Insects & Invertebrates
They spend 17 years hidden beneath the forest floor – then all emerge together in one extraordinary, glorious eruption
The natural phenomenon known as Cicada Prime Day has a fascinating explanation behind it
At 12cm it's the world's largest, most gruesome bug – and can suck the life out of prey many times its size, like drinking one giant protein smoothie
All you need to know about the deadly giant water bug that attacks anything that moves - even humans, hence its nickname 'toe-biter'.
Think you’re seeing a giant, humongous spider? Think again… as all is not what it appears
Meet the puppet master...
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"Symptoms involve fever, severe headaches, seizures, and disruption of the sleep cycle and death" 10 most dangerous, deadliest insects on the planet
Small but deadly! From disease spreaders to stingers to voracious swarms, read all about the world’s most deadly and dangerous insects.
Are false widow spiders really a danger to children?
False widow spiders are one of the few spiders in the UK capable of delivering a venomous bite to human, but does that justify all the scaremongering? Matt Shardlow from Buglife explains.
"Unable to break free from their obligatory olfactory pursuit their blind faith impels them to run themselves to exhaustion and eventual death"
"Its scarily large fangs, which are easily strong enough to bite through shoes and pierce skin, can inject venom deadly enough to cause severe illness and death"
Unsurprisingly, the deadliest spider in the world is native to Australia – and requires one victim to take 12 vials of antivenom to survive its lethal bite
Why do some people suffer more bug bites than others?
Meet Britain’s very own tarantula – the purse-web spider, complete with huge fangs
Does Britain have tarantulas? Yes says Nick Baker, or at least a spider that belongs to the same family. Meet the purse-web spider
“There were hundreds crawling across the trail.” Huge, hairy animals surround stunned hiker in Texas desert
Tamara headed to a Texan national park with the hope of spotting a black bear – but stumbled across something more ominous
"After mating he ensures no other suitors follow suit by chewing off his own genitals and uses them to plug the female"
Forget a post-coitus cuddle, the female Darwin's bark spider will engage in sexual canabilism once the male's done the deed.
It's as long as a 2 litre soda bottle, has 21 legs, is venomous enough to kill a bat - and a small child – and has eaten flesh from a human corpse
Meet the biggest - and most venomous - centipede in the world
"It is highly territorial and if one of their 192 tentacles come into contact with neighbouring individuals they become extremely hostile…"
Discover seven fascinating facts about the beadlet anemone in our expert guide by Buglife.
"What dangles from its rear end needs some explaining, though…"
When it comes to wooing a female, size matters for this colourful moth
The lethal ‘brain-eating’ organism that lurks in warm water around the world
Known as the ‘brain-eating amoeba’, Naegleria fowleri thrives in warm freshwater and can cause a rare but often fatal brain infection. Here’s what to know
"The attack is fast and deadly accurate: the goo fires from the tips of their fangs at a speed of around 30m per second…"
Nick Baker takes a look at the behaviour of the spitting spider
This wasp lookalike is almost the size of a credit card – and it drops onto its victims from above
Meet the wasp spider – a skilled hunter with a peculiar web.
"A sting from one of these deadly creatures can kill a human in a matter of hours…" 10 most dangerous, deadliest animals in the Indian Ocean
From tiny stinging jellies to huge predatory sharks, these are some of the most dangerous animals in the Indian Ocean
Is spider silk - pound for pound - really as strong as steel?
Just how strong is spider silk? Richard Jones takes a look
"A female that's around 8cm can produce 1 million larvae, while larger individuals can produce as many as 2 million larvae in a single event"
Also known as the European flat oyster, this humble mollusc used to be a vital aspect of London's food trade and is deemed to be an ecosystem engineer. Learn more in our expert guide from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
"Their most obvious function is for digging, used like bulldozer buckets to shift and shovel the mud into shape and create their home…"
Nick Baker takes a look at the life of a mud scud?
“The male has a terrifying needle-like reproductive organ that leaves the female with a gaping wound in her abdomen…”
Bed bugs aren’t anyone’s favourite insect – but spare a thought for the female bed bug.
"It's like being shot or walking over hot coals with a rusty nail driven into your foot…" World's 10 most agonisingly painful stings from creepy-crawlies
You might want to give these creatures a wide berth
