These special beetles defend themselves by bombing their enemies. They can set off small explosions of irritating chemicals intended to deter potential predators. Hence their name.

How can salmons live in both the salty waters of the sea and the fresh waters of rivers? The answer lies in their capacity for osmoregulation.

Careful observation of its wings soon revealed the clear image of an ant on each of them.

More than 60 different species of weavers are found in Sub Saharan Africa, tropical Asia and Australia. The nests can vary in shape, size, material and building technique.

Up to now, no one had any idea why only one in a million snails rolled its shell to the left.

If there were no carnivores, herbivore animals would succumb to starvation and many different diseases.

Science is beginning to understand the quantum mechanisms of magnetic orientation, but the question of how the young birds know exactly in which direction to orient themselves, remains a mystery.

Some birds use deception by pretending that they are sick, or have a broken wing, in order to attract the attention of predators and draw them away from the nest containing their eggs or newly hatched chicks.

The vivid colours presented by these larvae are to be interpreted as a chromatic warning for birds or other prospective predators.

This abundance of minerals – almost 5,000 different types of minerals on the planet earth – may well be unique in the cosmos.

Although flies are often very annoying, they are a blessing for the biosphere.

The Bible says  God used a thorny bush which burned without being burnt up to manifest himself to Moses, as no human being could look at the Almighty directly.

Its fruit is green and about the size of an apple, and it is pleasant to look at, but when it is ripe it bursts, scattering its feather-like seeds which are then carried by the wind.

In Israel there are currently seven species of vipers. In the Old Testament there are numerous Hebrew terms that refer to them.

There are 24 known species. However, in the Holy Land there are only two: bread wheat, a rare variety as it only grows in Shefela and in the mountains of Judea; and wild emmer wheat, abundant throughout the country. 

This fruit is mentioned in Leviticus in relation to the feast of the Tabernacles and it actually refers to the citron tree.

The terebinth, is native to the west Mediterranean, but it has spread eastwards to Greece, Turkey, Syria and Israel, and it is very resistant to drought.

Spiderwebs can teach engineers a great deal about molecular design. But the question that arises how was the internal structure of the spiderweb designed?

Horseflies are similar to flies, but larger in size, with a thick body. The females have a complex buccal apparatus, with sharp, hard elements capable of piercing the skin in order to feed on their blood.

Among the most dangerous snakes for human beings that can still be found in Israel are the following: the black desert cobra, the Palestine viper, the Palestine ladder snake, the horned desert viper.

The Hebrew word zera, which means “seed”, both vegetal and animal, was translated into Greek as sperma, meaning “that which has been sown”.

Certain species of leech are capable of sucking an amount of blood equivalent to ten times their weight.

The Jews of biblical times used it as a condiment for their meals, and also as an antiseptic and disinfectant. It is a bush which can reach a height of 60 to 90 cm.

It has very large green leaves, scattered throughout the plant, with a rib system that resembles the fingers of the human hand. That is how it got the name “Palma Christi”.

After other predators have consumed the soft parts of their prey, the bonebreakers arrive to feast on the skeleton. They are capable of swallowing and digesting 20 cm long pieces of bone.