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The Biggest and Best Bug Roundup |
How do flies sit upside down on ceilings?
Have you ever been trying to shoo a pesky fly out the window, only to have it land upside down on your ceiling, where you can’t reach? How do flies stay stuck upside down like that?!
The reason a fly is able to land upside down on a ceiling or sideways on a wall is that flies have special sticky feet! These sticky feet have wide footpads that give them lots of sticking power, especially when all four feet are being used at once, which is what flies make sure to do. Their gluey footprints are also helped by tiny hairs on each foot that have a special shape which give them some sticky strength too.
If you’re wondering how such a sticky-footed fly ever gets unstuck after it lands, there’s an explanation for that too! In addition to gummy feet, flies also have a special toe-like claw on each foot, which is used to pry themselves free!
Did you know that when butterflies are born, they don’t look anything like adult butterflies at all? Baby butterflies that hatch from eggs are actually caterpillars! They can crawl up trees to eat leaves, but they don’t have wings or fly at all.
Many insects, like butterflies, go through big changes while growing into adults. Their bodies take on new shapes and may even grow wings! During these changes, the insects are often unable to move because their legs are changing and they need all their energy to help them grow. To be an insect sitting on a tree branch, waiting to grow into an adult, can be pretty dangerous: Hungry birds and other insects might see the insect as a snack.
The solution is pretty impressive! A caterpillar will wrap itself in a cocoon, which is a protective casing made from sticky threads of silk that come from the caterpillar’s own body. The caterpillar will twist and turn until it’s completely wrapped in its cocoon, and then it is much safer. Cocoons can be found on branches, bushes, or hidden in leaves or holes in the ground. When they break free of the cocoon, an entirely new animal crawls out. Caterpillars become beautiful butterflies!
Cocoons aren’t just for butterflies though. Moths, leeches, and even earthworms also have cocoons!
How are spiders different from other bugs?
The biggest difference between spiders and so many other bugs is that spiders are not insects! That’s surprising for a lot of people. Usually we just think of insects as anything that is small, creepy and crawly, but insects are actually a very specific group of animals.
Spiders belong to a special group of creatures called arachnids, which also includes ticks, mites, and scorpions. Arachnids are a separate group from insects. The insect group includes many other bugs, like ladybugs, ants, and fireflies. Together, insects and arachnids are a part of a larger group called arthropods.
Although you might not know it when you look at them, insects and arachnids are different in lots of ways. Insects have bodies that are divided into 3 segments: the head, the thorax (which usually has the wings and legs) and the abdomen. Spiders’ bodies only have 2 segments: the head and the abdomen. Spiders also have eight legs while insects only have six. Additionally, all spiders are hunters, and will eat other tiny animals. Insects, on the other hand, will eat a whole bunch of different things depending on what type of insect they are.
Does any animal eat bees or wasps?
Bees and wasps both have stingers, which are excellent for fighting off or scaring away any animal that might want to eat them. Still, lots of animals try. If they’re quick enough, they can eat one of these stinging insects before they have a chance to sting.
Skunks, frogs, spiders, cats, dogs, dragonflies and birds are just some of the animals on a long list of creatures that will dare to eat a bee or a wasp. There is even a species of birds called “Bee-eaters”! Bears can accidentally eat bees while trying to eat their honey. Luckily bears have thick fur that can block a lot of the stings.
Some animals can be stung inside their mouths, but a lot of times they won’t mind because they’re happy to be eating! Sometimes though, our pets might have allergies to stings, just like how people can be allergic to stings. These allergies can be dangerous, so try not to let your cat or dog eat a bee or wasp. (They’ll be happy enough with their regular food.)
Why do centipedes have so many legs?
The name centipede actually means “one hundred legs”! Most centipedes don’t have exactly 100 legs though. Some have around 30, but some have over 300! Much like spiders, centipedes are not actually insects. They are in a special group of animals with lots of legs called “myriapods,” which are some of the oldest animals to live on dry land. Some fossils for these creatures are over 400 million years old! (That’s way older than dinosaurs!)
Centipedes are hunters, so they have to be fast. Having all those legs helps support their very long and thin bodies and lets them move quickly to catch their food. They aren’t really dangerous to people, though they are poisonous. Usually a centipede bite doesn’t hurt more than a bee sting, but it’s always better to be safe and just avoid touching them.
Centipedes have an interesting body plan! They are made out of many segments. Except for their heads and tails, centipedes’ body segments all look pretty much the same, and they each have one pair of legs. Every time a centipede grows a new segment, it gets a new pair of legs to hold it up!
Having more legs doesn’t always make an animal faster though. Millipedes, which are like cousins of centipedes, have two pairs of legs for every body segment, but they move slower! It takes a lot of work to keep their legs from bumping into each other!
The above answers were written by Brian Griffin and Mya Kagan. For more on these topics and endless others, just browse or search!