6,812 results
6,812 results for: Insects
- Health & Medicine
Shots stop allergic reactions to venom
An immune therapy prevents allergic reactions to the sting of the jack jumper ant, a pest common to Australia.
- Math
Prime-Time Cicadas
Cicadas are flying, plant-eating insects. Most cicada species have life cycles that span 2 to 8 years. They spend most of their lives underground before emerging as adults. In a few species, almost all the individuals in a given location come out of hiding at the same time. These are known as periodical cicadas, and […]
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Milestones for Malaria: Parasite, mosquito genes decoded
Unraveling the DNA of a malaria-causing parasite and of a mosquito that carries it may suggest new ways to combat the deadly disease.
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Fly Genome Creates a Buzz
Scientists try to make sense of an insect's myriad genes.
- Math
Catching Flies
Archerfish and baseball outfielders appear to use different strategies to snag a projectile. Archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) are famous for their unusual way of hunting insect prey. Upon spying an insect on a twig or a piece of foliage hanging above the water surface, the fish shoots it down using a strong, accurately aimed jet of […]
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Whazzits get their own insect order
Insect specimens that have puzzled museum curators for decades turn out to represent a lineage so odd that scientists have named a new order just for them.
- Chemistry
Catnip repels pest
Known to repel cockroaches and mosquitoes, catnip oil also works against termites.
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How butterflies can eat cyanide
Some newly recognized chemical wizardry lets some Heliconius caterpillars thrive on leaves that defend themselves with cyanide.
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How the Butterfly Gets Its Spots
The spots on a butterfly wing turn out to be unusually good model systems for a range of disciplines from genetics to behavioral ecology, offering biologists a chance to paint the really big picture of how evolution works.
- Paleontology
L.A.’s Oldest Tourist Trap
Modern excavations at the La Brea tar pits are revealing a wealth of information about local food chains during recent ice ages, as well as details about what happened to trapped animals in their final hours.
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What’s learning to a grasshopper?
Learning the taste of nutritious food pays off in a boost to fitness, even for a grasshopper.
- Animals
Flowers, not flirting, make sexes differ
Thanks to lucky circumstances, bird researchers find rare evidence that food, not sex appeal, makes some male and female hummingbirds look different.
