Bugs & Insects Facts for Kids
Creepy-crawly facts about insects and bugs
It takes about 5,000 silkworms feeding on 100 kg of mulberry leaves to produce just 1 kg of raw silk — making natural silk one of the world's most labour-intensive fibres.
When desert locusts form swarms, serotonin levels in their brains increase dramatically, changing their behaviour from shy and solitary to bold and gregarious — a neurochemical trigger for swarming.
Some insects can regenerate lost legs during their next moult — the new limb grows inside the body and is revealed when the exoskeleton is shed, often slightly smaller than the original.
The origin of insect wings is one of evolution's great unsolved puzzles — the two main theories are that wings evolved from gill-like outgrowths used in aquatic ancestors, or from extensions of the thoracic wall.
Scientists are developing gene drive technology that could spread a genetic modification through wild mosquito populations to reduce their ability to transmit malaria — but ecological risks are fiercely debated.
In addition to the waggle dance, bees communicate through vibrations — 'stop signals' are delivered by head-butting other dancers, and 'piping' vibrations from new queens trigger swarming decisions.
Experiments show that memories formed by caterpillars can survive complete metamorphosis — moths have been shown to remember aversive conditioning experiences they had as caterpillars, despite the brain restructuring.
Army ant colonies never merge despite having identical appearances to humans — each colony has a unique chemical signature and workers from different colonies fight ferociously if they meet.
Flowers build up a positive electric charge that attracts negatively charged pollen — and spiders lurking on flowers have been found to exploit this by using the charge to detect when a bee is approaching.
The iridescent blue of the morpho butterfly is not produced by blue pigment — it is entirely structural, caused by thin-film interference of light reflecting off nanoscale ridges on the wing scales.