There would be no life on Earth without invertebrates, but they are understudied and underappreciated. The Bug of the Year competition aims to change that, so have your say and vote!
Scientists fix biologger tags to animals to gain an insight into their movement and behaviour.
Vasileios Karafillidis/Shutterstock
Matilda Gibbons, Queen Mary University of London; Andrew Crump, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Lars Chittka, Queen Mary University of London
In one of the largest studies of its kind we looked at the evidence from over 300 published reports.
Rubber ducky isopod woodlouse. This rare isopod species are located in caves in Thailand.
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Over hundreds of million years of evolution, ants have come up with some pretty smart solutions to problems of agriculture, navigation and architecture. People could learn a thing or two.
A road sign in Bursa, Turkey, warns drivers of the presence of dung beetles, stating ‘Attention! It may come out, don’t crush it please!’
Ugur Ulu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Invertebrates are the most abundant animals on our planet – and the vast majority are nothing to be afraid of, despite their appearances.
While the European spongy moth outbreak reached a dramatic peak in parts of Canada last year, these caterpillars have completely vanished this year.
(Washington State Department of Agriculture/flickr)
Honey bees, wild and native bees face threats from parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. Shorter winters, more extreme weather and more habitat destruction won’t help.
Spraying from either a ground-based vehicle or an airplane is a common method for applying pesticides.
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Published in 1962, ‘Silent Spring’ called attention to collateral damage from widespread use of synthetic pesticides. Many problems the book anticipated persist today in new forms.
The pumpkin on the right has a fungal disease known as black rot.
Matt Kasson
Climate change is exposing animals to temperatures outside of their normal limits – a new study has found that insects have a particularly weak ability to adjust.
Invertebrates are “the little things that run the world”. So researchers decided to count all the ants on Earth, to help monitor how they’re coping with environmental challenges.
Farmed insects are common in many parts of the world today.
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Eating insects can carry a much lower environmental footprint than conventional meat. Should western cultures be incorporating more of them into their diets?