Life sciences writer Susan Milius has been writing about botany, zoology and ecology for Science News since the last millennium. She worked at diverse publications before breaking into science writing and editing. After stints on the staffs of The Scientist, Science, International Wildlife and United Press International, she joined Science News. Three of Susan's articles have been selected to appear in editions of The Best American Science Writing.

All Stories by Susan Milius

  1. Life

    How two new fungus species got named after the COVID-19 pandemic

    Tiny fuzz on a beetle and fake leopard spots on palms now have Latin names that will forever nod to the new coronavirus.

  2. Life

    Wild bees add about $1.5 billion to yields for just six U.S. crops

    Native bees help pollinate blueberries, cherries and other crops on commercial farms.

  3. Plants

    This parasitic plant consists of just flashy flowers and creepy suckers

    With only four known species, Langsdorffia are thieves stripped down to their essentials.

  4. Animals

    How Yellowstone wolves got their own Ancestry.com page

    Since the wolves’ reintroduction to the park, 25 years of devoted watching has chronicled bold moves, big fights and lots of puppies.

  5. Animals

    Larvaceans’ underwater ‘snot palaces’ boast elaborate plumbing

    Mucus houses have valves and ducts galore that help giant larvaceans extract food from seawater.

  6. Life

    More ‘murder hornets’ are turning up. Here’s what you need to know

    Two more specimens of the world’s largest hornet have just been found in North America.

  7. Life

    Pollen-deprived bumblebees may speed up plant blooming by biting leaves

    In a pollen shortage, some bees nick holes in tomato leaves that accelerate flowering, and pollen production, by weeks.

  8. Life

    Why otters ‘juggle’ rocks is still a mystery

    Shuffling pebbles really fast looks as if it should boost otters’ dexterity, but a new study didn’t find a link.

  9. Animals

    Why mammals like elephants and armadillos might get drunk easily

    Differences in a gene for breaking down alcohol could help explain which mammals get tipsy.

  10. Animals

    Earthy funk lures tiny creatures to eat and spread bacterial spores

    Genes that cue spore growth also kick up a scent that draws in springtails.

  11. Animals

    The ‘insect apocalypse’ is more complicated than it sounds

    Freshwater arthropods trended upward, while terrestrial ones declined. But the study’s decades of data are spotty.

  12. Animals

    Insects’ extreme farming methods offer us lessons to learn and oddities to avoid

    Insects invented agriculture long before humans did. Can we learn anything from them?