Insects

📖 In short

An insect is a small animal with six legs. Bees, ants, butterflies, flies, beetles, grasshoppers and mosquitoes are all insects. Insects are the most numerous animals on Earth, and live almost everywhere.

🤩 Did you know?

Scientists know more than a million kinds of insects.
The atlas moth is one of the biggest insects, about 1000 times bigger than the smallest beetle.
A termite queen's belly can grow hundreds of times bigger than the rest of her body, because it's full of eggs.
Insects breathe through tiny holes along the sides of their bodies.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 A body in three parts

An insect's body has three parts: the head, with the eyes, antennae and mouth; the thorax, with the six legs and wings; and the abdomen.

🔍 A skeleton on the outside

An insect has no bones inside; instead it has a hard outer case that protects its body like armor. When it grows, it sheds this case and makes a new, bigger one.

💡 Antennae

An insect uses its antennae to smell, touch and learn about its surroundings. With them it finds food and recognizes its companions.

🎯 Is a spider an insect?

No! A spider has eight legs and a body with only two parts, so it isn't an insect. Scorpions and earthworms aren't insects either.

🧩 Test yourself

1 How many legs does an insect have?

2 Which of these animals is not an insect?

3 Which picture shows “Insects”?

🦁 Discover more

📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons

Chiswick Chap · CC BY-SA 4.0