Bugs & Insects Facts for Kids
Creepy-crawly facts about insects and bugs
Butterflies drink nectar through a long, coiled tube called a proboscis — when not in use, it curls up like a spring beneath their head.
Termite colonies are divided into castes: workers, soldiers, and royals. Soldiers have enlarged heads and mandibles and exist solely to defend the colony, unable even to feed themselves.
Insect compound eyes are made of thousands of tiny lenses called ommatidia, giving them a nearly 360-degree field of view — though the image is less sharp than a human eye.
The horned dung beetle is the strongest animal on Earth relative to its size — it can pull 1,141 times its own body weight, equivalent to a human pulling six double-decker buses.
Insects that undergo complete metamorphosis pass through four distinct stages: egg, larva (e.g. caterpillar), pupa (e.g. chrysalis), and adult — each stage looks and behaves very differently.
A dragonfly's compound eyes cover most of its head and give it nearly 360-degree vision; they can detect motion up to 20 metres away and see colours humans cannot, including ultraviolet.
Foraging ants lay chemical trails of pheromones back to the nest when they find food — the more ants that use the trail, the stronger the signal and the more ants follow it.
The Chinese kept the secret of silk production for nearly 3,000 years — exporting the cloth but executing anyone caught trying to smuggle silkworm eggs or mulberry seeds out of China.
Scientists are studying honeybee venom as a potential treatment for conditions including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and even certain cancers.
A flea can jump vertically up to 20 cm (8 inches) — about 200 times its own body height. If a human could jump proportionally as high, they could leap over a 300-metre skyscraper.