Insects & Science

The purple spotted swallowtail is a colorful member of the Papilionidae family. Because of this butterfly's bright coloration and geographic isolation, it long has been prized by collectors and...

Zebra swallowtails are relatively large butterflies known for their distinctive "zebra" patterning. Swallowtails inhabit low, moist woodland areas as well as open fields near rivers and streams.

"Stink bug" is the name given to insects of the Pentatomidae family, one of the families falling under the suborder of Heteroptera, or "true bugs." Stink bugs derive their less than flattering...

Carpenter bees do not live in hives, but rather they are solitary insects. The female bores holes into rough, unfinished wood to lay her eggs. Holes can be as shallow as six inches and as deep as...

The honeybee and carpenter bee differ in appearance. They also differ in behavior, particularly in dealing with their young. As a result, carpenter bees produce less honey than honeybees.

The carpenter bee and bumblebee are hard to tell apart. That is because there are varieties of carpenter bees with yellow and black hairy bodies, similar to bumblebees. However, the two have some...

Fruit flies are 1/8-inch long flying insects that appear most frequently in late summer and early fall. They like to live and eat off ripened, rotting and fermenting fruit, and vegetables. When...

Since the beginning of time, insects have plagued humankind. We have battled with flies, roaches, termites and even blood-sucking fleas in our homes and workplaces. Knowing how to indentify pest...

Wood ticks are the American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick. They are similar in appearance, and they are both responsible for transmission of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) to...

Many homeowners face what can seem like an assault by large bees during the spring and summer months. These are likely to be carpenter bees, a species of bee that lives in wood surfaces, from the...

The entire life cycle of a butterfly is a series of puzzling and unlikely events. From egg to mature adult, this solitary insect performs a complete four-staged metamorphosis. Scientists are...

As a child, I used to watch a lot of these adorable tent caterpillars turn into moths. It's not that difficult, either, to raise tent caterpillars. I mostly learned how from trial and error. Tent...

Forensic entomology is the study of insects in legal cases. Usually forensic entomology is associated with how insects feed on dead bodies, but the science may also be used in civil cases, such as...

Bees gather pollen from flowers and use it to make honey. It enables them to survive cold winters and create future generations of queens, workers and soldiers. Pollen is vital for bee survival,...

One of the most notable features of harvester ants is their large--sometimes 6-feet in diameter--mounded nest. Harvester ants work tirelessly to clear the area above their subterranean colonies of...

Composting is an environmentally-friendly way to recycle vegetable, fruit, and yard waste. When composting is performed correctly, compost worms will transform your waste into highly nutritious...

Carpet beetles are a type of insect belonging to the dermestids and are considered pests. In your home, carpet beetles eat away at fabrics, carpets, furs and food in your pantry or basement.

There are more than 10,000 species of ants, and some of them can pull foods back to their homes that weigh 50 times more than they do. This might be the way of things in the outside world, but the...

More than 350,000 beetle species inhabit the world, encompassing a vast array of colors, types and shapes. Black beetles make up only a portion of the varied colors of beetles.

Spiders and insects are resourceful creatures that will look for any way into your home. Insects come inside to seek shelter and food. This is a bigger problem in the summer since many insects...

Butterflies are creatures of the class Insecta and the order Lepidoptera. Adult butterflies eat nectar; their caterpillars eat various plants. From the smallest (Western Pygmy Blue, Brephidium...

Ant farm ants can be the perfect pet for children, especially when used as a tool for learning. Learn how to make an ant farm, and you'll teach your child about the eco system and how to care for...

Butterflies are among the most beautiful insects. A well-preserved butterfly can be displayed with its wings spread wide to show off the patterns, which are often breathtaking. Even a butterfly...

Someone who goes into their attic and opens a box full of their old newspaper clippings can find that silverfish have been at work. These insect pests frequently will invade dark places and cause...

Ant farms have provided a popular pastime for decades. As an easy way to study primitive animal behavior, an ant farm is still a great gift for a kid with an inquisitive mind.

When you see a butterfly on a flower, it is likely getting its daily nutrients. While butterflies don't actually eat flowers, they do drink the nectar from the flowers.

A diode is the joining of two semiconductors, producing interesting effects at their interface. The two semiconductors each have a terminal attached, as well. The interface sets up an...

The smoker is an important tool in beekeeping equipment, used by the beekeeper to blow smoke into the beehive before entering the hive. This quiets the bees and protects the beekeeper from getting...

Silverfish are common household pests. They do not carry disease, but they can cause damage to fabric and paper goods.

Spotted apatelodes (Apatelodes torrefacta) or dragon moths are a type of silkworm moth that lives in North American forests where ash, cherry, oak or maple are found. The caterpillars feed on the...

When the box arrives from a bee catalog company, the idea of constructing it can be a bit daunting. However, with a little patience and a good electric screwdriver, the task can be accomplished...

Thief ants are common across the United States and predominate during the summer months in the northern central states. Thief ants range in color from golden to light brown and are tiny; workers...

Nematodes--the most numerous multicellular organisms on Earth--live in every type of environment imaginable, and many are carnivorous while some eat plants.

Wasp stings can be painful and are often more dangerous than bee stings. Wasps don't loose their stingers like bees and can sting someone repeatedly. These are common side effects that may be...

Mealworms make an excellent source of food for many small animals, especially reptiles and amphibians. They are high in protein and are easy to grow and maintain with minimal effort once their...

Thousands of parasitic wasps exist in the order hymenoptera. A small number, though, often generically just referred to as parasitica wasps, offer a natural answer to insect pest controls in...

Florida's climate is considered tropical, making it a habitable ecosystem for many types of organisms. Tropical areas are especially suitable for insects, such as mosquitoes, ants and beetles....

There are three species of poisonous spiders in Arizona: the black widow, brown recluse and tarantula. While the widow and recluse are capable of inflicting serious damage to any individual they...

Because both can give a painful sting, bees and wasps are often confused for each other. While they may look similar and are related, they are two distinctly different types of insect. Each has...

Mealworms are the larval stage of the small darkling beetle. Mealworms are most commonly used as a nutritious source of food for captive amphibians and reptiles, as well as some captive or wild...

Scientists have identified more than one million insects in the world, but this number could barely scratch the surface of how many insect species actually exist. Because there are so many...

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Grasshoppers in Africa are insects belonging to the order Orthoptera. From this, two suborders derive: Caelifera (including short-horned grasshoppers and locusts) and Ensifera, which are the...

There are thousands of nematodes, or microscopic worms (classified scientifically as round worms), in most plots of soil. In certain forest habitats and agricultural habitats, millions of...

Castoff skins or moultings of termites would not be a common sight even in an infested building. Termites undergo complex changes during the moult and spend this period underground while bodies...

Although there are around 700 species of dermestid beetle (carpet beetle/flesh- eating beetle), they all begin life as an egg. All species of dermestid beetles lay tiny white eggs. The number of a...

Officially known as Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis, scabies mites are microscopic burrowing insects that infect the skin of both animals and humans. Highly contagious, they cause rashes and...

The Jerusalem Cricket is a member of the Stenopelmatidae family. This nocturnal cricket lives underground, and despite its fearsome reputation, it is not poisonous and will only bite if provoked.

Wasps are flying insects that prey on other bugs, killing such pests as beetle larvae, caterpillars and flies. There are hundreds of species of wasps, but the three most familiar are yellow...

Varroa mites are honeybee parasites affecting honeybee populations across North America. Female Varroa mites lay their eggs in beehive brooding cells, where their larvae attach to the honeybee...