A cleared forest with urban sprawl in the background and a lone butterfly flying over bare ground

The More We Grow the Less They Thrive Human Population and Insect Decline

Muhammad Sharif

Picture this: every single day, our planet gains about 216,000 new human residents. That’s like adding a city the size of Salt Lake City every single day. Meanwhile, in that same 24-hour period, countless insects vanish forever from ecosystems around the world. This isn’t just some abstract environmental concern – it’s a collision course between ...

bee, hive, nature

Urban Insects: How Bugs Are Adapting to Our Expanding Cities

Rica Rosal

Picture this: you’re walking through downtown Manhattan, surrounded by towering skyscrapers and bustling traffic, when suddenly a butterfly flutters past your face. It seems almost impossible, yet these tiny creatures are not only surviving but thriving in our concrete jungles. As cities continue to expand across the globe, consuming natural habitats at an unprecedented rate, ...

shallow focus photography of bees flew in mid air

Why Bugs Matter More Than Ever in a Crowded World

Rica Rosal

We live in a world where skyscrapers stretch toward the heavens and concrete jungles sprawl across continents, yet beneath our feet and buzzing around our heads exists a universe that most of us barely notice. While we’re busy checking our phones and rushing through our daily routines, trillions of tiny creatures are working tirelessly to ...

An earwig on the leaf

The European Earwig: Creepy, Crawly, and Surprisingly Common

April Joy Jovita

Picture this: you’re enjoying a peaceful evening in your garden when you lift a flowerpot, and dozens of dark, shiny creatures with menacing pincers scatter in all directions. Your first instinct might be to scream, but what you’ve just encountered is one of nature’s most misunderstood insects – the European earwig. These fascinating creatures have ...

Close-up of tree bark damaged by invasive wood-boring beetles in a North American forest.

Invasive Wood Borers The Bugs Hollowing Out American Forests

Muhammad Sharif

Right now, as you read this, millions of tiny invaders are quietly munching their way through America’s forests. These aren’t the charismatic megafauna that capture headlines or the large predators that stalk nature documentaries. Instead, they’re small, often overlooked insects with an appetite for destruction that would make a hurricane jealous. Wood-boring beetles, moths, and ...

ants, colony, nature, insect, pest, red, small, ants, ants, ants, ants, ants, pest, pest

The Insect Voting System: How Swarms Make Group Decisions

Rica Rosal

Imagine a world where millions of individuals must make life-or-death decisions together, without a single leader, CEO, or government official calling the shots. This isn’t science fiction – it’s happening right now in your backyard, in forests, and across every continent on Earth. Insects have mastered the art of collective decision-making in ways that would ...

Demodex folliculorum

Mites on Your Face: The Microscopic Insects That Live in Your Pores

Sylvia Duruson

Right now, as you’re reading this, thousands of tiny creatures are crawling across your face. They’re living in your pores, feeding on your dead skin cells, and reproducing in the oily depths of your hair follicles. You can’t see them, you can’t feel them, but they’re there—and they’ve been your constant companions since birth. Meet ...

Portrait of an ant

Why Bugs Love Electronics — And How They Get Inside Your Devices

April Joy Jovita

Picture this: you’re settling down for a cozy movie night when suddenly your laptop screen flickers and dies. After a panicked trip to the repair shop, the technician opens up your device and reveals the shocking culprit—a tiny ant, perfectly preserved between the circuit boards. If you think this sounds like a freak accident, think ...

The Asian Longhorned Beetle: A Tree-Killing Hitchhiker from Abroad

Rica Rosal

Picture this: a seemingly innocent piece of wooden furniture arrives at your local port, carrying within it a silent destroyer that could wipe out entire forests. The Asian longhorned beetle isn’t just another bug – it’s a living weapon against North America’s trees, and it’s already here. This glossy black invader, with its striking white ...

A vibrant spotted lanternfly on tree bark, symbolizing the ecological threat posed by invasive insects

Why Invasive Insects Are One of the Biggest Threats to US Biodiversity

Muhammad Sharif

Imagine walking through a forest where every tree stands dead, their bark stripped away by tiny invaders no bigger than your fingernail. Picture farmlands stretching endlessly without a single buzzing bee, or lakes so choked with foreign species that native fish can’t survive. This isn’t science fiction – it’s happening right now across America, and ...