Beetle

Would you want to eat this beetle? Probably not, as it appears to be covered in fungus. That "fungus" is actually hair, however, which the recently discovered insect may use to put off would-be predators.

As Australian as kangaroos, the Christmas beetle holds a special place in hearts Down Under. But December sightings of these majestic creatures have become as rare as seeing Santa. Scientists are now asking the nation to help them find out what's going on.

Genitalia in the animal kingdom is rarely dull, from penis 'sword' fighting flatworms, to echidnas with four-headed phalluses. Let us introduce a new odd member contender: a beetle with an appendage that looks like you could crack open a beer with it.

If evolutionary biologists are the detectives of the natural world’s past mysteries, then the phylogenic tree is their cork board of linked crime-scene suspects. With this, they offer some big news about the origins of flowering plant life on Earth.

Beetles can live in incredibly dry environments by taking water from the air and absorbing it through their rectums. Scientists have now discovered how this rear-end phenomenon works, and the findings may help to protect world food supplies.

A new experiment from Indiana University has shown how natural selection can create complex traits out of existing genetic “building blocks”, and to illustrate this the team used a relatively simple genetic tool to grow a functional third eye on the forehead of beetles.

Researchers have discovered how the bombardier beetle is capable of producing a unique defensive mechanism, whereby the beetle induces a chemical explosion inside it's shell, creating a boiling, toxic liquid which is then sprayed at its aggressor.