Insects

If you've ever found a tick clinging to your skin after a hike or a romp in tall grass, you're not alone. These tiny critters are more than just a nuisance — they're also potential carriers of some serious diseases.

By Nico Avelle

What do crickets eat? If you've ever heard these little insects chirping in grassy areas or dark places, you might have wondered what fuels their busy lives. It turns out these opportunistic feeders will munch on almost anything to stay healthy.

By Talon Homer

Is that katydid a leaf? Is it an insect? Is it singing to you on a warm summer night? The answer to all of these is yes! Closely related to crickets and grasshoppers, there are over 6,000 katydid species worldwide. These masters of disguise are commonly heard but rarely seen.

By Talon Homer

Some of the most dazzling insects in the world are blue butterflies. With their iridescent wings and delicate forms, these rare beauties bring color to grasslands, coastal areas and conservation efforts alike.

By Nico Avelle

Have you ever wondered, what do snails eat? And how long does it take these slow-moving, slimy creatures to reach their food sources? Well, whether they’re in a garden, a pond or aquarium, a snail's varied diet helps it survive in different environments.

By Ada Tseng

If you’ve ever opened your sweater drawer or pantry and found little holes or suspicious webs, you’ve probably wondered, "What do moths eat? Anything besides my favorite clothes?" Turns out, it’s not the adult moths doing the damage. It’s their hungry little offspring, the moth larvae.

By Nico Avelle

"What do cicadas eat?" is a great question because these noisy insects have a surprising diet.

By Talon Homer

How do you identify a locust vs. grasshopper? They both belong to the grasshopper family (Acrididae), have powerful hind legs for jumping and share many physical traits. Despite their similarities, these two insects exhibit key behavioral and physiological differences that set them apart — especially when it comes to their ability to form massive, crop-devastating swarms.

By Mack Hayden

Let's talk about spider eggs, those tiny wonders of nature that hold the next generation of arachnids.

By Ada Tseng

The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) is a lesser-known relative of the infamous black widow. The first brown widow spider was discovered in Los Angeles in early 2000. A member of the cobweb spiders, it is now found in warm, urban areas worldwide.

By Ada Tseng

The trapdoor spider is one of the sneakiest hunters in the arachnid world. These clever spiders are named for their unique hunting strategy: They build burrows with hinged "doors" made of soil and twigs that they use to ambush and capture prey. These burrows are lined with silk for stability.

By Ada Tseng

The sun spider is known for its great speed and powerful jaw. Oddly enough, sun spiders, which are also called wind scorpions or camel spiders, are neither spiders nor scorpions. They belong to the order Solifugae, a group of fast-moving, highly specialized arachnids.

By Ada Tseng

Spiders are some of the most common creatures we share our homes with. While they may seem scary at first, most house spider species are harmless and even helpful, keeping pest insects under control.

By Talon Homer

When you think of the most dangerous creatures on Earth, you might picture big animals like sharks or lions, but the insect world is filled with tiny critters capable of causing serious harm. The most dangerous insect can kill by spreading deadly diseases, and others achieve the same end with toxic venom.

By Zach Taras

When it comes to stinging insects, wasps are some of the most feared creatures out there. Unlike honeybees, which can only sting once, most wasps can sting multiple times, injecting painful venom with each strike.

By Nicole Antonio

Get ready to explore one of Africa's most notorious insects: the tsetse fly. These tiny flies may not look like much, but they play a major role in spreading sleeping sickness, aka human African trypanosomiasis (HAT).

By Nicole Antonio

Assassin bugs (also known as ambush bugs or thread-legged bugs) are one of nature's stealthiest hunters, known for their precision strikes and ability to subdue prey with incredible efficiency.

By Talon Homer

Insects are everywhere, from the deepest jungles to your backyard. They may even make some unwanted cameo appearances in your kitchen. Ideally, those bugs would be smaller and less intimidating than the world's largest insect - a supersized creature you'll have to see to believe.

By Mack Hayden

These miniscule, winged insects can be a common sight when the weather turns warm, but they might also leave some people puzzled. After all, ants can't fly - can they?

By Marie Look

Bees can learn, make decisions and have a sense of smell 100 times more sensitive than ours. And most don't live in hives. Here are some cool facts about bees.

By Stephen Buchmann

Like something out of a horror film, this parasitic worm invades a snail's eyestalks, where it pulsates to imitate a caterpillar, attracting the ultimate target, a bird.

By Mark Mancini

Estimating ant numbers and mass provides an important baseline from which to monitor ant populations amid worrying environmental changes.

By Mark Wong

The most iconic agricultural pest of the past 200 years just wants to eat your potato plant.

By Jesslyn Shields

If you see a small hummingbird zip by your face, take a second look - what looks like a hummingbird may actually be a moth.

By Laurie L. Dove

For decades scientists assumed these insects looked so much like orchids as a form of camouflage. But they were wrong. They look this way because they're deceptive predators.

By Talon Homer & Allison Troutner