Insects, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 9, 2022

Horrifying close-up photo of an ant is the stuff of nightmares

Creepy-crawlies with a menacing bite that can trigger an insatiable itch, ants are the stuff of nightmares for many people. A close-up image of one of these pint-size terrors from Nikon's Small World Photomicrography Competition 2022 is eliciting a horrified response that has spread across the internet like venom through...

Mar 10, 2023

'Supergene' mutation turned ants into parasitic wannabe queens

About a decade ago, scientists observing clonal raider ants spotted something strange: Although the species is known to be queenless, a few ants were posing as queens of the colony, lording over their hardworking counterparts. These wannabe queens had wing stubs, as well as giant eyes and ovaries. Researchers had...

Jun 13, 2023

World's most painful ant sting targets nerves in the same way scorpion venom does

Ants that inflict the world's most painful stings do so by injecting venom that targets their victim's nerve cells, new research has found. Australian greenhead ants (Rhytidoponera metallica) and bullet ants (Paraponera clavata), found in Central and South America, are not to be messed with. These insects' stings unleash a...

Oct 13, 2023

Soldier ants turned into foragers by scientists reprogramming their brains

Ants' complex caste system may be partly controlled by the insect version of the blood-brain barrier, a gatekeeper that only lets certain substances into the brain, a new study reveals. An anthill is a meticulously organized community of insects, with clear divisions of labor to ensure smooth operation. While the...

Jan 20, 2024

Watch 5,000 fire ants create raft with their bodies to save colony and queen from death by swimming pool

Amazing new footage captures the moment when thousands of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) create a life-saving raft by interlocking their limbs and mandibles. The clip, from National Geographic's new series A Real Bug's Life, which premieres on Disney+ on Jan 24, shows a colony of fire ants living beneath a...