Bugs & Insects Facts for Kids
Creepy-crawly facts about insects and bugs
Dragonflies have existed for over 300 million years — they were flying over swamps long before the dinosaurs walked the Earth, and some ancient species had wingspans of 70 cm.
Many spiders eat their old web every morning and spin a fresh one — they recycle the silk proteins by digesting them, making web-building a very efficient process.
Different species of fireflies flash their lights in different patterns and rhythms — females recognise the correct pattern of their own species when choosing a mate.
Monarch butterflies migrate up to 4,800 km (3,000 miles) from Canada to Mexico each autumn, guided by the position of the sun and Earth's magnetic field.
You can estimate the air temperature from cricket chirps — count the number of chirps in 15 seconds, add 37, and you get the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit.
Honeybees actually have five eyes — two large compound eyes on the sides of their head for seeing patterns and motion, and three tiny simple eyes on top called ocelli for detecting light intensity.
Most of a caterpillar's body dissolves into liquid inside the chrysalis; specialised cells called imaginal discs, which were dormant since the egg, use this soup as building material to form the butterfly.
A cockroach can survive for several weeks without its head because its breathing and basic functions are controlled locally by nerve ganglia in its body — it only dies because it can't drink water.
The Argentine ant has formed one of the world's largest supercolonies — a single connected colony stretches 6,000 km across southern Europe, with billions of ants that all recognise each other.
Some butterfly chrysalises, like those of the queen butterfly, are metallic gold — scientists think this may help them disguise themselves as water drops on leaves.