Take a look at the amazing eyes of the peacock mantis shrimp, red-eyed tree frog, and other animals in these photos.
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Check out the incredible sand sculptures of dinosaurs, fish, and other cool things in these photos.
Check out all the awesome photos of animals, food, nature, and more!
A queen stretches out in her spacious home as her subjects scurry around her. The queen’s workers try to make her comfortable and keep her dwelling clean. This “royal” is well cared for, but you couldn’t exactly call her lifestyle luxurious. That’s because she’s a termite! LARGE AND IN CHARGE Over 2,000 species of termites can be found around the world. Termite colonies, which can include thousands of individuals, often live in large dirt mounds. When a female termite hits breeding age, she may emerge from her colony and find a mate. The pair then creates a burrow in the ground and the female (called a queen) begins to produce eggs—a lot of them. In fact this female generates around 30,000 eggs a day! Once her offspring hatch, they become part of her colony. As the female produces more and more eggs, she begins to grow. Over time she can become the length of an adult human’s index finger. That’s a hundred times bigger than any of the termites that surround her. Eventually the queen gets so large that she can barely move. Luckily members of the queen’s community are there to wait on her, um, antenna and foot. TERMITE TOWERS Many of the offspring that hatch from the queen’s eggs become worker termites. They help the queen by keeping her clean, feeding her plant fibers, and looking after newly laid eggs. These insects may also double as construction workers, carrying up soil from underground to create the colony’s mound. Some termite mounds can reach over 17 feet in height. Sounds like the termite queen and her workers really know how to go big! Watch an amazing video about termites. Text by Andrea Silen, NGS Staff
And they’re all there to serve their queen.
This 4-inch-long (10-centimeter-long) fish shares an amazing partnership with another sea creature: the anemone (pronounced: uh-NEM-uh-NEE). The partnership benefits both participants, and the close relationship led to the fish being named an anemonefish. Anemones have tentacles that sting, but the clownfish isn’t bothered by them. In fact, it lives among the tentacles. Living among the tentacles of the anemone, the clown anemonefish gains protection from predators—which don’t dare get near the stinging protector. The anemonefish also gets to eat leftovers from the anemone’s meals. The anemone benefits from having the fish around, too. The useful fish nibbles away parasites that bug the anemone. And sometimes the anemonefish brings food into the tentacles which the anemone can also eat. Generally several anemonefish make one host anemone their home.
Amazing Animals Watch to discover interesting facts about animals from all over the
Wherever there is dung (also known as poop), there are most likely dung beetles. They belong to three basic groups: rollers, tunnelers, and dwellers. Those words describe how these beetles use the dung they find. The rollers shape pieces of dung into balls and roll them away from the pile. They bury their ball to either munch on later or to use as a place to lay their eggs. Tunnelers bury their dung treasure by tunneling underneath the pile. And dwellers actually live inside dung piles. Dung beetles are found worldwide, on every continent except Antarctica. They live in habitats that range from desert to forest. Most prefer dung from herbivores, or animals that eat only plants, but some will seek dung from omnivores, or animals that eat plants as well as meat. When an animal such as an elephant chews, swallows, and digests, there are always parts of its meal that pass through undigested. Those undigested bits pass out of the animal in its dung—and that is what provides food for dung beetles. Dung beetle larvae, or young, eat the solid dung while adult dung beetles stick to liquids. There is a good bit of nutritious moisture in dung, and adult beetles suck up that juice.
Amazing Animals Watch to discover interesting facts about animals from all over the
Uncover the wild world of insects with Nat Geo Kids to celebrate the second season of A Real Bug’s Life, on Disney+ now! You’ll meet eight incredible insects that earned our silly superlatives, from the creepy-crawly with the coolest glow to the bug with the funniest name. Then, play a fun maze game to help a yellow garden spider get from one side of its web to the butterfly trapped in the middle. Keep scrolling for more un-bee-lievable features in this issue.
Don’t forget to play a special all-presidents edition of Stump Your Parents, and
Forests make up one-third of Earth’s land surface, or more than 15 million square miles. That’s a lot of trees—and animals! Check out this tree-mendous gallery of trees from around the world and the critters that share their habitat.
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Helping the planet can start right on your street. Here’s how to organize your own neighborhood cleanup!
Show appreciation When the last piece of trash is all picked up?
One of the world’s first female pilots, Amelia Earhart broke records before mysteriously disappearing. Check out the time line below to learn about the life of this legend.
1929 A group of 99 women pilots from all over the United States unite to celebrate
How this 1973 law protects animals
Once nearly extinct, all three species bounced back thanks to a law called the Endangered
