The six-legged creatures known as insects can be found nearly everywhere. The class Insecta comprises ants, bees, flies, beetles, and numerous more species. Let’s learn some interesting and fascinating insect facts for kids today.
Scientific Classification of Insects
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Subphylum: | Hexapoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
Insect Facts for Kids 1-10
1. A ladybug may consume over 5,000 insects in its lifespan.
2. The first biological organisms to be sent into space were fruit flies.
3. There have been dragonflies on earth for 300 million years!
4. The wings of a bee beat 190 times every second, or 11,400 times each minute.
5. The sensitivity of housefly feet is 10 million times greater than that of human tongues.
6. Ticks can grow to the size of a stone from the size of a rice grain.
7. It takes around 2,000 silkworm cocoons to generate one pound of silk.
8. A bee may fly up to sixty miles in a single day while foraging.
9. Ants are capable of lifting and carrying fifty times their own weight.
10. Sometimes marketed commercially, Mexican Jumping Beans contain the caterpillar of a bean moth.
Insect Facts for Kids 11-20
11. About a hundred Monarch Butterflies are required to equal one ounce.
12. When the droppings of millions of cattle in Australia began to degrade the land, dung beetles were brought to alleviate the situation.
13. Wasps that consume fermenting juice have been observed to become intoxicated and pass out.
14. A specific termite species’ queen can lay up to 40,000 eggs every day.
15. Honeybees must make approximately ten million rounds to collect sufficient nectar to produce one pound of honey.
16. Insects have existed for around 350 million years, while humans have been for barely 300,000 years.
17. Blow flies are the first type of bug attracted to a dead animal’s carcass.
18. The phrase “honeymoon” originates from the Middle Ages when newlyweds were given enough honey wine to survive the first month of their marriage.
19. In order to survive the winter, many insects replace their bodily water with glycerol, a molecule that works as an “antifreeze” against the temperatures.
20. There are almost as many ant species (8,800) as there are bird species (9,000) in the globe.
Insect Facts for Kids 21-30
21. It is estimated that the male silk moth can “smell” the chemicals of female silk moths in the air at a rate of a few hundred molecules every 25 quintillions (25,000,000,000,000,000,000) molecules per cubic centimeter of air.
22. True flies typically have only one pair of wings or none at all. A pair of rear “wings” are reduced to halteres, which serve as balance organs.
23. There are over 91,000 species of insects in the United States. There are around 1.5 million identified species in the world.
24. Vladimir Nabokov, a renowned Russian author, collected butterflies and identified the Kamer Blue Butterfly from the pine barrens in the northeastern United States as a new subspecies.
25. When disturbed, a specific Hawk Moth caterpillar from Brazil raises its head and inflates its thorax, giving it the appearance of a snake’s head.
26. Approximately one-third of all insect species are carnivorous, with the majority hunting for their prey rather than consuming decomposing meat or excrement.
27. The stag beetle is the largest bug found in the United Kingdom.
28. The caterpillar has twelve eyes!
29. One dung beetle can lift 1,141 times its own weight, which is equivalent to a person hauling six double-decker buses.
30. Each year, a single honeybee colony may produce approximately 100 kilograms of honey or 220 jars.
Insect Facts for Kids 31-40
31. The ant-eating assassin bug stacks its victims to frighten off predators.
32. Occasionally, large groups of fireflies flash in unison.
33. Bulldog ants can leap seven times their body length!
34. There are 36 species of dragonfly in the United Kingdom.
35. Mosquitoes are drawn to stinky feet!
36. Male stoneflies perform push-ups to attract potential mates.
37. Butterflies use their feet to taste.
38. In the grasshopper’s rear legs are organs that store energy for jumping.
39. Bees are a hornet’s favorite food.
40. The red postman butterfly creates its own venom by consuming poisonous plants!