A need to avoid overdosing on that dangerous gas—oxygen—may be what drives some insects to shut down their breathing holes periodically. That’s two researchers’ proposal to explain why many ants, ...

DIAPAUSING pupae of some saturniid moths overwinter in an environment in which temperatures may drop to −30° C. In such conditions of cold and low humidity there are opportunities for pupae to ...

I like big bugs. I cannot lie. But which insect is the biggest? I asked my friend Rich Zack. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University. He told me the answer depends on how you define ...

Scientists have known that some insects can hold their breath for hours or even days. A new study suggests why: Too much air would kill them. Insects breathe in and out through holes, called spiracles ...

A new study investigating the respiratory system of insects may have solved a mystery that has intrigued physiologists for decades: why insects routinely stop breathing for minutes at a time. A new ...

Honestly, I’m not sure what to say except that YouTuber Precarious333’s video of a Giant Texas Katydid (Neobarrettia spinosa) chirping, breathing, and grooming is way more captivating than I expected ...

Invertebrates are a wildly diverse lot — far more diverse than the relatively small group known as vertebrates. Accordingly, the inverts have a huge diversity of life styles and body plans. Consider ...

Researchers at the University of California Riverside found that bed bugs avoid water because it can block their breathing.

The delicate lady bug in your garden could be frighteningly large if only there was a greater concentration of oxygen in the air, a new study concludes. The study adds support to the theory that some ...

I love taking selfies with my insect friends. They’re so tiny and look so different from me. But my friend Rich Zack told me that insects and humans have lots in common. He’s an insect scientist at ...

THE presence of peripheral inhibitory nerves in insects is now well established and in many respects they seem to be similar to those in Crustacea 1–3. Their physiological properties are well defined ...

FOR insects, heavy breathing can be fatal. If resting butterflies breathed all the time, so much oxygen would build up in their delicate bodies that it would kill them. Most animals use proteins such ...