Bugs & Insects Facts for Kids
Creepy-crawly facts about insects and bugs
Some tiny caterpillars disperse by climbing to a high point and releasing a silk thread, letting the wind carry them to new host plants — a behaviour called 'ballooning,' similar to spiders.
The giant huntsman spider of Laos holds the record for the largest spider by leg span, reaching 30 cm (nearly 1 foot) across — despite its size, its venom is not considered dangerous to humans.
A newly discovered millipede species, Eumillipes persephone, has 1,306 legs — more than any other animal ever found — and lives over 60 metres underground in Western Australia.
Unlike many butterflies, red admiral butterflies in warmer areas overwinter as adults, hiding in tree bark and ivy, and emerging on warm winter days to feed on tree sap.
The bullet ant of Central and South America has the most painful known insect sting, described as 'pure, intense, brilliant pain... like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel.'
Producing 1 kg of cricket protein uses about 1 litre of water and emits a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gases of producing 1 kg of beef protein, making insects a highly sustainable food source.
Glowworms are not worms — they are the larvae or wingless females of firefly beetles. In the UK, it is the female glowworm beetle that glows green to attract flying males on warm summer nights.
Spiders can detect the silk of other spiders by its chemical scent, allowing them to avoid accidentally walking into a rival's web or to identify what species of spider made it.
Monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico cluster together so tightly on trees that the sheer number of bodies keeps them warm enough to survive, even on very cold nights.
Shield bugs get their name from their distinctively shaped flat bodies, which look remarkably like a medieval knight's shield — this shape helps protect them from being eaten by birds.