The Secret Lives of Insects

Fruit flies that speak in different dialects. Arctic mites that can survive a deep freeze. Bees that “dance” to communicate. The insect world is stranger and far more fascinating than it first appears. In this roundup we’ve brought together stories of remarkable bugs, the people who study them, and the many ways insects have shaped human history, science, and culture.

How Insects ThinkThe Bee Dance DebateDanny Robb

October 1, 2025

Can insects communicate? In the middle of the twentieth century, scientists disagreed on whether bees could possess a “language” expressed through motion.New Study Finds Insects Speak in Different “Dialects”Lina Zeldovich

July 31, 2018

Different fruit flies species can learn each other’s language to warn against parasitic wasps.The Amazingly Complex World of Insect NavigationJames MacDonald

June 22, 2016

Dung beetles, ants, and other insects navigate in mysterious ways.Are Insects Capable of Moral Behavior?Livia Gershon

February 6, 2020

Some 19th-century naturalists believed that bugs could think and should therefore definitely know that biting is out of line.

Insects and SurvivalHow Do Insects Survive Winter?Olivia Box

November 4, 2021

Some species have adapted to get themselves close to freezing without dying.What Do We Lose When We Lose a Species?Kevin Litman-Navarro

December 28, 2017

Debates about the moral value of biodiversity are longstanding in the world of environmental ethics, and the issue is far from settled.Why Conservationists Shouldn’t Forget About InsectsJames MacDonald

July 10, 2017

Insect conservation can be a tough sell. Lots of people simply don’t like bugs, and an endangered bug simply doesn’t pull on the heart strings.Scientists Are Putting Mosquitoes on Human Diet DrugsLina Zeldovich

February 19, 2019

Humans and mosquitoes share a surprising amount of genes and have similar hunger controls.Sting! (Don’t Stand So Close to the Tarantula Hawk)Matthew Wills

November 20, 2024

Tarantula hawk wasps offer some of the most painful stings known to humans, giving them almost absolute protection from vertebrate predators.

Insects That Changed HistoryHow the Soviet Union Turned a Plague into PropagandaJess Romeo

August 9, 2020

The fight against locust swarms allowed the Soviet Union to consolidate power over neighboring regions.The Long-Lost LocustMatthew Wills

June 14, 2018

The 1874 locust swarm was estimated to be twice the square mileage of the state of Colorado. Why don't locusts swarm anymore?Historical Bugs: ArchaeoentomologyMatthew Wills

January 23, 2023

The remains of ancient insects reveal new information about Paleo-Eskimo life and the history of the Norse in Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.How “Termites of the Sea” Have Shaped Maritime TechnologySierra Garcia

December 24, 2021

These small marine pests have been eating our ships for millennia, forcing us to keep building better boats throughout history.Insects in the MailDanny Robb

December 28, 2024

The efficiency of the postal system and generosity of local experts played important roles in the advancement of entomology in eighteenth-century France.

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Bugs and CultureInsect Jewelry of the Victorian EraAmelia Soth

January 16, 2020

The wing-cases of gold-enameled weevils hung from necklaces; muslin gowns were embroidered with the iridescent green elytra of jewel beetles.The War on BugsSalama Udaipurwala

October 30, 2024

In the 1950s, supersized insects were the villains in a rash of big-screen horror movies. What did those monstrous roaches represent, and how were they vanquished?As You Lakh ItKatrina Gulliver

February 14, 2024

How did an oleoresin produced by insects in Asia become a standard part of European furniture manufacture and conservation?Bugging OutIan Rose

May 31, 2023

The complicated, ever-changing, millennia-long relationship between insects and humans.

Entomologists and OdditiesMargaret S. Collins, Pioneering Black EntomologistLiz Tracey

February 19, 2020

She was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in entomology as well as an activist for freedom in the Civil Rights Movement.Dude, There Are Sand Flies That Consume CannabisSierra Garcia

August 1, 2021

Could these blood-sucking pests actually have the munchies?

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