Beetle wings are often hidden. Nestled behind armored shields on the beetle’s back, they unfurl in whirring sheets, whisking their clumsy owners from danger. Beetles don’t have more than two sets of ...

How did insect wings originate? This is a question that represents an unsolved mystery of insect evolution. Despite many years of research, it is still not entirely clear from which body structure ...

Different insects flap their wings in different manners. Understanding the variations between these modes of flight may help scientists design better and more efficient flying robots in the future.

About 350 million years ago, our planet witnessed the evolution of the first flying creatures. They are still around, and some of them continue to annoy us with their buzzing. While scientists have ...

Insects have been incredibly successful in developing ways of flying, with an ultra-fast flapping mode that scientists thought had evolved multiple times over history. Now, researchers have ...

A remarkable fossil discovery in China is rewriting our understanding of insect evolution. Scientists have identified a 151-million-year-old fly preserved in amber with features not seen in any modern ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Time travel with insects -- The buggy planet -- Rise of the arthropods -- The Cambrian period, 541-485 million years ago, and the Ordovician period, 485-444 million years ago -- Silurian landfall -- ...

Insects are fragile, soft-bodied animals whose remains are difficult to preserve. Wings are often fossilized, but insect bodies, if present, are usually bits and pieces of the original prehistoric ...