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Biological Information on Insects for Kids

Insects: some of the most successful organisms on earth. Teaching children insect biology helps them learn basic biological concepts, fun facts about the natural world around them and how balanced ecosystems promote a healthy world. These lessons can lead into more advanced biology or ideas of natural balance and the benefits of promoting a biologically stable planet. But of course, bugs are fun, weird, gross and icky, so insect biology entertains children in its own right.
  1. Basic Insect Parts

    • All insects have the same basic parts. These parts help define what constitutes and insect and what does not. Spiders, for instance, are arachnids, not insects, because they possess a different basic biology. All insects have six pair of legs, antennae and segmented bodies. Insects use their head parts -- eyes and antennae -- to perceive their world, as humans use the senses.

      Body segments include head, thorax and abdomen. Insects have compound eyes, or eyes composed of many eyes, which create a multitude of images. Most insects have one or two pairs of wings. Some insects, such as beetles, have exoskeletons, or rigid exterior shells that protect the inside parts of the animal. In contrast, spiders and other arachnids like spider mites have eight legs and more complex mouth parts than insects.

    Insects Have Jobs, Too

    • Humans aren't the only animals who have jobs. Insects perform a number of important functions. Bees, moths and butterflies help flowers create more flowers by pollinating them. Pollination creates fertilize seeds, which in turn create new plants. Within ant colonies, every ant performs a job for the benefit of the colony, much as all humans perform a function within society. Some ants collect food and materials. Others use materials to build nests, while some tend to eggs and protect and feed young ants. Marauder ants go hunting in packs and bring prey substantially larger than ants back to the colony as a food source. The job of every insect, be it an ant or a bee, provides an important biological function for the colony or nature at large.

    Insect Reproduction

    • Insects reproduce very quickly and in great numbers. They do this for various biological reasons. Colonies of ants, for instance, gain strength in numbers, while insects such as clover mites die very quickly and so must reproduce in a condensed time frame. Most insects require a male and female to create new generations of insects. Female insects lay eggs, which male insects fertilize. The reproductive material from the male fertilizes the egg from the female like a seed planted in the ground. Some insects, such as cicada wasps, lay eggs inside of living organisms, which the offspring eat in the larval stage. One especially huge Formica yessensis ant colony in Japan has 306,000,000 worker ants, 1,080,000 queens and approximately 45,000 interconnected nests.

      Butterfly and moth reproduction proves especially interesting as newly hatched moths and butterflies are worms and caterpillars that turn into winged, flying insects as a result of chrysalis. All insects change from one form to another as they reach maturity.

    Insects, Ecosystems and Society

    • Insect biology extends beyond the biological basics of the animals themselves. Many insects perform functions important to humans, other animals and the environment as a whole, thus helping to keep large biological systems balanced and intact. Ladybugs, for instance, eat a number of pest insects that destroy plant populations. They serve an important role by protecting plants and helping gardeners preserve specimens. Various insects, such as beetles and wasps, eat other insects that destroy crops. Insects help produce a number of things used heavily by human society, including fruit trees (through pollination), silk and honey.


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