Insects, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

Well-fed Crickets Seek Sex Incessantly, Die Young

Crickets on the Atkins diet are exceptionally persistent in advertising for a mate, but they pay a high price for their sexual eagerness: They die sooner. A new study found that well-fed male crickets had a higher survival rate as nymphs, grew faster in early stages and gained weight more...

May 31, 2005

Scientists Reverse Sex Roles in Fruit Flies

Scientists have discovered it is surprisingly easy to reverse sex roles in fruit flies. By changing just one gene, they can make a female perform the courtship ritual of the male. She'll sing, vibrate her wings and lick a potential female suitor. But it's all for naught, as nature doesn't...

May 31, 2005

Mayan Stingless Beekeeping in Danger

An ancient tradition of beekeeping on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula is on the verge dying out, due to cultural change and loss of habitat. Long before Europeans introduced honeybees (Apis mellifera) to the Americas, Mayan beekeepers harvested honey from the log nests of stingless bees that inhabit the tropical forests. For...

Aug 31, 2006

Vicious Ants Made to Attack Their Own

They may be tiny, but Argentine ants can kick some ant butt. This invasive species has nearly wiped out native ants in California. Now scientists have discovered a way to turn one of the ants' strongest weapons into a weakness. By altering the identifying chemicals coating the ants' bodies, researchers...

Aug 31, 2006

Odd Evolution: Crickets Lose Their Song

In just a few generations, the male crickets on Kauai underwent a drastic genetic change that rendered them incapable of belting out courtship songs, according to a new study. Typically, male field crickets sport curved wings, and by rubbing a sharp ridge of one wing with a rough part of...

Apr 30, 2006

New Genus of Cricket Found in Arizona Cave

In a rare type of discovery, researchers have identified a whole new genus of cricket in caves in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in northwestern Arizona. The discovery was made by Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate J. Judson Wynne and National Park Service researcher Kyle Voyles. The new genus has yet...

Jan 31, 2006

Cannibalism Rife in Mormon Cricket Swarms

Every year, millions of Mormon crickets swarm in a frenzied search for food. Turns out the dinner plate is often heaped with their slower brethren. Mormon crickets aren't actually crickets, but shield-backed katydids, a type of insect more closely related to grasshoppers. However, when Mormon settlers moved into Utah in...

Nov 30, 2007

Homosexuality Turned On and Off in Fruit Flies

While several studies find homosexuality in humans and other animals is biological rather than learned, a question remains over whether it's a hard-wired phenomenon or one that can be altered. A new study finds drugs or genetic manipulation can turn the homosexual behavior of fruit flies on and off within...

Nov 30, 2007

Hot Bugs Get More Sex

Being hot can lead to more sex. Especially if you're a male ambush bug. These predatory insects are known for camouflaging themselves against flowers, lying in wait to ambush prey. The ambush bug (Phymata americana) is mostly yellow with dark brown or black patches, with the males possessing darker heads...

Jun 30, 2007

Thanks a Lot! Bugs Help Invasive Weeds Win

Many studies have shown that invasive plant species are taking over in regions large and small around the world, a problem often instigated and fueled by what humans plant or otherwise accidentally introduce into an area. A new study finds that insects play a role in helping weeds to win....

May 31, 2007

Bees Have Favorite Color

There might actually be a useful purpose for having a favorite color—at least if you're a bee. The favorite color of the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), violet in its case, could help it find more sweet nectar, scientists now find. Researchers took bees that had never seen real flowers from...

Apr 30, 2007

Farfetched? Hint of Free Will Found in a Fly

A spark of free will may exist in even the tiny brain of the humble fruit fly, new findings that could shed light on the nature and evolution of free will in humans. Future research delving further into free will could lead to more advanced robots, scientists added. The result,...

Feb 28, 2007

Caterpillars Click and Puke to Stop Predators

Caterpillars can fend off hungry birds and other predators by clicking at them, scientists now report. These clicks warn that the caterpillars will be unsavory to eat—at least, after they regurgitate a foul brown fluid. To understand the clicking and barfing, neuroethologist Jayne Yack at Carleton University in Ottawa headed...

Jan 31, 2007

New Albino Millipedes Discovered in Grand Canyon Caves

Two albino millipedes have come out of their cavernous hiding places to represent an entirely new genus of these leggy organisms. Scientists spotted the millipedes in caves on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon. One species was found in a cave on the South Rim and the other in two...

Aug 31, 2008

Bees Can Count

Honeybees are clever little creatures. They can form abstract concepts, such as symmetry versus asymmetry, and they use symbolic language — the celebrated waggle dance — to direct their hivemates to flower patches. New reports suggest that they can also communicate across species, and can count — up to a...