During a trip with Saint Michael’s College students to Bunratty Castle in Ireland, our guide explained that medieval castle defenders poured scalding liquids on invaders through a…

If winter travels take you along the banks of a clean, rocky stream on a warm afternoon, chances are good you’ll encounter stoneflies (order Plecoptera) seeking out others of their kind…

Bumble bees are culturally iconic and essential to our environment. While unwittingly inspiring classical music, soft toys, and jewelry, bumble bees pollinate flowers both obscure and…

During my first lecture in front of a large room of students, a small spider put me – and my 220 students – at ease. As I flicked on the overhead projector, I spotted a…

Many beetles are slow fliers and runners, but six-spotted tiger beetles (Cicindela sexguttata) are masters of speed. A metallic flash of green or sometimes blue may be your only glimpse of…

On days when I drop off my wife at her dance class, I explore Red Rocks Park in South Burlington, Vermont. I meet dog walkers and a few hardy birders but as far as I know, I’m the only…

Picture this: you are a single mother, and to ensure the success of your children, you’ll have to immobilize a still-living animal almost twice your weight and haul it back to a tunnel…

Intolerance of disturbance, specific habitat requirements, and narrow distribution: these are characteristics that threaten species with extinction. Unfortunately, the Chittenango ovate amber…

More than 400 million years ago, when invertebrates ruled Ordovician seas, the Anostraca, or fairy shrimp, evolved within the branchiopod crustaceans. They moved from oceans up through…