In most developing tissues, signals called morphogens act like lighthouses, guiding nearby cells toward their fate and telling them what to become. Each cell relies on such signals for organized ...

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.

Some insects can flap their wings so rapidly that it’s impossible for instructions from their brains to entirely control the behaviour. Building tiny flapping robots has helped researchers shed light ...

Mayflies are ancient insects that possess a unique life stage not found in other winged insects: Their fully-grown nymphs develop into a winged subadult stage, the so-called subimago, which is not yet ...

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 ...

The Nature Index 2026 Research Leaders reveal the leading institutions and countries/territories in the natural sciences, health sciences, applied sciences and social sciences, according to their ...

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 ...

Classification of insects and their wingbeat kinematics -- Wingbeats and vorticity -- Evolution of flight in the insect orders -- Problems of endopterygote insect ...

Deep under the Jurassic rock beds of New South Wales, scientists discovered fossilized insects that push back the history of one of the world’s most hardy families of flies. These fragile traces, ...

For centuries, the dazzling colours and intricate wing designs of butterflies have fascinated people. These insects have an incredible variety of markings, from the bright warning patterns of tropical ...