Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to use kill a fly? The little things seem to dodge the swatter or newspaper that we swing at them to try to kill them and get them out of our way - but more often then not they happen to dodge our deadly aim as if they were apart of the Matrix cast. Researchers believe that the flies are actually hard-wired in a way that protects them from the swat.
Aphids are insects that feed off of plants making them a hazard to farmers and forests. Aphids use stylets – sucking mouthparts – to eat with. They have long and thin legs, are two jointed, a two-clawed tarsi, and usually a pair of cornicles, abdominal tubes through which a waxy secretion is exuded.
A praying mantis is named for the typical “prayer-like” stance. The word mantis derives from the Greek word mantis for prophet or fortune teller. Being an insect the praying mantis has three parts to its body. The head, thorax and abdomen. The abdomen is elongated and covered by the wings in adults. Females have strong and large cerci. The first thoracic segment, the prothorax, is elongated and from it arises the modified foreleg.
When we were children we used to catch all sorts of different bugs. Probably the most fascinating and noisiest bugs that we preffered to catch was the grasshopper. Grasshoppers are herbivores, meaning that they eat nuts, fruits, and other plants. On rare occasions grasshoppers live in hundreds and can change their behavior in a short period. These grasshoppers are referred to as locusts.
Ants are one of the tiniest and most annoying insect that we can think of. Yet, despite their disgusting nobility they are seen by scientists as earth’s most successful species because there are over 20,000 different species of them. These interesting insects have many different types of homes that they build themselves. We all know the most common home is the one they build out of dirt and sand. Other homes that we would probly not recognize so easily are ones that they build using not only dirt, but also sticks. These homes are more durable and are protected most of the time from the rain.