1,558 results
- Animals
This butterfly is the first U.S. insect known to go extinct because of people
A 93-year-old Xerces blue specimen’s DNA shows that the butterfly is a distinct species, making it the first U.S. insect humans drove to extinction.
- Animals
Squirrels use parkour tricks when leaping from branch to branch
Squirrels navigate through trees by making rapid calculations to balance trade-offs between branch flexibility and the distance between tree limbs.
- 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?
- Science & Society
Racism lurks in names given to plants and animals. That’s starting to change
Racist legacies linger in everyday lingo for birds, bugs and more. Some scientists see the chance to change that.
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Susan Milius, your guide to the peculiarities of nature
Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the rambling route Susan Milius, life sciences writer, took before landing at Science News. And how we're all richer for her writing.
- Animals
Texas has its own rodeo ant queens
New species of rodeo ants, riding on the backs of bigger ants, turned up in Austin, Texas.
- Animals
A wasp was caught on camera attacking and killing a baby bird
Some wasps scavenge carrion or pluck parasites off birds, but reports of attacks on live birds are rare.
- Animals
How a tiny spider uses silk to lift prey 50 times its own weight
Dropping the right silk can haul mice, lizards and other giants up off the ground.
- 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.
- Animals
Flipping a molecular switch can turn warrior ants into foragers
Toggling one protein soon after hatching makes Florida carpenter ants turn from fighting to hunting for food.
- Life
Saharan silver ants are the world’s fastest despite relatively short legs
Saharan silver ants can hit speeds of 108 times their body length per second.
- Animals
Bee larvae drum with their butts, which may confuse predatory wasps
Dual percussion instruments — one on the head, the other on the rear — give mason bee larvae a peculiar musical gift that may be a tool for survival.
