interesting facts about insects

October 15, 2009 | In: Animal facts for kids

A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.

Grasshoppers can jump 40 times the length of their body; ants can carry objects that weight 100 times the weight of their own body.

In the U.S. wasps kill more people than snakes, spiders and scorpions combined.

There are more than 900,000 known species of insects in the world.

The average mosquito has 47 teeth – but it’s the mosquito’s sharp proboscis that will make you itch.

All insects have three pairs of legs.

A cockroach can live for nine days without its head.

There are over 2,500 species of stick insect in the World.

Insect is a good source of protein so in several countries it is a delicacy.

Only three kinds of animals fight battles in formations: humans, crows and ants.

Termite queens will lay up to 30,000 eggs a day, and they live for many years.

Cockroaches can survive for a month eating nothing but have only a week to live without water.

The house fly life span at the most 21 days.

The animal with the fastest wing beat is a tiny insect called a midge, which can beat its wings over a thousand times per second! Compare this with the hummingbird, which beats its wings only 80 times per second.

Goliath beetles, native to Africa, are the world’s heaviest flying insects. They can grow to be 5 inches (13 centimeters) in length, and can weigh 100 grams (3.5 ounces).

They are so large that children use them as pets, tying strings to them and flying them round in circles!

The greatest insect wingspan belonged to an order of insects called Protodonata. They resembled today’s dragonflies and were probably their ancestors. These insects had a wingspan of 76 cm (30 inches) and a body that was 46 cm (18 inches) long. They died out during the time of the dinosaurs, about 200 million years ago.
The dragonflies of today have wingspans of up to 8 inches (20 cm). They have slender stick bodies, large wings, and a big mouth. Dragonflies are graceful fliers and catch their prey, small insects, while in flight.

The loudest known insect is the cicada, which can be heard for a quarter mile (400 m). Its loud whirring sound is produced by the male cicadas to attract females.
The most common types are the periodical cicadas, which spend long amounts of time in the larva or grub stage before emerging in swarms. In the United States, this period is most commonly 13 years in the southeast and 17 years in the northeast.
After mating, 400 to 600 eggs are deposited on tree branches. After six or seven weeks, the eggs hatch and the larvae drop to the ground where they burrow in and begin their long underground life cycle. When the proper number of years has passed, they emerge from the ground and molt, leaving their shell behind. They climb a tree and the males begin their whirring sound to attract females, starting the cycle all over again.

The longest known insects are the tropical stick insects, commonly called walking sticks. They can be as much as 35 cm (14 inches) long.
There are about 2,700 different species of stick insects worldwide. Some species of the stick insects have wings, but only the males fly.
Most of the stick insects live for about a year, while the larger, slower-growing ones live for about two years. Because they resemble a stick, they have no trouble blending in with their surroundings when on a tree or the ground. This camouflage protects them from predators.