Scott Solomon

Darwin devised his theory of sexual selection to explain many traits that can't be understood through natural selection alone - from the peacock's gaudy tail to the elaborate constructions of bowerbirds. Probe deeper to discover why sexual reproduction exists at all, what causes individuals to develop into males versus females, and why some males take on the role of raising the young.

Insects play a crucial role as decomposers of dead organic matter, recycling the chemicals and making them available for other organisms. Explore the feats of one of homeowners' most dreaded pests-termites. These insects not only clear forests of dead wood, but are also stellar engineers.

Why was Darwin afraid that ants might undermine his theory of natural selection? Delve into the sterile worker paradox: the puzzle of why ants and other "eusocial" species evolved to have large numbers of non-reproducing offspring. Since the ability to reproduce is central to natural selection, this feature, which is common among insects and also present in other animals, demands explanation.

Darwin saw that natural selection not only leads to species that evolve to their mutual advantage, but to enemies that wage an evolutionary arms race that ends up benefiting both sides. Study coevolutionary cases - from the yucca plant and its symbiotic partner, the yucca moth, to the fastest animal on Earth, the cheetah, and its prey the springbok antelope, which has evolved to be almost as fast.

While the vast majority of insects pose no threat to humans, there are a few that compete with us for food, destroy our construction materials, and threaten both our natural and cultivated environments. Learn about the best and latest tools we can employ to control those insects, and why developing an understanding of the insect lifecycle is almost always a better investment than pesticides.

Throughout our history, we have experienced admiration for insects and their unique abilities, as well as fear and disgust. Explore how those conflicting emotions have been reflected in our arts, from Aesop's fables to Kafka's Metamorphosis, from the films Alien to A Bug's Life, and characters from Jiminy Cricket to Ant Man.

Explore how population bottlenecks and the founder effect lead to random changes in the frequency of genes, an independent mechanism of evolution known as genetic drift. Darwin had an inkling of this process when he proposed that "spontaneous variations" play a role in evolution. But genetic drift has proved far more significant than he ever envisioned.

Chart the deep insights and remarkable conclusions Charles Darwin's ideas on natural selection inspired. These 24 fascinating episodes cover 160 years of non-stop scientific advances and their relationship to Darwin's groundbreaking theory. Among them: the discovery of the rules of heredity, the identification of DNA, the recognition of mass extinctions, and the power to manipulate genes.

The arrival of genetics in the early 20th century addressed what Darwin did not know about inheritance, but there was more to uncover: How do genes function, and where do variations come from? Trace the discovery of DNA as the carrier of genetic information and the realization that mutations and other structural changes in DNA are a source of the modifications that underlie natural selection.

You might never have eaten beetle larvae, locusts, ants, or termites, but chances are your ancestors did-just as many people do today. Explore the insect-rich diets of people around the world and learn why many scientists and dietitians believe insects just might be the food of our future.