Insects have been assumed to breathe through a system of tracheal tubes (considered passive air channels), with gaseous exchange being driven by body movements or hemolymph circulation. However, the ...

Recent research shows that insects and humans have something surprising in common: Some six-legged species take in oxygen using a similar means to the way we fill our lungs. Scientists from the Field ...

With support from an NSF grant, two faculty members in biomedical engineering and mechanics have combined forces to answer questions pertaining to insects' breathing. The researchers will study how ...

What might be mistaken for a waterslide in this image is actually the breathing tube, or trachea, of a dragonfly. This tube connects to openings in the insect's exoskeleton (outer “shell”) called ...

In most bumblebee species, the queens spend their winters buried underground in a tiny cavity the size of a grape. For six to ...