Last Tuesday night, people working at the National Weather Service in San Diego, California were puzzled by a strange shape on their radar screens. The unusual cloud turned out to be a massive swarm of ladybugs.
Posts tagged as “insects”
Heavy rains in Southern California have helped create a "super bloom" of wildflowers in the desert. And these healthy plants have led to unusually high numbers of painted lady butterflies flying north this year.
Last year, French and Australian scientists learned that bees could understand the idea of "zero". Now the same scientists have discovered that bees can add and subtract.
Scientists have long wondered why zebras have stripes. A recent study seems to show an unexpected reason - to confuse flies so that it's hard for them to land.
Scientists are reporting that the world's insects are dying out eight times faster than most other animals. They warn that the loss of these insects will cause big problems for all life on earth.
Scientists at the University of Washington have come up with an unusual way to help farmers get information about the plants in their fields: putting sensors on the backs of bumblebees.
Every year, butterfly lovers in California go out in November to count monarch butterflies. The 2018 count had a very worrying result - monarch numbers had dropped by 86% since 2017.
Scientists working in Brazil have discovered a collection of termite mounds that cover an area as large as Britain. The oldest mound they tested is close to 4,000 years old.
There have long been reports that animals behave differently during an eclipse. Now, thanks to student helpers and some small microphones, scientists have learned what bees do during an eclipse: Nothing.
25,000 swarming bees landed on a hot dog stand in New York City on Tuesday, causing a lot of excitement until the police were able to deal with the problem.
Scientists have learned that ladybugs don't like loud rock music or city noises. That's good for farmers to know, since ladybugs eat smaller insects that feed on plants farmers grow.