Insects

Brood X: Billions of cicadas to emerge after spending 17 years burrowed underground

After the brood mates and their eggs hatch, the young cicadas will go on to feed underground for another 17 years, in the brood of 2038.

Two new species of rare ant discovered in Kerala and Tamil Nadu by researchers

In India, the genus was so far represented by two species, with nine and eleven-segmented antennae, respectively.

Male Springbok praying mantis wrestle with females to mate, avoid being eaten by them

Sexual cannibalism — when the female consumes the male during or after mating — is known among black widow spiders and scorpions.

Insect apocalypse: Climate change, insecticides, invasive species, agriculture causing Earth to loose insects

Two well-known insects — honeybees and Monarch butterflies — best illustrate insect problems and declines.

Miniature pandemics in social insects give scientists clues to how nature controls disease

Using organizational immunity, social insect societies change their interactions to make it harder for diseases to spread.

Holy Grail: Vaccine made from mosquito spit could protect people from all kinds of vector borne diseases

The initial results from the trial showed that an Anopheles mosquito-based vaccine was safe and it triggered antibody and cellular responses.

Desert locust swarms invade India: They are millimetres in size but millions in numbers

The current locust swarm is thought to have originated in southern Iran due to the Indian Ocean Dipole, which caused warmer waters to its west and cooler waters to its east.

Bees to Butterflies: World has lost more than one quarter of its land dwelling insects in the past 30 years

Researchers didn’t find a link to climate change and the loss of insect population but think it could be due to loss of habitat due to urbanization.

Scientists find plants use hormone called jasmonic acid to fight fungi, insect attacks

For the study, scientists used Arabidopsis thaliana ⁠— a small flowering plant in the mustard family .

World Wildlife Day 2020: 10 incredible camouflaging insects to remind you that Mother Nature is beautiful

Whether it is to protect themselves from predators or to help them catch their prey, these insects are masters at blending in