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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

What might be mistaken for a waterslide in this image is actually the breathing tube, or trachea, of a dragonfly. This tube connects to openings in the insect's exoskeleton (outer “shell”) called ...

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 ...

INSECTS do not breathe in quite the way we thought. The revelation has caused a sharp intake of breath among zoologists, because after centuries of study it means we may have to rethink our ideas ...

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 ...