All About Insects

What is an insect?

• Insects are a class of hexapod invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a three part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae

How many insect species are there?

• The number of insect species is believed to be between six and ten million.
• A common misconception is that spiders are insects.Spiders are not insects. Spiders have eight legs.

What do insects look like?

• Insect bodies have three parts; the thorax, abdomen, and head.
• Insects have two antennae
• Insects have three pairs of lungs.

What are some insect species?

• Beetle
• Bee
• Ant
• Butterfly
• Mosquito
• Fly
• Ladybug
• Moth
• Cricket
• Bed Bug
• Flea
• Termite
• Grasshopper
• Mantis
• Dragonfly
• Cicada
• Louse
• Aphid
• Kissing Bug
• Snakefly

Butterfly Facts

• A butterfly's life cycle is made up of four parts, egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
• Butterflies have four wings.
• Butterflies feed on nectar from flowers.
• Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet.

Bee Facts

• Honey bees live in hives.
• The members of the hives are divided into three parts; queen, workers, and drones.
• Bees produce 2-3 times more honey than they need.
• Bees have 170 odorant receptors.

Cicada Facts

• When young cicada nymphs hatch from their eggs, they dig themselves into the ground to suck the liquids of plant roots.
• Periodical cicadas do not create destructive plagues, as some locusts do, though tens or hundred of thousands of insects may crowd into a single acre.
• Cicadas are physically distinguished by their stout bodies, broad heads, clear-membrane wings, and large compound eyes

Mosquito Facts

• There are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes, but only a couple hundred feast on human blood
• If you've been bitten by a mosquito, it was a female. Male mosquitoes make do just fine with plants, but females need a blood meal before they can lay eggs.
• The best time to avoid mosquitoes is in the late afternoon, at other times they lay in cooler spots.

Moth Facts

• Some moths don't have mouths.
• Moths can imitate other animals as a way to deter predators.
• Moths have compound eyes and simple eyes. They see very differently from humans.
• The vision of moths changes radically in their different stages of life.
• Moths heat up their flight muscles by vibrating their wings.

Ant Facts

• There are more than 12,000 species of ants all over the world.
• When ants fight, it is usually to the death!
• Some queen ants can live for many years and have millions of babies!
• Ants don't have ears. Ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground through their feet.

Fly Facts

• There are more than 120,000 species of flies worldwide with about 18,000 found in North America
• A female housefly can lay up to 600 eggs in her short lifetime.
• Most flies live an average of 21 days and take on various shapes throughout their short lives.

Beetle Facts

• Adult beetles have two sets of wings.
• Female beetles usually lay dozens or hundreds of eggs.
• Most beetles only live for a year.
• Beetles cannot see very well, so they communicate using pheromones, sounds, or vibrations.
• Beetles can help the environment, as well as hurt it by destroying crops or property.

Ladybug Facts

• Some ladybugs have no spots and others have up to 20 spots.
• To help defend themselves, ladybugs play dead. They also can release a yellow fluid that other bugs find stinky.
• The color of ladybugs tells predators that it may taste bad or be poisonous.

Grasshopper Facts

• There are around 11,000 known species of grasshopper found around the world, often inhibiting grassy fields.
• Grasshoppers are commonly eaten in African, Central and South American countries, the insect is a very good source of protein.
• The grasshopper can jump about 25cm high and around 1 meter long.
• Grasshoppers have small little pinchers to tear off food such as grasses, leaves, and cereal crops.

Cricket Facts

• Crickets feed on plants and sometimes other insects.
• Crickets go through three stages of development; egg, nymph, and adult.
• Female crickets lay their eggs in soil in the fall.
• When spring arrives, the eggs hatch.
• In many parts of the world, crickets are though to being good luck.

Bed Bug Facts

• Bed bugs can live anywhere.
• Bed bugs can be found in all fifty states.
• As a survival instinct, bed bugs are elusive. They know to stay out of view during the daytime.
• Bed bugs have components in their saliva that act as an anesthetic, making the feeding process painless for the human host.

Termite

• It is estimated that for every human on Earth there might be 1,000 pounds of termites. That's about the same weight as a full-grown cow!
• Termites make hard mounds above ground in many parts of the world. In Africa, one mound was actually measured to be 42 feet high.

Dragonfly

• Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago
• Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet.

Mantis Facts

• Most praying mantids live in the tropics
• In the U.S., the mantids we see most often are exotic species.
• Mantids are unique among insects in their ability to turn their heads a full 180 degrees.