1-How many insects are there in the world?
Scientific studies estimate that about 90% of living species are insects. This for several reasons:
- Their remarkable abilities to reproduce.
- Their small sizes, which allows them to hide easily from predators.
- The exoskeletons that protect them optimally.
- For some, their wings, which allows them to flee quickly and get safe.
2-Do you know the beetles?
They come from the Coleoptera family and represent about 40% of the insect species. More than 380,000 species have been described to date.
3-How many ants are there in the world?
Do you like to observe ants in the summer? Know that for every human, there are 1.4 million ants.
4-Are there any insects in Antarctica?
While insects have been found almost everywhere on Earth, there are only one species of insect living in Antarctica. It is a gnat, the Belgica Antarctica. It measures between 0.2 and 0.58 cm, however, it is the largest terrestrial species present in Antarctica. It resists the freezing of body fluids because it absorbs sunlight to warm up.
5-Are there insects in the oceans?
The oceans are the only places where there is no presence of insects. It is assumed that the absence of plants for their diet and their habitat explains this absence. Another hypothesis suggests that the oceans are the guarded place of their cousins the crustaceans.
6-How do the insects breathe?
Unlike humans, insects do not breathe through the mouth. Holes in their exoskeletons allow them to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
7-Do insects have blood?
Insects have no blood but hemolymph. The organs are bathed in this hemolymph. Their hearts along the back of the animal contracts to send the hemolymph to the head. The hemolymph is light in color but can also be yellowish or greenish.
8-When do the first insects date?
The oldest insect fossil is about 400 million years old. It is assumed that they are part of the very first animals and that they were present about 170 million years before the arrival of the dinosaurs.
9-What is the biggest insect?
The known insect is an ancient species of dragonflies called Meganeuropsis, or griffin fly of a size up to 0.8 meters in scale. She was a Hunter of insects and small amphibians. She lived about 250 to 290 million years ago.
10- What is the longest insect?
The longest known insect is a species native to the island of Borneo, it is Phobaeticus. It can measure up to 66 cm
- What is the heaviest insect?
The heaviest insect known is a grasshopper species native to New Zealand. It’s the giant Weta. It can weigh up to 500 grams.
- What is the smallest insect?
The smallest known insect is Costa Rica’s Mymaridae. It is a species of wasp whose male is barely 0.139 mm.