insects

In a new study, scientists are raising concerns over the ways that flea treatment chemicals for pets can leach into the environment and harm local wildlife. In light of the study, experts are calling on veterinarians to minimize preventative flea treatments to protect songbirds and insects impacted by the chemicals in these treatments. Scientists from […]

While scientists have long known that pesticide use could impact pollinators, a new study reveals how fertilizer could negatively impact these important organisms. Not only that, but the research, which was conducted at the site of the longest ecological experiment in global history, revealed that high fertilizer use could also lead to a decline in […]

Like humans, animals experience complex emotions like empathy, love, grief and joy. They can also hold grudges. In a recent study, a team of biologists found that ants can learn from experience and hold grudges when confronted with competitors from another nest with whom they’ve had previous negative experiences. “We often have the idea that […]

Most spiders have eight legs, no ears and use fine leg hairs connected to nerve cells or their webs to hear sounds in their environment. But how do they smell? A new study by an international team of researchers has found that male spiders “smell” with their legs, using olfactory hairs — wall-pore sensilla — […]

A quarter of all freshwater animals, including crustaceans, fish and insects, face a high risk of extinction from threats like pollution, farming and dams, a new study has found. Rivers, lakes, wetlands and other bodies of freshwater cover a relatively small amount of Earth’s surface — less than one percent — but are home to […]

In Australia, researchers are considering how genetic engineering could allow mosquitoes to produce venom proteins, like those produced by spiders and sea anemones, in their sperm to transfer the poison to female mosquitoes when mating. In a study led by Macquarie University, researchers first used genetically modified fruit flies to test what has been dubbed […]

More than a third of animals on Earth are herbivores, but since plants don’t have a lot of calories it can be hard for grazers to eat enough to meet their energy needs. To add to the problem, climate change is lowering the nutritional value of certain foods that these plant eaters rely on. Fossil […]

Plastics, ubiquitous in modern society, have become a toxic menace all over the world, leaching PFAS “forever chemicals,” breaking down into microplastics and choking the world’s seas and landfills.  In a promising study, scientists have discovered that mealworm larvae are capable of consuming polystyrene. They are one of few insects — and the first native […]