Insects & Science

The carpenter bee acquired its name from the fact that it will chew wood and excavate holes in it to create nesting areas. While the carpenter bee looks a bit like the bumble bee, it has some...

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...

The roundworm is a parasite that relies on animals and plants to survive, without providing any benefit back to their hosts. The roundworm reproduces sexually, meaning that it takes both a female...

Silverfish are pests that dart in and through items in kitchen drawers, gnaw on the pages of books in bookshelves, and make themselves at home in boxes or bags of food items on pantry shelves....

The mosquito is a small flying insect found all over the world. The mosquito must have water in order to reproduce, and its appetite for blood results in a bite that spreads disease to many...

Carpenter bees are a species of bee that despite their name do not actually eat wood. Carpenter bees do use wood for their nesting site, excavating chambers within the wood for such a purpose....

When butterflies mate, the male or female will perform courtship movements and release pheromones, the butterflies will turn abdomen to abdomen and then mate for an hour or more. The male...

The scientific name for the common fruit fly is Drosophila melanogaster. Fruit fly reproduction starts with courtship behavior. The male fruit fly, which is smaller than the female, vibrates his...

Ticks lay eggs as opposed to giving birth. Female ticks need to feed on a host animal's blood in order to get the energy to make eggs. She feeds first and then goes to find a mate. The much...

All insects spend their entire lives mating, and the mating process for most insects is generally the same. They use various skills to track down a mate: For instance, insects like the fly rely on...

One of the most dangerous spiders found in the United States is the female black widow spider. The female black widow has a shiny black, bulbous body, with long extended legs. A distinctive red or...

Learn how to identify the Red Back Spider, which is found throughout Australia and is related to the Black Widow of the United States. Red Back spiders tend to hang out in populated areas and...

Earwigs have been rumored to crawl into ears to lay eggs, but there is no evidence to support these rumors. Earwigs are actually harmless insects that frequently appear in damp areas after periods...

Black widow spiders are the hallmark of horror movies. As if spiders in general aren't bad enough, people tend to recoil in fear when they encounter a spider that is not only large but also...