We offer you 12 interesting facts about insects that will be interesting to children:
1. All insects have common features: six legs, antennae and wings. Their body seems to be divided into parts by thin lines - notches. Hence the name – “insects”.
2. The ladybug is of great benefit: it destroys many plant pests - aphids. The ladybug is cunning - she can pretend to be dead if you put her on your palm. At the first danger, the ladybug secretes a yellow liquid - even if the bird once grabs ladybug, then he will understand that this bug is not tasty, will remember its color and will not touch it again.
3.Why do they say that the grasshopper plays the violin? The fact is that there are special notches on its wings. He rubs them quickly, quickly, against each other, as if moving a bow across a violin, and a chirping sound is heard. Let the baby take a good look at the grasshopper (what color it is, does it have antennae and eyes), and at the same time think about why it needs such long hind legs. To jump, of course!
4. Bees, bumblebees and wasps are pollinating insects. After all, without them, flowers would never become fruits, and that means we would not be able to enjoy delicious apples.
5.Children are often afraid of stinging insects. But the one who waves his arms and screams in fear will be stung by a bee sooner than calm person. Because insects will not be the first to attack.
6.Ant is the strongest on earth! He can carry weights up to 10 times his own weight. If adults don’t forget to bring a magnifying glass to the dacha, with its help kids will learn a lot of interesting things about the life of these ubiquitous ants. To do this, it is enough to find a small anthill with little holes in the ground and watch it from time to time: what do the ants do, how do they treat each other, what kind of prey do they carry, how far do they run away from their home?
7.The main pest for country garden- Colorado potato beetle, which regularly “attacks” potatoes. The child needs to be told about the harm this insect causes and ask for help in fighting it. Children usually do a good job of this task, collecting bugs in a jar of water while exercising their fingers.
8. Another serious enemy of the garden is the mole cricket. This is a large insect that lives in the ground and feeds on potato tubers, carrots and young parts of plants. You can find it while digging up potatoes. The bear is sure to make a strong impression on children due to its large size and terrifying appearance. And her paws are of particular interest to little researchers. They are well suited for digging. The mole cricket does not bite. She can fly and even chirp like a cricket.
9. It’s interesting to watch the fireflies at night. The firefly flies in zigzags. Be sure to show with your hand in the air how a firefly flies. In the dark, the firefly glows with a yellowish light.
10.Bees collect nectar from which they make honey. A bee collects nectar with its proboscis. Bees have a whole set of tools on their feet. Here you will see brushes for collecting pollen, baskets for transferring pollen, and brushes that bees use to clean their eyes from pollen that has entered them. Bees, flying, buzz: “w-w-w-w-w-w-w.” Play bees with your child: repeating this sound is useful for speech development.
11. In the summer, in a village or country house, you will probably see a dragonfly. These beautiful insects hunt in the air: in flight, they keep their strong hairy legs folded in a net at the ready. Their sleepy victims end up in these “nets”. Interestingly, in just an hour, a dragonfly can eat as many as 40 house flies. If you want to make a dragonfly from plasticine, it is useful to know that its body consists of three parts: head, chest and abdomen.
12. A bumblebee flies very quickly, at the speed of an adult cyclist (18 km/h). It has a soft coat that helps keep it warm in the early morning. Bumblebees live in their “bumblebee towns” (about 200 individuals each). In the morning they are not allowed to sleep. Before dawn, a “trumpeter” appears in bumblebee nests and buzzes, rousing his fellow tribesmen to work collecting pollen. To “develop” the topic about bumblebees, you can play for your child an audio recording of “The Flight of the Bumblebee” from the opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Tsar's Bride". This is how bumblebees will help your child become familiar with classical music.
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Hocus Pocus: Caterpillars turn into butterflies!
Who among us in childhood was not surprised at the transformation of a nasty caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly? This transformation is akin to magic for the baby. Therefore, even if the baby’s parents have never seen this happen before, it’s time to do it now with the baby. First you need to catch a few caterpillars. It's better if they are different.
Firstly, not all caterpillars can be hatched into butterflies, and secondly, it will be interesting to compare the behavior of different insects.
Cabbage butterfly caterpillars can be found in the garden, on cabbage or radish. They are blue-green, with three yellow longitudinal stripes and black speckles. But you can’t take them with your bare hands. The caustic secretions of these caterpillars irritate the skin. The child should know about this. Matte green caterpillars of the reptile butterfly can also be found here. And if you are very lucky, you can find a swallowtail caterpillar on carrots, parsley or dill. It is large, clearly visible, green with black stripes and red specks on them. Urticaria caterpillars live where they are supposed to be based on their name - on nettles. In the same place or on raspberries you can also find caterpillars of the peacock butterfly. On fruit trees caterpillars of various silkworms or apple moths gnaw on the leaves.
Future butterflies need to be collected and placed in a jar or plastic bottle with the top cut off. Plants or twigs on which the caterpillars were sitting should also be placed there, and the vessel should be covered with gauze. Green food needs to be changed every 2 days. Now you can watch your pets together with your baby: how they chew leaves, how they crawl, how they grow. After some time, the caterpillars will pupate and turn into pupae. In this state it is better not to disturb them. All you have to do is be patient and wait. Until that wonderful moment when a beautiful butterfly emerges from a motionless chrysalis.
Insects are a huge class of animals that differ from other living beings in structure, lifestyle, behavior, etc. Whatever aspect of their life people pay attention to, everywhere you can find a lot of interesting facts that capture the imagination of not only children, but also adults.
Biologists believe that representatives of this group are the rightful masters of the Earth, since the number of species of this taxon significantly exceeds all other existing groups. A separate science has been created to study insects - entomology, which is practiced by people who admire the uniqueness and diversity of these interesting creatures.
Origin and distribution
Scientists believe that crustaceans are the older brothers of insects. Genetic analysis shows that it was this group of animals that was the ancestor of all butterflies, ants, beetles, etc. The birth of a new class occurred approximately 400 million years ago, after which their numbers increased at the speed of a snowball. They had no natural enemies, and food supplies were not limited in any way, so reproduction and settlement to various parts of the land proceeded with amazing speed.
If modern man found himself in that era, he would have felt like a participant in a science fiction film or an interesting computer game: Huge six-legged creatures, striking in their size, crawled, flew and ran around. The Paleozoic era is unofficially called the “Golden Era of Insects”, since they were not in danger of being eaten by birds (birds did not yet exist), mammals (170 million years remained before their appearance), or being crushed by human feet (people would appear only later 398 million years). Freedom and excellent living conditions led to the full flowering of the class.
Prehistoric landscapes were decorated with the appearance of giant mega-insects, striking in the size of their bodies and wings. Soaring through the air were the predecessors of modern dragonflies - meganeuras, which have a fleshy abdomen and a wingspan of about a meter, and eat other ancient mega-insects - dictyonevrids. Dictyoneurids were approximately the same size as pigeons, and their mouth was more like a powerful beak, which did an excellent job of piercing cones in search of seeds.
Modern entomologists were able to study in detail some representatives of the class thanks to a special gift from nature - tree resin, which flowed onto the chitinous shells, enclosing unique material for study inside the amber. Representatives of groups that became extinct many millions of years ago have come to us in such an interesting form.
Small but invulnerable
With the course of evolution, it turned out that large sizes are not so good. Huge animals - dinosaurs - paid for their gigantic dimensions by completely disappearing from the face of the earth, while the development of insects turned in time to the path of reducing their representatives. Asteroid falls, crustal fractures and volcanic eruptions, continental drift along different parts the world's oceans, major glaciations - it turned out that all the cataclysms are much easier to survive by climbing into a secluded place where you can sit out until better times. Moreover, with a small body, there is no such huge need for food that large representatives of the fauna experience, driven by hunger from their shelters.
A striking feature of the class, expressed in adaptability to different conditions, observed today: more than 1 million species various forms occupy all known biological and ecological niches. They can be found in any climate on any continent, even in the harshest regions such as Antarctica. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that in the eternal struggle against insect pests, humanity is not destined to achieve a final victory: a person would rather kill himself than completely destroy creatures that he does not like with such a high potential for survival.
How many are there?
Modern science knows a little more than 1 million species, but even according to the most conservative estimates of entomologists, their number is much larger: from 2-5 million to 8 million. Even optimistic scientists understand that most representatives and species have not yet been encountered by humans and have not been described specialists. Some representatives of their taxonomic groups were observed in a single specimen, and many were observed in a single place on the planet.
Students who intend to become entomologists can expect to make some great discoveries in their lifetime: over seven thousand new discoveries are made by entomology scientists every year. interesting species, never seen by man before. By general rules open group You can assign any name, even your own name, which will immortalize the specialist and be remembered by descendants.
Reasons for rapid evolution
The excellent survival rate of insects is primarily due to their relatively short lifespan and rapid reproduction rate. While mammals manage to somehow adapt to new conditions and not die, insects go through hundreds or thousands of generations, in which all the changes have already occurred and become entrenched, so the offspring are fully adapted and practically indestructible.
In addition, most members of the class have impressive reproduction rates. The cockroach, which is the standard of adaptability, is capable of laying more than 2 million eggs per year, almost all of which will turn into sexually mature individuals. In addition, their low weight and size contribute to their spread throughout the planet. skin and wool of various animals or with transport. Some small specimens can be picked up by air currents, hurricanes and winds and transported tens and hundreds of kilometers, and sometimes even to neighboring continents. When the wind subsides, they fall down without the risk of breaking on the ground or rocks, which is again facilitated by their low weight. Even an ordinary fly can be carried away by the wind several tens of kilometers from the place where it lived.
Development cycle
The main interesting and distinctive feature of these creatures is their life cycle. In their development, they go through several stages, during which they look completely different, not only their appearance changes, but also most of the organs and functions of the body. Development occurs in several stages:
- Egg. The female lays an egg, which is inside the shell. Eggs different types They differ in size and shape, are very bright and have unexpectedly complex sculptures, stains, and patterns on the surface. Often this stage falls during a period of unfavorable weather, which in this form is much easier to endure, because the need to look for food disappears.
- Larva. The larva hatches from the egg. Most often, its biological task is to gain weight, so all organs and behavior are determined by the ability to eat often and grow quickly. Some caterpillars can be poisonous, which they signal with their bright, “screaming” coloring. This is necessary to protect yourself from numerous enemies: birds or animals vying for a trophy in the form of a caterpillar. They can also be dangerous for humans, causing bad feeling, and if you touch a whole brood of poisonous caterpillars (for example, in Lonomy), even death may occur.
- Doll. After the larva has collected enough nutrients, it pupates. The pupa is a formation with a chitinous cover. From the outside it seems that nothing is happening to him, but in fact very much is happening inside. interesting processes. The entire body of the larva disintegrates into cells, and then new organs and the body of an adult are formed from them. This change is hidden from the eyes of an outside observer, which is why it arouses such keen interest among all people.
- Imago. The adult stage - imago - is designed by nature specifically to prolong the genus. For this reason, it no longer needs many functions. A striking illustration of this is the lack oral apparatus in adult specimens of separate groups, because it is possible to survive until the time of finding a partner on old reserves, “eaten” at the larval stage, and after laying eggs, there is no point in preserving the life of an adult insect.
The life cycle can take a different period of time: from one day to several years. The record holder for the longest-living class is the cicada, which goes through all stages of development in 17 years, but the trend towards the disappearance of large and long-lived insects from the face of the earth is getting worse every year.
Nutrition
In the classroom you can meet representatives who use a wide variety of food sources: dead bodies, droppings, rot, seeds, leaves, wood, roots, blood, skin, etc. Typically, larvae and adults eat different foods. Some can even eat substances that are poisonous, such as strychnine.
Many of them are very picky: even mosquitoes, which seem to bite everyone indiscriminately, have special preferences. Most of all, female mosquitoes like the blood of women with blond hair; they are especially attracted by the body odor of a person who has recently eaten a banana. Male mosquitoes do not need blood, so they feed on flower pollen.
Interesting fact: butterflies have cells that sense taste on their paws, so before starting to eat, they tend to “stomp” on the dish. The same mechanism for recognizing tastes is found in house flies, which strive to land on food with all six paws.
Some specimens, on the contrary, are extremely unpretentious in food, and can serve as an example for many on a diet. Ticks can survive without food for 10 years. Of course, they are not active, they sit in one place and wait for suitable conditions to satisfy their hunger. 30% of all species are not "vegetarians", they eat more small insects, feed on the blood or tissues of the body of mammals, and eat carrion.
Many insects eat plants, some of them are so persistent in this that agronomists around the world are constantly struggling with these eternally hungry creatures. For specialists working in the field Agriculture, it is a well-known fact that these animals eat about 30% of the world's crops. Locusts are especially successful in this, one swarm of which can contain about 50 billion individuals. Migrating locusts, living in the countries of Africa, Australia or Asia, during outbreaks of numbers are capable of devouring not only crops on their way, but destroying people’s homes and furniture, so its invasion is considered a real natural disaster.
Social life
The most interesting area for entomologists is social relationships among insects. The most outstanding in this regard are one of the first representatives of the class - ants and their relatives - termites. They are characterized by life in a dwelling built on our own, joint raising of offspring and a clear division of functions within the colony.
All representatives of the colony are divided into castes: reproductive individuals, soldiers, workers, etc. The dwellings built by these animals are distinguished by high technical quality and functionality: they have protective structures, a system for maintaining humidity and air conditioning, etc. Such buildings can reach a height of 9 meters, and drop 10 meters deep into the ground. Sometimes settlements are huge megacities that can compete even with human cities: the largest settlement occupies 6 thousand km.
Insects are the oldest creatures that appeared on our planet before dinosaurs - 400 million years BC. They are very resilient and can probably survive any disaster.
Every year, approximately 7,000 new species are described; in total, a little more than 1 million species have been studied, but the exact number of insect species is still unknown. According to various estimates, the figure can reach 7-8 million. Thus, insects are one of the most poorly studied living creatures on Earth. 
Insects have great nutritional value because they contain sufficient amounts of proteins, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates necessary for humans. If you suddenly get lost in the forest, you should take a closer look at what is crawling and flying around so as not to die of hunger. 
Some insect species have taste buds on their hind legs. In this way, for example, the taste of butterfly food is assessed. 
Bees do not have two eyes, but five at once: two eyes are in front, three are on the “top of the head.” Every day, all the bees on Earth produce approximately 3 thousand tons of honey. 
Crickets have ears on their front legs. By the way, crickets are quite accurate living thermometers. In order to determine the air temperature in Celsius, you just need to count how many times a cricket chirps in a minute and divide this number in half. Then add nine to the result and divide by two again. Give it a try. 
A cockroach without a head can live another 9 days, but ants never sleep and are not tired.
Many who see a hummingbird for the first time mistake it for an insect. But there are also insects that can be confused with birds. For example, the nocturnal butterfly Attacus Altas. 
All insects, except the praying mantis, cannot turn their heads from side to side. 
Ticks can live for ten (!!!) years without food. Smaller Scorpios – two years. 
Termites, accompanied by tooth-pounding music, for example, heavy metal, begin to gnaw wood twice as fast. 
Spiders are often mistaken for insects. But they belong to a separate class of animals - arachnids. 
If you are going for a walk in the forest, refrain from eating bananas: mosquitoes will bite more of those who have recently eaten a banana. 
Scientists still do not know how beetles can fly: according to all the laws of physics and aerodynamics, they should not do this. 
They are voracious, hardy and ubiquitous - these are not all the interesting facts about insects. Want to know more? A selection of 15 reliable information from the life of representatives of the largest class of animals on Earth will help you with this.
- Mosquitoes feed on plant sap and nectar. But some of them suck blood not out of hunger, but to obtain proteins necessary for bearing offspring. Thus, only females are bloodsuckers, and males are absolute vegetarians.
- Despite the fact that the female mosquito is forced to consume blood, she chooses the “dish” meticulously. Females are bitten by females more often than males, and blondes are preferred to brunettes. Gourmets identify victims by smell: they like overweight people, athletes, pregnant women, people with second and third blood groups.
- One of the reasons for the prevalence of mosquitoes in the environment is the high viability of their eggs.. The offspring of insects do not care about unfavorable conditions. Mosquito eggs can lie in cold, dry soil for up to 3 years, and then come to life when the weather warms and the soil becomes moist.
- The largest representative among Lepidoptera is Agrippa (Tizania). The butterfly, whose wingspan is 30 cm, belongs to the moth family and lives in Latin America. The second record holder in the “largest” category is Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing.
- The smallest butterfly, Acetosea, has a wingspan of only 2 mm.. You can see these nocturnal babies in the UK. The reticuloses that live on the Canary Islands are just a little short of the title of “smallest butterflies.”
- Live to the fullest - this seems to be the life motto of ephemeris or mayfly butterflies. In one day, these insects manage to be born, leave offspring and die. Such butterflies do not need to look for food, since their digestive organs are filled with air.
- The most poisonous spider, according to the compilers of the popular collection of the Guinness Book of Records, is the “Brazilian wanderer”. The insect received its nickname for its excessive activity.
- There are cannibals among spiders. A clear confirmation of this is the black widow, which lives in Eurasia, Australia and Oceania. After mating, the female of this species devours the smaller male, as she spends a lot of energy during the mating season.
- The most big spider on Earth is considered a goliath tarantula (theraphosa blond). The insect lives in the tropics of Latin America, eating small snakes, mice, frogs and lizards. The size of the body with straightened legs is 25–28 cm.
- Ants are one of the oldest insects on the planet.. Their age is 100–130 million years. It is also interesting that having survived to this day, they have practically not changed in appearance. The reason for this adaptability, according to scientists, lies in the social way of life.
- Some of the ants not only hunt, but also engage in cattle breeding. Herder ants “graze” scale insects, leafhoppers, aphids, and keep homoptera in “stalls.” The reward for their labors is the sweet excrement of “cattle” that goes into food.
- The main occupation of Amazon ants is wars, during which they capture the pupae of strangers. The captives are then used as slaves. The militants themselves are not able to feed themselves, since they cannot organize their daily life.
- Not only spiders are poisonous, but also caterpillars. The most dangerous butterfly larva is Lonomy, which lives in the American rainforests. She has a calm disposition and inconspicuous coloring, but the spines on the caterpillar’s body contain a strong toxin that acts as an anticoagulant.
- A stunning example of survivability - a cockroach. With his head severed, he can live for weeks. To respond to touch and move, the insect does not need a brain. Instead, the basic reflex functions are performed by clusters of nervous tissue in the body.
- The most voracious insect in the world - the desert locust. This pest, which lives in Asia and Africa, eats as much as it weighs every day. A flock of 50 million individuals per day destroys food that would be enough for 1 thousand people for six months.
Mosquitoes are attracted to the smell of people who have recently eaten bananas.
A dragonfly lives 24 hours.
Termites wear down wood twice as fast under heavy rock.
Scorpions can go without eating anything for almost two years, and ticks can go up to 10 years.
Butterflies taste food using their hind legs. And the color of their wings comes from tiny, overlapping scales that reflect light.
Ants never sleep. There are almost as many species of ants in the world (8,800) as there are species of birds (9,000).
Dragonflies are the fastest flying insects. Their speed reaches 57 km/h.
Aphids develop into adult insects from eggs in 6 days and live for another 4-5 days.
Grasshopper blood white, lobster - blue.
Insects are the first living creatures that appeared on Earth, more than 400 million years ago. Since then, they have survived five massive disasters and have proven to be more resilient than tyrannosaurs.
Every year, more people die from bee stings than from snake bites.
Insects annually devour 25 - 30% of the world's crops.
In the eye of a dragonfly there are more than 20 thousand tiny lenses, forming, like pieces of a mosaic, a multifaceted (faceted) surface.
An analysis of the stomach contents of female mosquitoes caught around populated areas shows that 80% of these insects feed on the blood of domestic animals.
One bee colony produces up to 150 kg of honey per summer.
A bee has two stomachs - one for honey, the other for food.
Cross spiders eat their web every morning and then rebuild it.
Over a lifetime, a bee produces 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.
A female cockroach can lay more than two million eggs in a year. In addition, a cockroach can live for nine days without a head.
There are about 35 thousand known species of spiders and new ones are being discovered all the time.
They are food rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. They are considered a delicacy in Thailand, where fried crickets and locusts are popular.
The largest moth in the world is Attacus Altas. With a wingspan of 30 cm, it is often mistaken for a bird.
In Rus', grasshoppers were called dragonflies.
Every day, bees on our planet fertilize 3 trillion flowers and produce 3,000 tons of honey.
Insects are the first living creatures to appear on Earth, more than 400 million years ago. Since then, they have survived five massive disasters and have proven to be more resilient than tyrannosaurs.
Now there are about 20 thousand species of bees in the world. And to produce 500 g of honey, one bee needs to fly from the hive to the flower and back 10 million times.
A female cockroach can lay more than two million eggs in a year. In addition, a cockroach can live for nine days without a head.
The weight of insects that all the spiders on Earth eat in a year is greater than the combined weight of all people living on the planet.
There are about 35 thousand known species of spiders and new ones are being discovered all the time.
Snow scorpions contain antifreeze in their blood, allowing them to withstand temperatures down to minus 6 degrees Celsius. However, if you take such a scorpion in your hand, it will die.
The male earwig has two penises, each longer than the earwig itself. These organs are very fragile and break easily, which is why the insect is born with a spare one.
Ants never sleep. There are almost as many species of ants in the world (8,800) as there are species of birds (9,000).
Butterflies taste food using their hind legs. And the color of their wings comes from tiny, overlapping scales that reflect light.
The Aborigines prepare wood larvae "witchetti" by rolling them in hot ashes. Thus, they taste like an omelette.
Bees have five eyes. Three at the top of the head and two at the front. The honey bee flaps its wings at a rate of 11,400 times per minute, creating a characteristic buzzing sound.
There are about 400 thousand known species of beetles. The largest size, the titan beetle, can reach 17 cm.
Dragonflies are the fastest flying insects. Their speed reaches 57 km/h.
Witchetti larvae are best eaten alive. Ten large larvae provide the adult with all the proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Insects are food rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. They are considered a delicacy in Thailand, where fried crickets and locusts are popular.
Baby Amarobia spiders eat their mother after birth. Some females begin to devour males even during mating. Thus, the deceased father becomes food for his offspring.
Crickets have ears located on their front legs, in addition, you can determine the temperature from crickets: to do this, you need to count the number of chirps per minute, divide by two, then add nine and divide by two again. The result will be the temperature in degrees Celsius.
About a third of all insects are carnivores, and most hunt for food rather than feed on carrion and waste.
Grasshoppers can jump a distance that is more than 40 times their body length, and a flea can jump a distance that is 130 times its length.
On the planet, more than 26 billion insects live in inhabited areas in every square mile. Scientists estimate that there are another 5-10 million species unknown to science.
Tiny stinging insects, midges, flap their wings at an incredible 62,760 times per minute.
House flies usually live near the places where they hatched, but it turned out that they can move up to 45 km when exposed to wind.
The largest moth in the world is Attacus Altas. With a wingspan of 30 cm, it is often mistaken for a bird.
A desert locust swarm can consist of 50 billion insects. Since each locust can eat its own weight in food, in a day this swarm eats four times as much food by weight as the entire population of New York City.
Everything in the world of insects is amazing - the diversity of species, the gigantic numbers, the way of life, the incomprehensible complexity and purposefulness of the structure of organisms, and the sometimes inexplicable behavior of individual individuals, families, and colonies. Insects play a vital role both in the multi-link ecological chain and in its thinnest, subtle threads.
This is the richest group of animals in species. It has about a million described insect species, and discoveries continue. Scientists believe that there are at least two to three million species of insects on Earth. This is much more than all other animals and plants combined. Moreover, each type of insect has its own characteristics of structure, life processes and behavior. According to one famous entomologist, the difference from one species of insect to another is often no closer than from a fly to an elephant. And since a species is a qualitatively separate form of life, all its representatives interbreed to form offspring. At the same time, interspecific crossings never produce full-fledged offspring capable of procreation and the transmission of “different-species” characteristics. Here the genetic system inherent in organisms to protect the purity of each species is triggered.
Insects comprise 29 orders. Among them: orthoptera - grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, mole crickets, cockroaches, mantises, termites, dragonflies, mayflies, lice; Homoptera (articulate proboscis) – cicadas, scale insects, aphids; hemipterans (or bugs); Coleoptera (or beetles); Lepidoptera (or butterflies); dipterans - flies, mosquitoes, mosquitoes, midges, fleas; Hymenoptera - bees, wasps, ants, riders and others.
Insects are a multifaceted miracle of living nature; they have their own special purpose on Earth, which is difficult to overestimate. They are excellent pollinators, soil formers, nature's orderlies, and what is important for humans is that insects improve soil fertility, curb the excessive spread of many agricultural pests, produce honey and medicinal substances, dyes of rich flowers, and silk. More than half of our diet comes from plant foods. And 15% of it owes its harvest to pollinating insects. They also pollinate most plant foods for animals. In addition, we enjoy admiring the beauty of the bizarre shapes, patterns and colors of the body, as well as the gracefulness of movements. Only a small part (about 1%) of insects causes involuntary damage to human activity. But this is nothing compared to the important role they play in people's lives and in maintaining the natural ecological balance.
Insects are generously gifted with everything necessary to live actively and fulfill their purpose on Earth. They have perfect organs and systems, as well as a brain and a peculiar heart. The nervous and sensory (related to the senses) systems allow insects to sense and perceive the world, organs of movement - move in space and carry out all actions related to life, and coordination and control systems purposefully manage all processes and structures of the body, as well as the behavior of insects.
With all the richness of shapes and colors, the perfection of the structure of the body, individual devices, systems and interconnected physiological processes, the behavior of insects is no less diverse. Both genetically based instinctive behavior and acquired individual experience are striking in their complexity, expediency and uniqueness. There are no two types of insects that behave the same. A representative of each species can be recognized by its innate strategy for obtaining food, construction activity, by the postures, sounds emitted chemicals, which are inherent in food, reproductive, protective, social and other forms of behavior.
The complexity of the behavior and body structure of social insects - ants, bees, wasps, termites - is incomprehensible. Many of their activities have long evoked admiration. Even St. Augustine wrote: “We are more amazed by the actions of small ants and bees than by the huge bodies of whales.” Among these insects there are farmers who graze, guard and “milk” animals that are useful to them, and insect farmers who are capable of not only harvesting crops, but also growing them, having previously prepared the soil and planting seeds. All social insects are excellent builders, constructing, depending on their species, small individual buildings, large public houses, and entire cities with powerful communication systems. Everything is taken into account in them for the normal life of both an individual and a family, up to the creation of the necessary microclimate, and the life of colonies and giant federations of social insects.
Modern entomology does not see any fundamental basis for contrasting the behavior of insects and the so-called “higher” vertebrates. Indeed, in some species of insects, their behavior involves such complex mental processes as imagination, abstract thinking, symbolization, memory, the ability to learn and develop conditioned reflexes, their own “language” and even elementary rational activity. The world of insects, which includes these most amazing and perfect creatures, is fragile and unique in all its diverse manifestations. It should not only be loved, but also protected.
Opportunities for ubiquitous living
For insects - this unusually numerous class of small creatures, it is characteristic that they successfully live and reproduce almost everywhere - from the Arctic to the sweltering deserts, and are absent only in the depths of the ocean. The soil is literally teeming with insects. Myriads of them fly in the air, and even at an altitude of up to 2 km, these creatures form a giant layer of plankton, which serves as food for birds.
Diversity of organism types and insect habitats
Insects of each species occupy only that habitat and are able to withstand exactly those conditions environment, for which their body is intended, the innate mechanisms of life and behavior are “tuned”. Thanks to this, insects can live in the harshest conditions, even in the cold Arctic tundra and on snowy mountain peaks, in sunny savannas and deserts, in tropical rainforests and taiga, in human dwellings and on animals. For example, butterflies, seemingly very fragile creatures, live almost everywhere on the globe. Their active life activity is possible due to the special expediency of the type of organism, which can conventionally be called “southern”, “northern”, “tropical”, “universal”. Thus, the universal organism of butterflies of certain species ensures their distribution over many areas with a wide variety of natural factors. And the body of others is intended only for a specific habitat, such as, for example, butterflies that live exclusively in the Alps, above the snow line at an average temperature of -100C. Or, for example, one of the inhabitants of the desert - the darkling beetle of some species - has a specific body structure that ensures active life in precisely this environment. The insect tolerates heat well and quenches thirst by condensing the life-giving moisture of night fogs.
The body characteristics of some insect species make it possible to: preserve life after freezing and thawing; inhabit hot springs with a water temperature of +500C; live for a long time without water due to the oxidation of stored nutrients; survive in a deep vacuum and spend hours in pure carbon dioxide; live in salt brine, crude oil, etc.
Of course, representatives of a few insect species live in cold and dry areas, as well as in such critical conditions for life. However, it is they who, by their example, clearly demonstrate what truly phenomenal capabilities are endowed with seemingly completely defenseless creatures. Moreover, like many other animals, insects do not “survive” in such a complex and harsh environment, but live in it that full life, the features of which are included in their genetic program. Let's look at this with some examples.
Cold tolerance of insects
Some insects are conquerors and permanent inhabitants of mountain peaks. In the saddle of Elbrus at an altitude of 5300 m you can see dragonflies and wrens. And settled flies, beetles, aphids, butterflies, and locusts have been found in the Himalayas even at an altitude of 6000 m above sea level. They feed on plant pollen and organic debris brought by mountain breezes. Insects live under stones, in the soil, in rare spots of alpine plant carpets and even in snow. But there are especially many of them at the edge of the melting ice, where there is greater humidity and it is easier to find food brought by melt water. For a normal life and reproduction, crickets of one of the species necessarily settle in mountainous areas covered with snow, since the structure of their body is designed only for a habitat with a low temperature. And the jaundice butterfly, which lives in northern latitudes and high in the mountains, is endowed with amazing property viviparity, which very much puzzled entomologists at the time, since this is not typical for butterflies. It is assumed that viviparity helps her offspring complete development during the short summer of these places.
The isotoma flea lives exclusively on the surface of eternal snow. Every night, this tiny insect's body is subjected to the most severe tests, but the insect again and again demonstrates its excellent ability to live in extremely harsh conditions. It freezes completely as soon as the sun sets, but thanks to its dark color it also thaws quickly in the warm morning rays. Having come to life, the isotoma flea continues to deal with all the pressing problems of life, implementing its hereditary program, which it will pass on to its descendants. Recently, entomologists have discovered that some species of mosquitoes are also capable of living and continuing their genus in such extreme conditions that would seem to be incompatible with life. They live in the cracks and tunnels of glaciers on the high slopes of the Himalayas. This insect is endowed with such an excellent organism that it feels great and does not freeze at -160C. And the female mosquito even shows activity in winter, when frosts rage in the mountains. It is not yet clear to scientists how the jerks live and continue their race at such low temperatures, and what are the physiological characteristics of their organism as mosquitoes of this species.
About 40 species of insects (mosquitoes, bumblebees, beetles, day and night butterflies) live in the Arctic Circle - where there are flowering plants. Thanks to northern type organism, mosquitoes of some varieties play especially important role in cold arctic deserts and tundra zones. Their males and females, flying from flower to flower, feed on nectar and pollinate plants along the way. After all, there are practically no bees in the tundra and taiga. In the Arctic, bumblebees are also involved in pollinating flowers. Their bodies are well equipped to work in cold climates. The active work of the muscles and the shaggy warm coat of the bumblebee ensure that its body is heated to +370C at an outside air temperature of 00C. This heat is generated during flight due to chemical reactions, occurring in the muscles.
The body of not only the inhabitants of the highlands, but also the inhabitants of the mosses and lichens of the Antarctic islands, for example, certain species of beetles, is capable of not collapsing when rapidly cooled to almost -400C. Their genetic program controls the unique mini-production of glycerin oil and other special substances, the action of which is similar to the action of the famous automobile antifreeze. Some species of amphibians and other cold-resistant representatives of the animal world are endowed with the same life-saving substances. And the beetles and flies that live in Alaska are endowed with a remarkable ability to withstand even temperatures down to –600C. Insects, of course, freeze, but their body is designed in such a way that ice crystals form only on the outside, without damaging cells, organs and tissues.
From humid tropics to arid deserts
For a myriad of insects, the ecological niche is tropical forests, which occupy a large part of the earth's surface. The branches of the trees, starting from a height of at least 15 m, are so closely intertwined with each other and tightly entwined with vines that almost no light breaks through the crown formed. The forest canopy, which is sometimes 30 m thick, is inhabited by animals such as monkeys, birds, mice, frogs, insects and even earthworms (!). The local inhabitants are born here, grow up, live active full lives and die. Moreover, many of them never touch the ground in their entire lives. And insects live on all “floors” of the forest: in the ground, leaf litter, in tree trunks, deep in the tropical canopy and on the very top tier of the forest - on the branches and leaves of this so-called “roof of the world.”
The dominant insects in the tropical forest are butterflies, beetles, ants, termites, and cicadas. Butterflies and beetles are unusually large and beautiful. They are given a bright color so that they can use it to find their mates, because otherwise, in the thick of intertwined branches, insects cannot see or hear each other. There are also amazing bird-winged butterflies, whose giant wings (30 cm) allow males and females to fly above the continuous crown of tropical trees during the mating season.
Insects also make up a significant part of desert inhabitants. Most of all there are ants, mosquitoes, mosquitoes, darkling beetles and beautiful golden beetles, especially black and golden in color. They all hide from the heat of the day in deep burrows, and only come out to hunt after dark. The excellent capabilities of the body and behavior are demonstrated by darkling beetles of some species that live in the hottest and waterless areas of the desert. Thanks to instinctive behavioral mechanisms, they go to the tops of sand dunes at night to “drink the moisture of the fogs.” Lowering its head, the beetle raises its abdomen upward and turns towards the moist wind from the sea. Moisture, condensing on its special ribbed back, flows directly into the insect's mouth.
From salt water to oil
Representatives of most insect species live on land, but many of them live in a wide variety of aquatic environments, including non-traditional ones. Thus, the special structure of the body of the larvae of some species of mosquitoes allows them to develop well in hot geysers, where only bacteria can still live. The same ability is exhibited by green dragonflies, the young of which are inhabitants of geysers with a water temperature of +400C. Mosquito larvae can reproduce en masse in the brackish coastal waters of the Caspian Sea. And insects, such as certain species of bedbugs, have all the capabilities for a normal life in the oceans - Atlantic and Pacific.
Surprisingly, there is a California oil fly whose habitat and all life activities are associated exclusively with thick crude oil. According to the hereditary program, it feeds on insects that get there and stick to it and even produces its offspring in oil. Everything in her body is “designed” for this. The fly's intestine is populated by symbiont bacteria that break down oil paraffin and promote its absorption. The fly can run freely on its thin legs across the oil film without sticking to it, but touching the film with any other part of the body is destructive for the fly. The body of the larvae of this fly, which develop in crude oil and feed on adhering insects, is also provided with everything necessary. Thus, the program of instinctive behavior forces these babies, like aquatic larvae, to hold the tips of the breathing tubes specially made by the body above the surface of the oil in order to breathe oxygen from the air
