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Amber fragment with feather portions and beetle larval moults

Amber fossils reveal dinosaurs and beetles had symbiotic relationship

17 April 2023

Remains preserved in amber from 105 million years ago are the oldest evidence of a mutually beneficial relationship between dinosaurs and arthropods

Scorpions develop a sting in the tail before they are ready to use it

9 September 2021

Newborn scorpions produce and store venom in their tail, or telson, despite not being able to use it until they have shed their first exoskeleton

Spiders can ‘fly’ because they make near-invisible paragliders

14 June 2018

We’ve finally solved the mystery of how even fairly big spiders can take to the skies, and it turns out it’s because they make flying machines that can barely be seen with the naked eye

When a daddy longlegs is attacked by a flatworm things get messy

14 June 2018

In the forests of Brazil, pitched gladiatorial contests are being fought between flatworms armed with slime and spider-like arachnids with body-chopping spikes

Ferocious pack-hunting pseudoscorpions believe in sharing fairly

9 May 2018

One species of pseudoscorpion has learned to work together to bring down prey larger than themselves – and when they make a kill they make sure the food is shared equitably

Sea urchins can drill holes in solid rock with just their teeth

21 February 2018

If a sea urchin can't find a suitable pit to live in, it makes one – even if it has to spend months gnawing away at hard granite

Giant coconut crab sneaks up on a sleeping bird and kills it

9 November 2017

Coconut crabs were thought to be purely opportunistic scavengers, but these huge arthropods are actually active predators that may dominate their island homes

Freeloading mites are squatting on spider webs and stealing food

1 November 2017

A newly-discovered species of mite sets up home on a spider’s web and nibbles away at any insects the spider catches – and the spider doesn’t seem to mind

Mussel-inspired plastic could make self-repairing body armour

26 October 2017

Mussels grip onto rock using stretchy fibres with self-repairing molecular bonds. Mimicking the trick has inspired an extremely tough and elastic new material