It’s not often that Arnold Schwarzenegger gets compared to an aphid. An ant, maybe–many ants spend all day lifting heavy weights and defending the homeland. Unlike ants, bees, or Hollywood heroes, most of the world’s 4,000 or so aphid species aren’t by any stretch of the definition self-sacrificing social animals. Most aphids spend their lives as independent, pinhead-scale, six-legged versions of cows.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.