Latest research in Bio-Inspired Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) explores nature-inspired optimization techniques to enhance routing efficiency, adaptability, and energy conservation in dynamic and decentralized wireless environments. Recent studies utilize algorithms such as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), and Elephant Herding Optimization (EHO) to achieve intelligent route discovery and maintenance with minimal overhead. Hybrid approaches combining ACO-PSO and quantum-inspired models are gaining attention for improving scalability, fault tolerance, and packet delivery in high-mobility conditions. Energy-efficient and secure bio-inspired routing frameworks integrate intrusion awareness, trust evaluation, and adaptive clustering, ensuring robust communication even in hostile or unpredictable networks. Comparative evaluations demonstrate that bio-inspired protocols outperform traditional routing schemes in terms of energy efficiency, throughput, and route stability. Overall, bio-inspired routing research in MANETs is moving toward self-organizing, adaptive, and security-enhanced mechanisms that mimic natural behaviors to optimize performance in complex mobile networks.