Kids News - Insects Articles

Just when scientists think they have discovered and recorded every species of insect that crawls the earth they find something new. Earlier this month, Peter Jager, the head of arachnology at Frankfurt's Senckenberg Research Institute reported the discovery of a unique spider that has adapted to its dark environment by simply doing away with of all of its eight eyes!...

While to most of us ants are just tiny annoying insects that seem to come in droves whenever they sense something sweet, the household pests are quite fascinating - They have a naturally built-in GPS system that allows them to navigate their way, the ability to morph into 'living rafts' to survive floods and now it turns out that with a little help from humans, some of them can even be transformed into colorful gems....

When we think of moths, the image of the dull-looking brown cloth moth, notorious for gnawing through our finest outfits, is usually what pops up in our minds. However, turns out that there are about 16,000 species of these insects, nearly ten times as many as their prettier cousin, the butterfly....

Ants are industrious little insects that always seem to know where they are heading - Now, a team of curious researchers from the Technical University of Munich and Brazilian Center for Physics Research believe they may have the answer - It's all to do with their in-built GPS systems....

If you are one of those unfortunate souls that is constantly getting bitten by pesky mosquitoes here's a suggestion - Clean those stinky feet. At least that's what Dr. Fredros Okumu believes attracts these parasites more, to certain humans than others....

Living creatures adapt to their environment in all kinds of ways, in order to survive. Some camouflage themselves to blend in, while others learn to survive on arsenic substances. The biggest hazard to survival for the South American red ants is the constant flooding - So they get around it, by holding onto each other and floating away on their 'living' rafts....

This week, some Indian detectives are working on a rather tough case - Searching for the termite bandits who stole or should we say chewed up a large horde of cash! Their only clue? A trail of dust!...

Did you know that fleas, those tiny blood-sucking parasites that make your pet's life miserable, can leap as high as 13-inches (200 times their own body weight), with an acceleration force that exceeds 100 times the force of gravity? Believe it or not, some of the world's leading scientists have not only known that, but have also pondered and debated about it, for the last 44 years....

The world is awash with insects and parasites - While we are familiar with some like spiders and worms, others like aphids and bed bugs are not so apparent to the naked eye. Now zoologist Tom Jackson brings some of these rather terrifying looking creatures to life, in a book called 'Micro Monsters' - a title that is self-explanatory once you see the pictures....