The common firebug that was accidentally defeated by a simple American paper towel

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The firebug is a striking red and black insect found across the Palaearctic. While it is known for its social aggregations and long mating sessions, it became the center of a bizarre scientific mystery in the 1960s when researchers discovered that American paper products were preventing the bugs from reaching adulthood.

In the 1960s, researchers who had successfully reared Pyrrhocoris apterus in Prague for a decade faced a strange failure when they attempted the same process at Harvard University. After reaching their fifth nymphal stage, the insects failed to mature properly. Instead, they either developed into abnormal adults with nymphal traits or entered a sixth or seventh nymphal instar, eventually dying before reaching maturity. The culprit was not the laboratory environment itself, but the paper towels used in the cages.

The team discovered that the effect was specific to paper products manufactured in the United States, such as the New York Times, while European papers like The Times had no such impact. The cause was identified as a hormone found in the native balsam fir tree, Abies balsamea, which was commonly used in American paper production. This chemical, later identified as juvabione, acts as a potent defense mechanism for the tree. When the tree is wounded, it produces this hormone, which mimics the insect's own juvenile hormone.

This discovery highlighted the fascinating diversification of hormone receptors across different insect species. While juvabione had a profound, lethal effect on P. apterus, it did not affect other insects in the same way. Today, the firebug remains a common sight across the Palaearctic, often found in large groups near lime trees. Its mating behavior is equally notable; pairs can remain in a tandem formation for up to seven days, a strategy believed to be a form of ejaculate-guarding to ensure reproductive success in competitive environments.

The firebug's distribution is vast, stretching from the Atlantic coast of Europe to northwest China, with recent expansions noted in the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean. Despite its resilience, the 1960s experiment serves as a reminder of how specific chemical interactions can disrupt the life cycles of even the most common insects, revealing the hidden, evolutionary arms race between plants and the pests that feed upon them.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• Some female fireflies fake a rival species' flashes to eat the males
• The hidden engineering behind the frothy bubbles of the humble spittlebug
• Why the firebrat thrives in the scorching heat of your home's furnace pipes
• Why do two thousand species of beetles light up the night?
• The harlequin ladybird was hired to eat aphids and then conquered continents
• The water stick insect is a master of aquatic ambush and chemical warfare
• The tiny insects in your old books are actually the ancestors of parasitic lice.
• The red frog crab is a master of ambush in tropical sandy seafloors
• Meet the coneheads: the tiny, sightless soil-dwellers you have never noticed before
• The Australian redback spider performs a fatal somersault to ensure successful mating
• The electric blue crayfish is a Florida native with a surprising color secret
• These vibrant, shy crustaceans are the hidden jewels of the world's coral reefs

More in Arthropods · More in Nature · Latest · A–Z · All topics