Insects and Arachnids

For one species of dragonfly, the hassle of dealing with aggressive suitors is worth playing possum over.

By Jesslyn Shields

Spiders not only eat more meat than humans every year, they also spend a lot of time getting eaten themselves.

By Jesslyn Shields

And its special endowment is not the thing that intrigues scientists the most.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

In a state already teeming with pythons, tourists and Jimmy Buffett singalongs, the flesh-eating screwworm makes Florida a little more menacing.

By Jesslyn Shields

Of course they do. You're an attractive person. But what is it about you specifically that draws them in for a tasty meal?

By Laurie L. Dove

An oar-shaped protrusion of microscopic hairs on the legs of a grain-sized spider is bringing sexy back to the arachnid kingdom.

By Laurie L. Dove

If people had exoskeletons and wings maybe they'd be around forever, too. Insects are born survivors because they have certain traits that other animals don't.

By Nicholas Gerbis

It's not to entertain the insect. Figuring out how mantises perceive the world could lead to tiny, energy-efficient robots with depth perception, too.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The bright colors of this Malaysian spider, first described in 2009, earned it comparisons to the flamboyant styles of David Bowie.

By Christopher Hassiotis

You were a soldier ant. Each day you mostly did that job until one day a scientist came along, jabbed a needle into your brain and your behavior changed.

By Christian Sager

Scientists wanted to figure out how desert ants found their way home without tree shadows to guide them. This is how they did it.

By Laurie L. Dove

Think spiders are terrifying? It turns out that spiders with a taste for human blood are actually our allies in the fight against malaria.

By Maria Trimarchi

Bugs can destroy crops and spread disease, but those little critters also pollinate our plants. These are just a few of the reasons they're important - and even cool! - to study.

By Erin Wright

Bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. What differentiates the two?

By Debbie Swanson

We think we know all about spiders - they spin webs to trap prey; if they bite you, you might die. And if you find one in your house, you should set it free. But what if all these beliefs are a web of lies?

By Chris Opfer

Worried about creepy-crawlies entering your mouth while you sleep? Relax, spiders have no interest in being eaten. In fact, there's no record of anyone swallowing a spider while sleeping.

By Bambi Turner

Mating shouldn't be something you lose your head over, but tell that to the male praying mantis. This poor creature has long been the butt of countless procreation jokes, but does he even deserve this unfortunate reputation?

By Kate Kershner

The world is split between people who eat protein-packed insects on purpose and those who accidentally snack on them along with their packaged foods. But let's be honest: Bugs are far from the worst thing you've eaten in the past week.

By Alison Cooper

Spiders have been on Earth a whole lot longer than we have - 380 million years, to be precise - and number more than 38,000 separate species worldwide. See 10 of the most beautiful and scary of these arachnids.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Periodical Cicadas are pretty strange insects. They burrow in the earth for 17 years only to spend four weeks aboveground en masse before dying. Why do they do this - and do you really have to wait that long to see them?

By Laurie L. Dove

You probably couldn't draw a mole cricket if someone asked you to, but you almost certainly could depict a ladybug. Or maybe you don't know as much as you think you do about this backyard beetle.

By Katie Lambert

If those buzzing and biting black flies are preventing you from truly enjoying the great outdoors, you'll want to know how to stop black flies from biting. Read this article to learn how to stop black flies from biting.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

You love observing caterpillars become butterflies and want to know how to take care of a cocoon so that a butterfly will emerge. This article will tell you how to care for a butterfly cocoon.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Want a good scare? Check out these pictures of the biggest bugs on our planet!

Arachnids include spiders, mites, ticks, harvestmen, chiggers and scorpions. Learn more by viewing these arachnid pictures.

By Marie Bobel