Insects & Invertebrates
“It slowly disappears under a writhing mass of earth and ants and is sliced up.” Ravenous insects devour prey alive in BBC clip
Driver ants attack everything unfortunate enough to wind up in their path – and this unlucky slug is in for a tough day.
Scientists have built a tiny diving suit for ‘cyborg cockroaches’. And it could save human lives
The invention comes after a decade of research into cyborg insects – which could be used in search and rescue missions
"As with humans, their greatest enemies are the same species. At the frontier they detect friend or foe by smell and interlopers are repulsed…"
Ants are often a much-overlooked group of insects, but they have fascinating behaviours and adaptations, as entomologist Richard Jones explains.
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"This means that those returning in the spring will be the ‘great-great-grandchildren’ of those that left the previous autumn…"
Mike Unwin explores just how far this remarkable butterfly species travels when migrating
It’s bigger than your thumb, has immense jaws and is nicknamed the flying bulldog – Meet the largest bee on the planet
Discover the giant bee of Indonesia.
"It's like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel.” The wasps and bees with the most painful, savage stings on the planet
Not all stings are created equal – explore the bees and wasps whose powerful venoms produce some of the most intense pain ever recorded
“It seizes the victim with large spines, impaling and immobilising the prey…” This ultimate hunter might look like a spider, but don’t be fooled…
In this clip from BBC Earth’s Expedition Guyana, George McGavin explores an extreme habitat underneath a fallen, hollowed-out tree in a Guyana rainforest, and comes across something interesting…
"They eat their hosts from the inside out, using saw-like teeth to chew their way through thick skin." 10 most brutal, savage, parasites on the planet
Lurking in the shadows of many ecosystems are animals whose main motivations are, quite literally, to hijack the bodies of others and eat them from the inside out…
"Multiple stings can cause alarming swelling, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion. An average human would be lucky to survive 1,000 stings"
What makes a slight skin prick, administered by a bee or a wasp, turn into a life-threatening emergency?
If you disturb this critter prepare to be stink-bombed by nasty excretions; a fiendish spray that burns and blinds its prey. It's bite is pretty painful too
Keep an eye out for the beetle with the triple-threat defence.
Why does a bee die after it stings you? And is that the case for all bees?
Just what happens to a bee after it stings you? Why do some species die and some survive?
What do a beetle and an iconic anime character have in common? A lot, apparently
Beetles constitute almost 25% of all known animal species – scientists just discovered two more.
"They found a large, nose-shaped structure, bigger than a Cadillac, inside a house..."
The world’s biggest wasp nest is longer than a Cadillac and shaped like a nose
At 7cm long it's not only the biggest wasp in the world but the deadliest thanks to its 6mm stinger – just how deadly is it?
This giant wasp would not be a welcome guest at your picnic, says Kitty Aldis
Scientists entered a cave on a mysterious Caribbean island, strewn with strange fossils. What they found there was like nothing else on Earth
Bees are known for being incredibly smart – this recent discovery confirms that their ancient counterparts were just as resourceful.
It spans 7m and contains 50,000 scurrying creatures that all work together to take down prey
Living, hunting and raising young together, this social spider forms one of the largest cooperative groups of any arachnid in the world.
“They don’t have the strength – so they’ve turned into a mass killing machine”
In a clip from the BBC’s Evolution, Chris Packham explains how ants have evolved to become efficient hunters
Bee vs fly: what's the difference between these two buzzing insects?
We think we know the difference, but sometimes one of these insects mimics the behaviours of the other – which can make things very confusing...
"The result is a medieval-looking bit of engineering designed to lodge and entangle the limbs, palps and mouthparts of any attacker"
Loaded with a weaponised derrière, this baby beetle dares to go where few insects would: right into a spider’s web.
"Working together they can subdue prey 700 times their weight - even birds aren't safe..." Inside this terrifying web of nightmares
If one spider is enough to get you sweating, how about webs full of thousands of them?
"It can handle the ionising radiation of space, exist in suspended animation for 30 years & will be the last beast standing in a nuclear holocaust"
Tardigrades are one of the toughest and most intriguing creatures on Earth. Nick Baker takes a look at these microscopic bear-like creatures, also known as water bears
"To survive the winter it builds itself a life-support bubble. We can assume that the structure is more or less sealed..."
Nick Baker takes an in-depth look at the marsh fritillary's winter survival skills
"Dice it any which way and each fragment will in time become a fully functional creature. How, though, is not fully understood..."
Discover one of the bizarrest creatures in the world
The vampire spider that drinks human blood and has a liking for smelly socks
Too small to bite a human, this arachnid manages to get a taste of the red stuff elsewhere. Nick Baker introduces us to the vampire spider
