All Stories by Susan Milius
- Animals
Flatworm can self-fertilize by stabbing itself in the head
Hermaphroditic flatworms with hypodermic-style mating get sharp with themselves.
- Animals
Heat turns wild genetic male reptiles into functional females
Genetic male bearded dragons changed to females by overheating in the wild can still breed successfully.
- Animals
How mantis shrimps spar
In ritualized combat between deadly mantis shrimp, blows count but don’t kill.
- Animals
One bold, misinformed spider slows a colony’s ability to learn
Incorrect ideas prove more dangerous in bold velvet spiders than in shyer ones.
- Animals
Male peacocks keep eyes low when checking out competition
Eye-tracking technology shows peacocks barely gaze at the full height of other males magnificent eyespot feather spreads.
- Animals
How a trap-jaw ant carries a baby
Powerful jaws make the Odontomachus brunneus ant a skilled escape artist.
- Animals
Why whistling caterpillars scare birds
Caterpillars that whistle when birds peck at them may be giving phony avian warning calls.
- Animals
Pregnant male pipefish not so great at giving embryos oxygen
During male pregnancy, pipefish embryos can get stunted by low oxygen in dad’s brood pouch.
- Animals
Octopuses can ‘see’ with their skin
Eyes aren’t the only cephalopod body parts with light-catching molecules.
- Animals
Vampire squid take mommy breaks
The vampire squid again defies its sensationalist name with a life in the slow lane.
- Life
Male stag beetles face weighty problem for flight
Male stag beetles need enormous mandibles to fend off other males and find a mate, but computer simulations show that the giant jaws make running and flying very difficult.
- Animals
Ants snap jaws, shoot skyward, escape death
Emergency trap jaw launchings help some ants pass death tests.
