Animal architecture: why we need to design buildings for wildlife as well as people

Our lives are intertwined with animals, insects and birds – we should consider them more when we design our cities.

Paul Dobraszczyk, Lecturer in Architecture, UCL • conversation
March 2, 2023 • ~6 min

Plagues of wasps? A scientist explains why you shouldn't panic about rumours of rising populations

Why you shouldn’t get in a flap over reports that swarms of wasps are descending on Britain.

Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL • conversation
Aug. 26, 2022 • ~7 min

Five facts about the gruesome beauty of solitary wasps

New research showed a type of wasp which eats its own siblings.

Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL • conversation
May 23, 2022 • ~8 min

The invasive emerald ash borer has destroyed millions of trees – scientists aim to control it with tiny parasitic wasps

Biological control strategies curb pests using other species that attack the invader. A biologist explains why it can take more than a decade to develop an effective biological control program.

Kristine Grayson, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Richmond • conversation
Aug. 27, 2021 • ~8 min

Wasps: why I love them, and why you should too

We value bees for the jobs they do for the environment and us – why is the same not true of wasps?

Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL • conversation
April 29, 2021 • ~25 min

Figs show that nonnative species can invade ecosystems by forming unexpected partnerships

As invasive species transform the world, frontline agencies take solace that species needing unique partners can’t invade alone. A new study on figs shows they may find new partners to invade anyway.

Jared Bernard, Ph.D. Candidate in Entomology, University of Hawaii • conversation
Jan. 19, 2021 • ~9 min

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.

Mercedes Burns, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County • conversation
Dec. 15, 2020 • ~6 min

Why wasps become so annoying at the end of summer

Finally we have a word to describe why wasps bother you in late summer: furlough.

Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL • conversation
Aug. 27, 2020 • ~7 min

Do wasps have a queen like bees do?

Bees aren't the only species that has a queen.

Caralyn Zehnder, Lecturer in Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst • conversation
March 5, 2020 • ~4 min

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