The Secret Lives of Insects

According to JSTOR Daily's latest roundup, insects are far stranger and more influential than they appear. Scientifically, they astound: fruit flies that speak in dialects, bees that communicate through movement, species that survive freezing. Culturally and historically, they've woven themselves into human achievement—Victorians incorporated jewel beetles into necklaces and embroidery, maritime engineers have spent millennia redesigning ships to resist wood-eating marine pests, and nineteen-fifties filmmakers cast giant insects as movie villains. These tiny creatures have shaped human technology, art, and imagination.

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