Vampires get all the attention at this time of year, but bloodthirsty leeches, insects and birds are just as compelling — and they’re real. Leeches feeding on a homemade “blood sausage,” made from cow ...

As we tidy away the Dracula capes and glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs for another winter, one notorious blood sucker has had a particularly good year. For the first time the medicinal leech Hirudo ...

The first time I was bitten by a leech, I was swimming in a West Virginia river. I remember the scene perfectly: I crawled out to dry off and tried to wipe the mud off my knees, but the leech wouldn’t ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Mark Siddall: Dear Inge, Yes. Stay very very still. They are ...

The medium-sized leech can move in an S-shape to swim and crawl like an inchworm on dry land, researchers said. Photo by 杨 震 via Unsplash For months, researchers returned to a single cave in southern ...

The oldest leech ever discovered has turned out to be a shape shifter of expectations, preserving a body plan that looks nothing like the streamlined bloodsuckers that haunt horror movies and hospital ...

It has been a big year for leeches. A new species was discovered near Washington and announced in August by Anna Phillips, who may have the world’s best job title: curator of parasitic worms at the ...