Everything You Need to Know
About….."BEES, BUGS and BUTTERFLIES"
Here are some facts that may be of interest to you and your
students.
The "Bee, Bug and Butterfly" Facts
Insects make up the largest animal group.
All insects have three main body parts – head, chest and
abdomen. Most insects lay eggs. Their antennae are used
to taste, touch, smell, and detect sound. The tiny hairs on
their bodies help them to detect sound and air movement.
They have an external skeleton (hard outside covering), but
no bones or skeleton. Adult insects have six legs. Most
insects have wings (either one or two pair) and the ability
to fly. Insects have either simple eyes (detecting only
light and dark) or compound eyes (many stationary individual eyes that each "see" a portion of a scene or in many
different directions).
Insects are well adapted to the many environments in
which they live. They use various methods to protect
themselves, hide, scare or attack enemies, and find mates.
Some of these methods include blending in with their surroundings, many spots on wings to make them appear bigger, giving off a special odor, making sounds, flashing
signals, and stingers. Some insects live for many years
(i.e., ants and honey bees), while others live for only one
year (i.e., carpenter bees and stinging wasps).
Many people think spiders are insects; however, they are
not. Spiders are invertebrates, like insects, but spiders
have eight legs, no wings, and only two main body parts.
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The fastest insect is the dragonfly, flying about 35 mph.
The longest insect is a type of walking stick, about 12
inches in length.
Some insects can be harmful to humans by spreading disease and destroying crops or buildings.
Some insects are beneficial to humans by pollinating flow ering plants, fruits and vegetable plants (i.e., bees and
wasps), eating harmful insects (i.e., yellow jackets, hornets,
and wasps), and by providing food for other animals, including humans (i.e., honey bees - make honey).
Ants live in large colonies. Different ants build different
types of homes. They live in trees, in woods, under leaves
or rocks, or in dirt – either forming tunnels or anthills.
Bees live in colonies in hollow trees or in beehives. Honey
bees are the only insect that makes a food that people can
eat. Bees suck up nectar (sugar) from flowers and store it
in their stomachs. Bees make "honeycombs" of waxen cells
placed side-by-side, which look like six-sided rooms. They
are used to store eggs, young bees, and honey. The queen
bee and her worker bees live all winter inside their hive.
The buzzing sound that you may hear when bees are around
is not made from their mouths, but rather by their rapidly
moving wings. The wings can move up to 400 times per
second.
Look for more interesting information on the following websites:
www.pbs.org
www.animaladventures.com
Bees, Bugs & Butterflies! © Teacher’s Friend, a Scholastic Company
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www.greensmiths.com/bees.htm
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