AMERICAN GARDENER

Birds that live in the Everglades are shaped by a landscape dominated by shallow water, sawgrass marshes, mangroves, and slow-moving rivers. This vast wetland provides feeding grounds rich in fish, insects, crustaceans, and amphibians. Many species here have evolved long legs for wading and specialized beaks for catching prey in murky water. Seasonal water levels … Read more

Insects with four-letter names include a variety of well-known and ecologically significant species such as moth, wasp, flea, tick, and gnat. Although grouped here by the length of their names rather than biology, these insects represent very different orders and lifestyles, ranging from pollinators to parasites. Moths are closely related to butterflies and belong to … Read more

Insects with three-letter names are few, but they include some of the most familiar and important species to humans. Common examples are ant, bee, and fly. Despite their short names, these insects represent highly diverse and widespread groups, each containing thousands of species adapted to different environments across the globe. Unlike frogs, trees, or flowers … Read more

Six legs is not a characteristic of some insects — it is the defining characteristic of all insects. Every member of the Class Insecta, without exception, has exactly six legs arranged in three pairs on the thorax. This is the single most reliable feature separating insects from spiders (eight legs), crustaceans, and other arthropods. Another … Read more

Water and rodents have been intimately connected throughout mammalian evolution — producing some of the most remarkably adapted and ecologically important animals on Earth. From the beaver whose dam-building transforms entire watersheds to the capybara grazing placidly at a South American river’s edge, water-associated rodents have shaped landscapes, fed ecosystems, and fascinated naturalists for centuries. … Read more

This is a question that deserves complete honesty before proceeding, because it touches on one of the most fascinating puzzles in all of zoology. The ocean is essentially the one major habitat on Earth that insects have almost entirely failed to colonize — a remarkable fact given that insects dominate virtually every other environment on … Read more

Without insect pollinators, the majority of flowering plants on Earth would fail to reproduce, most of humanity’s food crops would collapse, and the ecosystems that sustain all terrestrial life would unravel with terrifying speed. Insects are the engine of the flowering world — visiting billions of flowers every day in an act of mutual dependency … Read more