin12
Hoverflies have evolved to trick predators into thinking they have a sting in the tail – but the predators have fought back.
Zastolskiy Victor / shutterstock
Bigger gardens and more greenery encourages insect diversity, some of which finds its way indoors.
Could this be the livestock feedstock of the future?
CSIRO
The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, could help solve global food shortages by feeding livestock. It can even be used to make diesel fuel.
Shutterstock
Studying the way insects hear and make their own sounds is inspiring new hearing technology.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the CDC in San Juan.
Alvin Baez/Reuters
While no one likes getting bitten by mosquitoes, you might be surprised (and even a little fascinated) at the complex adaptions mosquitoes have developed to locate their favorite food sources.
Honeybees aren’t the only wildlife affected by pesticides – wild bees and butterflies also feel the effect.
Wild bee image from www.shutterstock.com
Two new studies have linked controversial pesticides neonicotinoides to wild bee and butterfly declines.
Azteca ants, unsung heroes of coffee pest control.
Kate Mathis
Azteca ants are self-appointed protectors of coffee plants on Mexican plantations. But they have a lot to contend with from other insects.
Fischer et al
Scientists have discovered two new types of ants in the rainforests of New Guinea thanks to an advanced X-ray imaging technique.
‘Hic.’
Shutterstock
We should celebrate these amazing insects, not splat them.
Federico Gambarini / EPA
The bizarre spectacle was the result of a coming together of several exceptional circumstances.
Some of the many species in the Australian National Insect Collection.
CSIRO/Alan Landford
At least 100,000 insects are among the many Australian species still to be formally identified. That’s a problem for any biosecurity experts who need to be able to spot potentially invasive bugs.
Mark Mallott / Rothamsted Research
A ‘Biblical swarm’ of ‘super-moths’ from continental Europe is heading to the UK.
Springtails come in variety of shapes and sizes.
Springtail image from www.shutterstock.com
Springtails are found in every habitat except the oceans.
Social insects such as bees live in a common nest site.
EPA/Peter Komka
By working together, social insects are able to fix a small failure before it becomes a larger one.
Humidity levels can mean life or death for insects.
Hasna Lahmini
Detecting drier or wetter conditions is crucial for insect survival. We’ve long known they can do this – now researchers have discovered the genetic and neural basis for their humidity-sensing system.
Mosquitoes, thousands of mosquitoes! Mosquitoes found in our local wetlands can often overwhelm us but even mosquitoes that have moved into our backyards can cause problems.
A war is raging in your backyard between the “good” and “bad” mosquitoes.
They might be eating your home, but termites play a vital role in ecosystems.
Termite image from www.shutterstock.com
Termite damage costs Australian homes at least a billion dollars each year – but they are absolutely vital for ecosystems.
Are compound eyes the window to the soul?
Gilles San Martin/Flickr
Insects have similar structures in their brains as do we, and that might mean that have a basic form of consciousness.