Wikijunior:Animal Kingdom/Insects

A butterfly

There are more insects than any other creature in the world. For every person on this earth, there are hundreds or possibly thousands of insects. Insects are usually very small and easy to kill, but because there are so many of them, it would be difficult to kill them all.

Insects have probably been around longer than any other animal. They are called insects because they are divided into a head, a thorax and an abdomen. Insects always have six legs, which is why spiders are not insects. Insects have an exoskeleton instead of a regular skeleton, which means they are easy to destroy, but the exoskeleton keeps them relatively intact.

Insects usually live in giant colonies of themselves, although some of them, such as flies, do not. They start as maggots and later begin to fly. Insects usually eat leaves or other insects.

Throughout human history, people have been bothered by insects. Some insects are parasites who cause diseases and might even feed on human blood, like mosquitoes. This is why humans have developed various techniques for trying to destroy insects.

Some insects have been good for people. Bees help farmers by spreading flower pollen which makes more flowers.

Examples

• Cockroach
• Fly
• Ant
• Ladybug
• Butterfly