What is Entomology?
Entomology is the study of insects.
Are Spiders Insects?
No, spiders are arachnids, but most people group all "bugs"
together.
Entomologists study a lot of these other "bugs" too.
If not all "bugs" are insects, what is an insect?
We'll let this picture of "Mr. Ant" help:
All
insects have an exoskeleton. Unlike us, an insect's skeleton is
on the outside of its body.
All insects have three body segments, the head, the
thorax, and the abdomen. Mr. Ant's body segments are red.
The head is where you find all the sensory organs: the eyes, ears, mouth,
and antennae. The thorax is where all of the insect's legs and wings
are attached. The abdomen is where the insect digests its food and where
its reproductive organs are located.
All insects have six jointed legs. Mr. Ant's legs have yellow feet on the ends of them.
All insects have one pair of antennae. Mr. Ant's antennae have green ends and are attached to his head.
Most insects have 2 pair of wings, but some have one pair like flies, and as you can see Mr. Ant doesn't have any. Some Ants even have wings.
- Fun Facts
- Three out of four creatures on the planet are insects; they out number
all
creatures. - Insects would out weigh all creatures if they were put on a scale.
(insects vs. all
animals) - There are more kinds (species) of insects than any other kind of creature.
- They have been around a long time. Fossil records prove that they began
to
inhabit the earth 150 million years before dinosaurs. - Ants can lift over 50 times their weight.
- Fleas can jump the equivalent of a football field.
- They have adapted to live and survive among all groups of organisms:
mammals
(flies, mosquitoes), plants (bees, butterflies, fungus ants), arthropods (aphid
tending ants). - They have adapted to live in all types of habitats except for the ocean:
dessert,
artic, marsh, prairie, streams, lakes, deciduous forest, conifer forest, residential
areas, cities, rain forests, and caves. - Humans eat insects.
- Live beetles are tethered to people as live jewelry.
- The mayfly (Ephemoroptera) has one of the shortest life spans. Adults
only live
for a few hours after emerging from the water. - The queen termite lives the longest, 10-15 yrs.
- For every human there are one million ants.
- Three out of four creatures on the planet are insects; they out number
all
- Web Links
- Going Bug-gy
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bugs/ - UF Book of Insect Records
http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/ -
Alan York's Insectivity
http://www.entm.purdue.edu/Entomology/outreach/insectivity/insectivity.htm - BugBios
http://www.insects.org/index.html
- Going Bug-gy