Susan Milius

Susan Milius

Life Sciences Writer

Life sciences writer Susan Milius has been writing about botany, zoology and ecology for Science News since the last millennium. She worked at diverse publications before breaking into science writing and editing. After stints on the staffs of The Scientist, Science, International Wildlife and United Press International, she joined Science News. Three of Susan's articles have been selected to appear in editions of The Best American Science Writing.

All Stories by Susan Milius

  1. Life

    Giant honeybees do the wave

    Giant bees coordinate and make waves that would rival those in any football stadium. Predators of the bees don’t find it cheering.

  2. Life

    Birds duet to fight and seek

    The first study to track birds in the forest via microphone arrays shows that birds double up on fight songs, or play Marco Polo in tropical shrubbery.

  3. Life

    Robot spider vs. bee

    Learning about predators’ tricks can make a bee paranoid.

  4. Alarming sex appeal

    Hens may find there’s just something about a guy that squawks at danger.

  5. Life

    Bisexual cockroach dads

    Male hissing roaches with flexible tastes sire more young.

  6. Life

    Ground squirrels use ‘armpit effect’

    Hibernating ground squirrels forget who’s who, so thank goodness for the armpit effect.

  7. Ecosystems

    Slave ants rebel

    Species vulnerable to enslavement may evolve ways to fight their captors.

  8. Life

    His master’s yawn

    When humans open up for a jaw-stretcher, so do their best friends.

  9. Life

    Smallest known snake

    New species is thin as a spaghetti noodle but shorter.

  10. Animals

    Built for Speed

    Animals would prove fierce competitors at the Olympics — if only they would stay in their lanes.

  11. Life

    Fish lie

    No, really. I like the other girl better. Really. Science reveals a fish dating scene worse than junior high school.

  12. Life

    Nature’s chronic boozers

    Tree shrews pub-crawl nightly from flower to flower for fermented palm nectar.