Insects are arthropods which have an exoskeleton that is chitinous and a body, divided into three parts (head, thorax and abdomen). Other important features of the insect body are antennae, compound eyes and legs. The total number of
insects species being documented are more than 1 million. Such is the diversity and variety in different species of insects that half of the living species belong to the
Class Insecta. Let's peek into this
sect of animal kingdom - "In-sects" with the information presented below.
Different Types of Insects
Bugs, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies... are these bugs, or are these insects? Are all bugs insects? Are spiders and scorpions not insects? What are pests, neutral and beneficial insects? Read through to know how many different types of insects exist... The following insect identification guide will help you know more about their teeny-weeny and beautiful micro-worlds.
Types of Flying Insects
An interesting fact about insects is that these are the only invertebrates with ability to fly. The flying abilities of insects are highly developed and even today's modern technology lags behind in understanding the intricacy and sophistication of their flying techniques. Let us have a look at the different
types of flying insects through following paragraphs.
Moths and Butterflies
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The
moths and
butterflies belonging to the order Lepidoptera account for more than 100, 000 species. Read to know more on:
Locusts, Grasshoppers and Crickets
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The locusts and
grasshoppers belong to the order Orthoptera and together account for 20,000 insect species. Let us have a look at the different types of grasshoppers and locusts.
- Crickets
- Brown-spotted Grasshopper
- Green-striped Grasshopper
- Clear-winged Grasshopper
- Four-spotted Grasshopper
- Big-headed Grasshopper
- Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera)
- American desert locust (Schistocerca americana)
- Brown locust (Locustana pardalina)
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- Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta)
- Italian locust (Calliptamus italicus)
- Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)
- Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)
- Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)
- Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus)
- Red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)
- Spur-throated locust (Australis procera)
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Dragonflies and Damselflies
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The
dragonflies are found on earth for a period of 300 millions years. These insects are mainly found near waterbodies. The dragon flies feed on other insect types like mosquitoes, termites, ants midges, etc.
Mantids and Roaches
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Mantids are insects that have front legs characterized by enlarged femurs. These femurs have a line that is grooved. Mantids belong to the order Mantoea. Roaches are found in many different types and mainly belong to the order Blattaria. The total number of cockroach species are 4500 in number. Read more on:
Beetles and Lightning Bugs
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The
beetles are known to have more number of species than any other insect. The total number of species of beetles are 400,000. These insects belong to the order Coleoptera. The beetles can be found in a variety of climatic conditions including polar regions. Read more on:
Flies and Mosquitoes
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The flies belong to order Diptera and are characterized by presence of wings in mesothorax. The features which differentiates flies from other insects is the presence of only one of pair of wings. Mosquitoes belong to the Culicidae family and these insects resemble crane flies. The
mosquitoes are known for having mouthparts which enable them to pierce the skin. Read more on:
Biting and Stinging Snouts
The main types of stinging insects include the ants and honeybees. Along with short descriptions of these insects, the important types are enlisted below:
Honeybees
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These are amongst important types of stinging bees. Honeybees are known to sting just once. However, after stinging, a barbed stinger and venom sac is left behind. Important species of
honeybees are enlisted below.
- Killer Bees
- Black bees
- All about Bees
- Red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea)
- Black dwarf honey bee (Apis andreniformis)
- Eastern honey bee (Apis cerana)
- Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata)
- Western honey bee (Apis mellifera)
- Koschevnikov's Bee (Apis koschevnikovi)
Ants
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The harvester and fire ants are commonly observed in our surroundings. Sub-types of the fire ants include red and black ants. Unlike honeybees which sting only once, the ants come under the category of insects that bite and deliver multiple stings; marks of these stings can be observed in the form clusters of circular/semicircular shapes. The family to which ants belong is Formicidae. Read more on:
Wasps
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This insect belongs to the order Hymenoptera. The body structure of wasps resembles that of a combination of ants and bees. The wasp species are parasitic in nature. Agricultural pest control is the field where wasps are used. Read more on:
Types of Bugs
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Different bug types are included in the order Hemiptera. Although, bug is a term used to refer insects in general, insects which belong to the order Hemiptera are bugs in the true sense. Hemiptera includes many different variety of insects found in homes. Some of these bugs are called biting bugs and can bite with the help of proboscis. Here is a list of different types of bugs.
... And Some More Insects
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Here are some more types of insects classified randomly.
Owing to the great variety of insects and the
sheer impossible number of different species of insects, only a
phew are enlisted in the article.
