Insects
Find out everything there is to know about insects and stay updated on the latest insect research with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and insect pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about these fascinating species as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about insects.
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Kamikaze termites blow themselves up with 'explosive' backpacks — and scientists just figured out how
By Jacklin Kwan published
Kamikaze termites in French Guiana carry highly volatile toxic "rucksacks" that are ready to be deployed in an instant, when the termite needs to defend its colony.
These bacteria trigger a sex change in wasps — scientists finally know how
By Tiffany Taylor published
Scientists have uncovered how bacteria borrowed a gene from an insect to create female-only parasitic wasp populations, eliminating the need for males.
Panda ant: The wasps whose black and white females have giant stingers and parasitic babies
By Lydia Smith published
Panda ants are actually wasps masquerading as an adorable ant, with black and white females possessing stingers half as long as their entire bodies.
Ants perform life saving operations — the only animal other than humans known to do so
By Jacklin Kwan published
Florida ants perform amputations and clean wounds to prevent the spread of infection, scientists discover.
Butterflies cross Atlantic ocean on 2,600-mile non-stop flight never recorded in any insect before
By Ben Turner published
Painted lady butterflies discovered in French Guiana — thousands of miles from their usual habitats — got there through a Herculean transoceanic flight.
Scientists discovered the oldest termite mounds on Earth — and they're 34,000 years old
By Kristel Tjandra published
The world's oldest termite mounds have been collecting carbon from the atmosphere for thousands of years.
Cicada double brood event: What to expect as trillions of bugs emerge in Eastern US
By Carys Matthews last updated
When and where will the double cicada brood emerge? Here's what to expect from this rare phenomenon, which occurs only once every 221 years.
Mutant blue-eyed cicadas discovered outside Chicago during rare double brood event
By Sascha Pare published
Most of the periodical cicadas emerging across the eastern U.S. in this year's rare dual emergence event have blood-red eyes, but sightings of blue-eyed variants have recently been reported.
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