Insects & Invertebrates
Meet the alien-looking gangly lancer sea spider, a strange creature that sucks up and spits out its prey alive after taking a tasty nibble
Sea spiders are strange creatures, and the gangly lancer sea spider is one of the strangest of all
Meet the hydra, a tiny weird – and deadly – ribbon-like creature that can devour prey many times its size – and live forever...
Nick Baker takes a look at the fascinating hydra
Could midges hold the answer to painless injections?
Could midges inspire next-generation medical needles?
It has huge fangs, is the size of a dinner plate, and liquidises its prey – meet the biggest spider on Earth
This monster of the spider world weighs 175g, is 30cm long and eats amphibians, snakes, rodents and sometimes even birds.
Scientists spent decades watching a rare creature on an island near Miami – now they've discovered something unexpected
The researchers, who have been working on Elliott Key since 1985, say the animal has developed an unusual relationship with hurricanes.
It's tiny, covered in hair, and has spines filled with venom potent enough to cause long-lasting, painful, effects, like muscle spasms, in humans
This is one caterpillar you shouldn't touch says Stuart Blackman
The deadly Asian hornet: how to identify, what they like to eat, why they are a grave worry- and how to report a sighting
Considered a pest, and a particular threat to honeybees, Asian hornets were accidentally introduced to Europe in 2004.
Here's what ants taught humans about managing a pandemic
The sophisticated social structures of ants can teach us how to better respond to pandemics
Meet the tube web spider, a British spider that can pierce skin with its fangs
The tube web spider is one of only a handful of British species with fangs long enough to pierce human skin.
Bees wearing QR codes reveal secrets from the hive
Measuring no more than 2.6mm in diameter, the tiny QR codes are being used to record the foraging behaviour of honeybees in Pennsylvania and New York
20 of the world's most mind-blowing insect photos revealed
From the steely stare of a bush cricket to a Mediterranean mantis drinking in the sunset, here are some of the winning images from the Royal Entomological Society Photography Competition 2024
A mind-altering parasite is driving cave spiders from their lairs in the green hills of Ireland
Once out in the open, the newly described parasitic fungus, named after Sir David Attenborough, kills the spiders – and scientists know why
Rare and fragile creature found sheltering in the gloom of a mountain stream in Kosovo
The tiny, winged animal was discovered among the rocks, pebbles and fallen leaves of a shady streambed in Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park.
Meet the immortal animals that never die
Immortal jellyfish, and a few similar species, are said to be immortal. But how true is this claim? Dr Helen Scales explains.
Did you know there's an animal called Donald Trump?
How a resemblance to Donald Trump inspired the name for an unknown moth species in the USA.
Why are people scared of spiders? The weird reasons they give us nightmares
We take a look at just why people are scared of spiders
There are 40,000 spiders in the world - and just one is vegetarian. Weird right? However that's not its only oddity...
Thought all spiders eat meat? Meet the jumping spider on a vegetarian diet
How can butterflies fly so well?
Richard Jones explains the secrets behind a butterfly's flight
How maggots are able to help solve crimes
Did you know maggots can help solve crime - and even murders? Erica McAlister explains how
Biologists went into 19 abandoned quarries in Germany – and they found something vital
The seemingly barren sites were home to an astonishing 114 species of bee, including 35 listed as endangered.
An ancient and exquisite thing has been discovered in a lake in New Zealand
The extremely rare fossils were found attached to the underside of a leaf – in the very position they would have lived and died – near Dunedin on the South Island.
There's a cunning animal on the misty riverbanks of Ohio that hunts like a Roman gladiator
The creature in question creates a deadly trap to insnare its prey, a new study has found.
10 gross-looking animals that live on or inside you
The human body is home to a spectacular array of organisms – some of which can be pretty horrible looking
Do butterflies sleep?
It might be something that many of us have never considered before, but do butterflies sleep? Well, Stuart Blackman, says, that depends on what you mean by 'sleep'