The tarantula hawk is the official state insect of New Mexico — chosen by an elementary-school class in 1989.
Over 100 species of birds, butterflies, and other animals have evolved to follow army-ant raids — the most species-rich animal-following community on Earth.
Bullet ant colonies are surprisingly small — a few hundred to a few thousand workers — compared with the millions of leaf-cutter or driver ants sharing their forest.
Bumblebee colonies live one year — the queen overwinters alone and founds a new colony each spring.
The famous Silence of the Lambs poster moth is a chrysalis of Acherontia styx — a death's-head cousin.
Driver ants build no permanent nest — the colony moves continuously and bivouacs as a living ant-ball when it stops.
Emperor scorpion mothers carry 10-30 live young on their backs for the first month after birth.
