Insect

Hijacking the body of another animal is nothing new in the opportunistic world of parasitism. But for the first time, scientists have observed how one crafty flatworm can switch ‘zombie mode’ on and off, leaving its host ant stuck between life and death.

One of the most commonly suggested uses for tiny robots is the search for trapped survivors in disaster site rubble. The CLARI robot could be particularly good at doing so, as it can make itself skinnier to squeeze through tight horizontal gaps.

Although the gel of the aloe vera plant is used to treat sunburn, moisturize skin and boost gut health, its peels are usually discarded. New research now suggests that those peels could also be used, to make non-toxic insecticide for use by farmers.

While insecticide-treated bed nets do help protect against malaria-carrying mosquitos, the chemicals are becoming less effective as the insects develop a resistance to them. It now appears that microwaving one such insecticide makes it "good" again.

Just like their field-dwelling counterparts, plants grown in greenhouses are preyed upon by flying insects. The Dutch-designed PATS system is designed to help, by sending tiny drones to chop those insects up in mid-air.

The spotted lanternfly is a serious invasive pest, causing considerable damage to crops such as apples, grapes and hops. That's why it's important to destroy the insect's eggs – which is exactly what the TartanPest robot is designed to do.

If evolutionary biologists are the detectives of the natural world’s past mysteries, then the phylogenic tree is their cork board of linked crime-scene suspects. With this, they offer some big news about the origins of flowering plant life on Earth.

Playing dead is a common defense mechanism in the animal kingdom, but scientists in Australia have discovered an example on a whole new scale. Entire colonies of ants were found to be feigning death, in a collective behavior never before recorded.

As far as insects go, moths get a pretty bad rap. But researchers have found that these nocturnal animals are overachieving when it comes to pollinating plants, and encouraging them to stick around in the garden may be more beneficial than you think.

What do you do if a South American weed is choking up your local Australian waterways? In the case of the cabomba plant, scientists are enlisting the help of the weed's natural South American enemy, the tiny cabomba weevil.

We’re willing to bet you’ve never given much thought to how bugs urinate, but even if you did you probably wouldn’t imagine them using butt-based pinball paddles to flick drops of pee at 40 G’s, using physics never before seen in nature.

If a robot is going to be tiny, then it better have a way of getting around the many obstacles that will block its way. A new type of robot takes a unique approach to doing so, by jumping like a click beetle.