In Peru I dangled a UV light from an old bit of plank to attract nocturnal insects. On the crumbling plank was a mud nest made by a solitary hunting wasp. Needless to say, I carefully removed the nest from the plank to have a better look …
To date, just over 1 million species of insects have been described and many millions more are out there to be ‘discovered’ and described. Even of the species that have been described, the vast majority are nothing more than a scientific name and specimens in museum. We know precious little …
Here’s a new article on appreciating the fascinating, overlooked life that is right under our noses – PDF. This was written for …
Stings are the specialty of scorpions and Hymenoptera; however, one species of beetle – a longhorn (Onychocerus albitarsis) appears to be muscling …
I don’t really ‘do’ Lepidoptera, but back in my undergraduate days when I took a Blood Sucking Insects module taught by Mike …
Dung beetles don’t just eat dung you know. There are species that feed on fungi and rotting fruit, not to mention the …
Described in 1996 from a single specimen found in the window of a forest cabin on the western slopes of Sikhote-Alin …
The extraordinary treehoppers (Membracidae). Much of the extraordinary diversity in form we see in these animals is down to the ‘helmet’, which …
*A shorter version of this article was published as The Spice of Life in BBC Wildlife Magazine (Issue 435, February 2018)* Futurists who …
A version of this article was originally published in the December 2017 issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine A subterranean city, a …