Behavior & Pest Control

How temperature affects insect activity levels comes down to one basic fact: insects are ectotherms, so their body temperature tracks the air around them instead of staying fixed l

Understanding ant foraging behavior starts with a simple problem: a colony of Formicidae has to turn scattered, unpredictable food into a steady supply for thousands of mouths, usi

The importance of territorial behavior in insects comes down to three things: food, mates, and safety. A wasp guarding a rotting log, a male cricket chirping from a burrow entrance

Exploring the Courtship Behaviors of Fireflies means starting with a single organ: the lantern, a light-producing structure on the underside of the abdomen. Roughly 2,000 firefly s

DIY pest control works best when you match the method to the pest instead of spraying whatever is under the sink. Ants, cockroaches, rodents, and bed bugs each respond to different

The evolution of parental care in insect species runs from total neglect, most insects lay eggs and leave, to elaborate biparental partnerships that rival birds and mammals. Over a

The fascinating grooming behaviors of social wasps go far beyond simple cleaning. In colonies of Vespula germanica (the German yellowjacket) and Polistes dominula (the European pap