Flying insects are known to make a beeline for lights in the dark, as the saying goes, "like moths to a flame." Now, scientists have figured out why insects are so keen on light, but it's not because ...

Considered extinct for over 80 years, a chance find on a sea stack where little survives has sparked hope for the future of the Lord Howe Island stick insect. When the SS Makambo ran aground on the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. The Lord Howe stick insect (Dryococelus australis) was ...

Understanding the material basis of adaptive evolution has been a central goal in biology dating back to at least the time of Darwin. One focus of current debates is whether adaptive evolution relies ...

Among animals where sexual reproduction is common, there are quite a few species that reproduce only with females. In such species, females give birth to female offspring (this is called ...