Interesting information about insects for children. Interesting Insect Facts for Kids

2. Scientists believe that from 2 to 8 million species live on Earth.

3. Every year, scientists discover more than 7,000 new species of insects.

4. Representatives of many species of rare insects fell into the hands of researchers only once.

5. Insects appeared about 400 million years ago and survived not only dinosaurs, but also several global cataclysms.

Ant

6. In natural environment The life span of an ant is approximately one year. But in the laboratory, these insects live even 4, or even all 7 years, males and 20 years - females.

7. Insects do not have a skeleton - this role is played by an external exoskeleton made of chitin.

8. In Thailand, insects are actively used in cooking.

9. The most poisonous spider, according to the compilers of the popular collection of the Guinness Book of Records, is the “Brazilian wanderer”. The insect got its nickname for excessive activity.

10. On the border of Thailand and Malaysia, a grasshopper was caught, the length of which was 25.5 centimeters. This insect made long jumps of 4.6 meters.

brownie cricket

11. Crickets are very unusual insects. Their ears are located on their front legs.

12. Poison of bees chemical composition is an acid and oc is an alkali.

13. One of the oldest insects on the planet are ants. Their age is 100-130 million years. It is also interesting that, having survived to this day, they have practically not changed in appearance. The reason for this adaptability, according to scientists, lies in the social lifestyle.

14. An interesting creature lives in the African Namib desert - a rolling spider called Carparachneaureoflava. To protect against his main enemies - road wasps - he digs very deep holes, along the slopes of which it rolls like a wheel from attacks. The speed in this case is 1 meter per second, which equals 44 revolutions.

15. The strongest insect is an ant, it is able to lift a weight that exceeds its own many dozens of times.

common mosquito

16. One of the reasons for the prevalence of mosquitoes in the environment is the greater viability of their eggs. Unfavourable conditions the offspring of insects do not care. Mosquito eggs can lie in cold, dry soil for up to 3 years, and then come to life with the onset of heat, when the ground becomes wet.

17. Mosquitoes feed on plant sap and nectar. But some of them suck blood not from a feeling of hunger, but to obtain the proteins necessary for bearing offspring, therefore only females are bloodsuckers, and males are absolute vegetarians.

18. In one jump, a flea is able to jump 33 centimeters. If we translate such an achievement on us, a person would jump as much as 213 meters.

19. An amazing example of vitality is a cockroach. With his head torn off, he can live for weeks. To respond to touch and move, the insect does not need a brain. Instead, the basic reflex functions are performed by accumulations of the nervous tissue of the body.

20. Slightly fall short of the title of "the smallest butterflies" radiculosis, living in the Canary Islands.

desert locust

21. The most voracious insect in the world is the desert locust. This pest, which lives in Asia and Africa, eats as much daily as it weighs.

22. There are butterflies that in one day manage to be born, leave offspring and die. Such butterflies do not need to look for food, since their digestive organs are filled with air.

Weevil

23. Clothes in a wardrobe are eaten not by an adult moth, but by its larvae.

24. Some of the ants not only hunt, but also livestock. Ants-cattle breeders "graze" mealybugs, leafhoppers, aphids, contain homoptera in "stalls". The reward for the labors is the sweet excrement of "cattle", going to food.

25. A swarm of locusts can include up to fifty billion individuals.

Maybug in flight

26. Scientists still cannot understand how beetles fly, because according to all the laws of physics and aerodynamics, they should not fly.

27. The wingspan of only 2 millimeters has the smallest butterfly - acetozea. You can see these nocturnal babies in the UK.

28. Most big spider on Earth, the goliath tarantula (theraphosa blond) is considered. The insect lives in the tropics of Latin America, eats medium-sized snakes, mice, frogs and lizards. The size of the body of a spider with straightened legs is 25–28 centimeters.

29. Fleas can jump a distance equal to 120-130 lengths of their own body.

30. The main occupation of Amazon ants is wars, during which they capture pupae of strangers. In the future, the captives are used as slaves. The warlike ants themselves are not able to feed themselves, since they cannot organize life.

Caterpillar - butterfly larva - lonomy

31. Not only spiders are poisonous, but also caterpillars. The most dangerous butterfly larva is the lonomia, which lives in the American rainforests. She has a calm disposition and nondescript color, but the spikes on the body of the caterpillar contain the strongest toxin that acts as an anticoagulant.

32. The victim of a female mosquito is determined by smell: they like fat people, athletes, pregnant women, owners of the second and third blood groups.

Water beetle

33. Despite the fact that the female mosquito is forced to use the blood, she chooses the “dish” meticulously. Females bite women more often than men, and blondes are preferred to brunettes.

34. Despite their size, flies can fly at speeds of up to 22.4 kilometers per hour. These insects masterfully dodge a deadly fly swatter because they plan well.

35. Butterflies taste with the help of their paws - this is where they have taste buds.

Dragonfly

36. The fastest insect on the planet is the dragonfly, it can reach speeds of almost 60 kilometers per hour.

37. Every year, about a quarter of the world's crop is eaten by insects.

38. Mosquitoes are really capable of drinking all the blood from a person. Another thing is that there should be a lot of mosquitoes, as many as usually do not happen at once in one place.

39. Some species of dragonflies live only about a day.

40. Each eye of a dragonfly consists of about twenty thousand small lenses.

common praying mantis

41. The only insect that can turn its head to the side is the praying mantis.

42. An interesting way of hunting is used by gladiator spiders that live in Australia. They weave a web in the shape of a square, holding its ends between their front paws. When the prey is caught in the web, the spider covers it with a web in one quick movement.

Ladybug

43. Every year from bee stings more people die than from snakes.

44. Ants of the genus Dorylus are used by the indigenous people of Africa for cuts and for surgical purposes. They heal wounds with their sting.

45. A swarm of 50 million desert locusts destroys food in a day, which would be enough for 1,000 people for six months.

honey bee

46. ​​The buzz of a honey bee is created due to the very fast flapping of its wings - about 11,400 strokes in one minute.

47. In one day, an entire swarm of 50 billion locusts eats 4 times more food than the inhabitants of the New York metropolis all together.

48. Lantern or alligator beetle lives in Central America. It got its name from unusual shape heads.

49. The body temperature of crickets can be measured in degrees Celsius by their chirping. To do this, count the number of sounds they make per minute, divide this number by two, then add nine and divide by two again.

50. Spiders are known to feed on other insects. And the weight of their victims in one year is more than the weight of all the people who live on the planet.

At first glance, it seems that insects do not look very aesthetically pleasing and they cannot be interesting. But, despite the fact that they surround us and we see them every day, we know very little about these amazing creatures and their habitat. The whole planet is filled with insects, they are quite hardy, adapt well to the environment. Every year, scientists discover thousands of new species of insects. The following information will be of interest to young children, grade 7 students who are studying this topic through school curriculum and also for adults who love nature. We present interesting facts about insects.

Different types

Mosquitoes mainly feed on plant sap, and only females drink blood in order to obtain protein for the birth of offspring. According to statistics, people with the second and third blood groups, as well as overweight and pregnant women, are more likely to bite. The eggs are very viable, they are quite resistant to weather conditions. The danger is represented by malarial mosquitoes, which carry a deadly infection. In many countries, they are trying to destroy these seemingly pests. But they are also food for many birds, bats and therefore occupy an important place in nature.

The largest butterfly - agrippa (thisalia agrippina) lives in Latin America. The wings reach a span of 30 centimeters. The acetosia butterfly is considered the smallest, it has the smallest wings, only 2 millimeters in span, lives in the UK. A story about butterflies is very interesting for a child, you can talk about these insects for a long and exciting time, accompanying the story with colorful pictures.

Ants are considered the most ancient of insects, they appeared about 100 million years ago and have not changed much since then. They are able to adapt to different terrain, different climates. Ants have a very active lifestyle, they need to make a lot of effort to feed themselves. Ants can carry loads much heavier than their own weight. Sleep several hours a day, and sleep lasts about one minute, several hours are gained for dozens of times when this insect stops to sleep.

Poisonous caterpillar Lonomia. Its habitat is tropical forests. She has a bright color, which indicates danger, the spikes on her body contain a lethal dose of poison. Touching it can be fatal.

The cockroach is very tenacious. Without a head, he can live for several days. These insects began to disappear from houses, European-quality repairs are to blame for this - cockroaches do not tolerate the smell of the emulsion that is used to paint the walls.

A desert locust can eat as much as it weighs in a day. Lives in Africa and Asia. Every day their flocks are destroyed a large number of harvest.

Interesting information

Interesting Facts about insects:

• do not have a skeleton, but beetles have an exoskeleton - an external hard coating that makes the body rigid;
• a tick can live without food for many years, but when it is full, it increases in size tenfold;
• a flea can jump up to 30 centimeters, which is many times its body size.

The venom of a bee is an acid, while that of a wasp is an alkali. Despite the weakness of bee venom, thousands of people die from their bite every year - death can occur from allergies, a bite in the throat, an attack by a whole swarm of bees (African bees are especially dangerous, they are very aggressive). A newborn bee does not know how to make honey, it is taught by older bees. If the bees feel threatened, they sting, after which the sting breaks out of their body and they die. When the beekeepers smoke bees, they, sensing danger, begin to collect honey under their belly and take it out of the hive. The abdomen becomes in a position where it is impossible to use the sting, so the bee cannot sting.

There are Dorylus healer ants, in whose body there is a substance that heals deep wounds, this property is used in folk medicine.

The dragonfly has dexterous and independent wings, thanks to which it can move in different directions, even backwards. Vision is arranged so that the insect can look at 360 degrees. The dragonfly lays eggs in the water, the larvae that appear are predators and can even hunt fish fry. Before reaching adulthood, the dragonfly molts more than 15 times.

There are billions of insects on earth. Despite the fact that many of them are considered pests, they all occupy their own niche in nature and benefit simply by their existence.

There is such an incredible variety of insects in the world that not all of them have been studied so far. In impenetrable forests and jungles, new species are still discovered from time to time, which surprise scientists, and already known species sometimes change under the influence of external environment. Evolutionary processes do not stop, it’s just that it is not always possible to trace the changes caused by them over several generations.

Facts about insects

• The sizes of their smallest representatives do not exceed 0.2 millimeters in adults.
• The first insects appeared on Earth over 400 million years ago. They survived all 5 mass extinctions and survived even when countless thousands of other species went extinct.
• Insects serve as the main food for each other and for many birds. Spiders alone annually eat more other insects than all people living now weigh ().
• Approximately 2/3 of all insects in the world eat only plant foods. The rest are partially or completely predators.
• The most powerful insect, and indeed the most powerful creature in the world, taking into account the size and weight - an ant.
• The organs of taste in butterflies are very unusually located. They have them on their hind legs.
• The wingspan of butterflies can exceed 30 centimeters, so from afar they are often confused with birds.
• In total, a little more than 1 million species of insects have now been more or less studied. But a much larger number of them still remain unexplored.
• Among all classes of animals, they are the most numerous.
• These or those insects live on all islands and continents without exception. They are even in Antarctica ().
• In many countries, insects are eaten. Especially in Asia, Africa and partly in South America.
• In terms of protein saturation and useful substances many insects are very useful.
• Many of them are extremely prolific. Ordinary cockroaches, for example, lay up to 2 million eggs per year.
• Bees kill a lot every year more people than sharks, tigers or bears with wolves. And even more than poisonous snakes.
• The fastest insect in the world is the dragonfly. When flying, it is capable of speeds up to 55 km / h.
• Some species of moth get the moisture they need by drinking the secretions of the lacrimal glands of animals.
• The only insect that can turn its head is the praying mantis ().
• According to scientists, there are more than 5 million species of insects on Earth that have not yet been discovered.
• More than a million people die each year from mosquito bites in India alone, because mosquitoes carry a lot of dangerous diseases.
• Experiments have shown that wood-eating termites, accompanied by heavy music like hard rock, gnaw at wood almost twice as fast.
• In one species of spider, the first thing they do after hatching from eggs is eat their own mother.
• A headless cockroach can live another week or more.
• The largest beetles in the world, titans, grow up to 17 centimeters in length.
• Each dragonfly eye is made up of about 20,000 tiny lenses.
• The lifespan of some species of dragonflies does not exceed 1 day.
• Some of these creatures, such as ticks, are able to do without food for up to 8-9 years. And scorpions can withstand such a diet for up to 1.5-2 years.
• The diversity of insect species is evidenced by the fact that there are almost as many species of ants on Earth alone as there are of all bird species combined.
• Ants never sleep, throughout their lives ().
• Flies usually all their short life spend near the place where they were born, if the wind does not blow them somewhere far away.
• The most dangerous insect killer is the African tsetse fly. Every year it kills several tens of thousands of people and countless livestock.
• The largest insect in the world is the giant weta, resembling a grasshopper or cricket. An adult weighs about 70 grams, which is three times the weight of an ordinary mouse.
• To produce 1 kg of honey, a bee will need to make an average of 20,000,000 flights from the hive to the flowers and back. It is clear that so many individual bees simply will not survive.
• Many insects have more than two eyes. The aforementioned bees have, for example, 5. And spiders have even more, but their eyesight is very poor.

Insects are one of the most numerous classes on the planet. How many varieties of these insects surround us!

We tried to collect in our article the most interesting and amazing facts about insects, show them from a side that is still unknown to you.

1. Attacus Atlas is a night butterfly, considered the largest in the world. Sometimes people mistake this midnight beauty for a bird - her size is so great! Just imagine - the wingspan of this giantess reaches 30 centimeters.

2. Flies are rockets. Try to catch this buzzing "plane" with your bare hands - you are unlikely to succeed. The speed of an ordinary fly is 6.5 km / h, but the horsefly flies almost four times faster - 22.4 km / h. In addition, flies have an amazing reaction: they dodge danger with lightning speed and remain safe and sound.

3. Flea - jumping wire cutter. The jump length of this bloodsucker insect is 33 centimeters. If you translate the value in relation to a person, then it will be equal to 213 meters! Do you know at least one athlete who can overcome such a distance in one jump? That's right - there is no such thing, because people can’t do it, and a flea is easy.

4. - swift all-devouring power. You can’t name a locust except as a swallow, because one individual eats an amount of food equal to its own weight. It is no wonder that after the locust visits the field, the farmers can only humbly wipe their tears! By the way, one horde of locusts consists of 50 million individuals.

5. Why is it buzzing? Because in one minute she manages to make 11,400 flaps of her wings. It goes without saying that the air begins to ring from so many tremors!

6. The giant grasshopper, caught on the border of Malaysia and Thailand, broke all records not only in size (its length was 25.5 cm), but also in long jumps. One of his jumps was more than 4.5 meters.

7. Bees and wasps are a real chemical laboratory. No - this is not a joke, it's just that bee venom consists exclusively of acids, but the wasp is the producer of an alkaline poisonous substance.

8. House cockroaches: headless knights. What happens if you remove a cockroach's head? Do you think it will die? They didn’t guess: he will live like a pretty one - for two whole weeks! Just some kind of mystic!

9. Bees vs snakes: who is more poisonous? Turns out they are bees. It is estimated that many more people die each year from bee stings than from snake bites.

11. Dragonflies are considered the fastest among insects. They accelerate to 57 km/h.

12. If an ordinary forest ant lives for about a year, then in laboratory conditions these insects sometimes live up to 20 years! Maybe scientists give them an elixir of longevity?

13. Want to know your body temperature? Record a minute and count how many times the insect will chirp during this time. Divide the resulting number in half, add 9 and divide by two again.

14. A spider that lives in the Namimb desert escapes its enemies by rolling into a hole. He digs these holes for himself. When it is attacked by wasps, it abruptly rushes from the slope of the pit and rolls like a wheel, while its speed is 1 m / s.

15. Healer ants from the genus Dorylus can not only sting, but also heal wounds. Therefore, local residents actively use them in medicine.

16. Alligator beetle from Central America - the owner of an unusual head shape. Its other name is a lantern. See for yourself - the head is really non-standard, it resembles a crocodile.

Mosquitoes are attracted to the smell of people who have recently eaten bananas.

The dragonfly lives 24 hours.

Termites grind wood twice as fast for hard rock.

Scorpions can eat nothing for almost two years, and ticks for up to 10 years.

Butterflies taste food with their hind legs. And the color of their wings is created by tiny overlapping scales that reflect light.

Ants never sleep. There are almost as many ant species (8800) as there are bird species (9000) in the world.

Dragonflies are the fastest flying insects. The speed of their movement reaches 57 km / h.

The aphid develops into an adult insect from an egg in 6 days and lives for another 4-5 days.

grasshopper blood white color, lobster - blue.

Insects are the first living creatures that appeared on Earth, more than 400 million years ago. Since then, they have survived five massive cataclysms and have proven to be more tenacious than tyrannosaurs.

Every year, more people die from bee stings than from snake bites.

Insects annually devour 25 - 30% of the world crop.

There are more than 20,000 tiny lenses in the eye of a dragonfly, which form, like pieces of a mosaic, a multifaceted (faceted) surface.

As analysis of the stomach contents of female mosquitoes caught around settlements, 80% of these insects feed on the blood of domestic animals.

One bee family harvests up to 150 kg of honey during the summer.

The bee has two stomachs - one for honey, the other for food.

Spider-spiders eat their web every morning, and then build it again.

In a lifetime, a bee produces 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.

A female cockroach can lay more than two million eggs in a year. In addition, a cockroach can live for nine days without a head.

There are about 35 thousand known species spiders and new ones are opening all the time.

They are a food rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. In Thailand, they are considered a delicacy, where fried crickets and locusts are popular.

The largest moth in the world is Attacus Altas. With a wingspan of 30 cm, it is often mistaken for a bird.

In Russia, grasshoppers were called dragonflies.

Every day, the bees of our planet fertilize 3 trillion flowers and produce 3,000 tons of honey.

Insects are the first living creatures that appeared on Earth, more than 400 million years ago. Since then, they have survived five massive cataclysms and have proven to be more tenacious than tyrannosaurs.

Now there are about 20 thousand species of bees in the world. And to produce 500 g of honey, one bee needs to fly 10 million times from the hive to the flower and back.

A female cockroach can lay more than two million eggs in a year. In addition, a cockroach can live for nine days without a head.

The weight of insects that all spiders on Earth eat in a year is more than the total weight of all people living on the planet.

There are about 35,000 known species of spiders, and new ones are being discovered all the time.

The blood of snow scorpions contains antifreeze, thanks to which they can withstand temperatures down to minus 6 degrees Celsius. However, if such a scorpion is taken in hand, it will die.

The male earwig has two penises, each of which is longer than the earwig itself. These organs are very fragile and break easily, which is why the insect is born with a spare.

Ants never sleep. There are almost as many ant species (8800) as there are bird species (9000) in the world.

Butterflies taste food with their hind legs. And the color of their wings is created by tiny overlapping scales that reflect light.

The aborigines cook witchetti tree larvae by rolling them in hot ashes. Thus, they taste like an omelette.

Bees have five eyes. Three at the top of the head and two in front. The honey bee flaps its wings at a speed of 11,400 times per minute, creating a characteristic buzz.

There are about 400 thousand known species of beetles. The size of the largest, titanium beetle, can reach 17 cm.

Dragonflies are the fastest flying insects. The speed of their movement reaches 57 km / h.

Witchetti larvae are best eaten alive. Ten large larvae provide an adult with all proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Insects are a food rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. In Thailand, they are considered a delicacy, where fried crickets and locusts are popular.

Amarobia spider babies eat their mother after birth. Some females begin to devour males during mating. Thus, the deceased father becomes food for his offspring.

Crickets have ears on their front legs, and besides, crickets can tell their temperature by counting the number of chirps per minute, dividing by two, then adding nine, and dividing by two again. The result is the temperature in degrees Celsius.

Approximately a third of all insects are carnivorous and most hunt for food rather than feed on carrion and waste.

Grasshoppers can jump over 40 times their body length, and fleas up to 130 times their body length.

More than 26 billion insects live in habitable areas on the planet in every square mile. According to scientists, there are still 5-10 million species unknown to science.

Tiny stinging insects, biting midges, flap their wings at an incredible rate of 62,760 times per minute.

House flies usually live near the places where they have hatched, but it has been found that under the influence of the wind they can move up to 45 km away.

The largest moth in the world is Attacus Altas. With a wingspan of 30 cm, it is often mistaken for a bird.

A desert locust swarm can contain 50 billion insects. Since each locust can eat an amount of food equal to its own weight, in a day this swarm eats four times as much food by weight as all New Yorkers.

Everything in the world of insects is amazing - the diversity of species, and the gigantic population, and the way of life, and the incomprehensible complexity and expediency of the structure of organisms, and sometimes the inexplicable behavior of individuals, families, colonies. Insects play the most important role both in the multi-link ecological chain and in its finest, barely perceptible threads.

This is the most species-rich group of animals. It has about a million insect species just described, and discoveries continue. Scientists believe that there are at least two to three million species of insects on Earth. This is much more than all other animals and plants combined. Moreover, each type of insect has its own structural features, life processes and behavior. According to one well-known entomologist, one species of insect is often no closer to another than a fly is to an elephant. And since a species is a qualitatively isolated form of a living thing, all its representatives interbreed with the formation of offspring. At the same time, interspecific crosses never give full-fledged offspring capable of procreation and transmission of "multi-species" traits. Here, the genetic system of protecting the purity of each species, which is embedded in organisms, works.

Insects make up 29 orders. Among them: orthoptera - grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, bears, cockroaches, praying mantises, termites, dragonflies, mayflies, lice; Homoptera (arthroproboscis) - cicadas, worms, aphids; hemiptera (or bugs); beetles (or beetles); Lepidoptera (or butterflies); Diptera - flies, mosquitoes, mosquitoes, midges, fleas; hymenoptera - bees, wasps, ants, riders and others.

Insects are a multifaceted miracle of wildlife, they have their own special purpose on Earth, which is difficult to overestimate. They are excellent pollinators, soil-formers, orderlies of nature, and what is important for humans - insects improve soil fertility, restrain the excessive spread of many agricultural pests, produce honey and medicinal substances, dyes of juicy flowers, silk. More than half of our diet is plant-based. And 15% of it owes its harvest to pollinating insects. They also pollinate most plant foods for animals. In addition, we enjoy admiring the beauty of bizarre forms, patterns and colors of the body, as well as the grace of movements. Only a small part (about 1%) of insects causes involuntary damage to human activities. But this is nothing compared to the important role they play in people's lives and in maintaining natural ecological balance.

Insects are generously endowed with everything necessary to actively live and embody their destiny on Earth. They have perfect organs and systems, as well as a brain and a kind of heart. The nervous and sensory (connected to the sense organs) systems allow insects to sense and perceive the world, organs of movement - to move in space and carry out all actions related to life, and systems of coordination and control purposefully manage all the processes and structures of the body, as well as the behavior of insects.

With all the richness of forms and colors, the perfection of the structure of the body, individual devices, systems and interrelated physiological processes, the behavior of insects is no less diverse. Both genetically based instinctive behavior and acquired individual experience are striking in their complexity, expediency and uniqueness. No two types of insects behave in the same way. A representative of each species can be recognized by the innate strategy of obtaining food, building activities, by those postures, sounds emitted chemicals, which are inherent in food, reproductive, protective, social and other forms of behavior.

The complexity of the behavior and structure of the body of social insects - ants, bees, wasps, termites - is incomprehensible. Since ancient times, many of their activities cause a feeling of admiration. Even St. Augustine wrote: “We are more amazed by the deeds of small ants and bees than by the huge bodies of whales.” Among these insects there are also farmers who graze, protect and “milk” animals useful to them and agricultural insects, capable of not only harvesting, but also growing it, having previously prepared the land and planting seeds. All social insects are excellent builders, constructing, depending on their species, small individual buildings, and large public houses, and entire cities with powerful communication systems. Everything is taken into account in them for the normal life of both an individual and a family, up to the creation of the necessary microclimate, and the life of colonies and giant federations of social insects.

Modern entomology sees no fundamental grounds for opposing the behavior of insects and the so-called "higher" vertebrates. Indeed, in insects of some species, such complex mental processes as imagination, abstract thinking, symbolization, memory, the ability to learn and develop conditioned reflexes, their own "language" and even elementary rational activity are involved in their behavior. The world of insects, which includes these most amazing and perfect creatures, is fragile and unique in all its diverse manifestations. It should not only be loved, but also be sure to protect.

Opportunities for ubiquitous habitation

For insects - this unusually numerous class of small creatures, it is characteristic that they successfully live and breed almost everywhere - from the Arctic to the deserts languishing in the heat, and are absent only in the depths of the ocean. The soil is literally teeming with insects. Myriads of them are carried in the air, and even at an altitude of up to 2 km, these creatures form a giant layer of plankton, which serves as food for birds.

Diversity of organism types and habitats of insects

Insects of each species occupy only that area and are able to withstand precisely those conditions. environment for which their body is intended, the innate mechanisms of life and behavior are “tuned”. Thanks to this, insects can live in the harshest conditions, even in the cold Arctic tundra and on snowy mountain peaks oh, in sunny savannahs and deserts, in tropical rainforests and taiga, in human dwellings and on animals. For example, butterflies, seemingly very fragile creatures, live on the globe almost everywhere. Their active life activity is possible due to the special expediency of the type of organism, which can be conditionally called "southern", "northern", "tropical", "universal". So, the universal organism of butterflies of one species ensures their distribution in many areas with the most diverse natural factors. And the body of others is intended only for a specific habitat, as, for example, in butterflies that live exclusively in the Alps, above the snow line at an average temperature of -100C. Or, for example, in one of the inhabitants of the desert - the dark beetle of some species, the specific structure of the body ensures an active life in this particular environment. The insect tolerates heat well and quenches thirst by condensing the life-giving moisture of night fogs.

Features of the body of insects of some species allow: to save life after freezing and thawing; inhabit hot springs with a water temperature of +500C; live for a long time without water due to the oxidation of stored nutrients; survive in a deep vacuum and spend hours in pure carbon dioxide; live in salt brine, crude oil, etc.

Of course, in cold and dry areas, as well as in such critical conditions for life, representatives of a few species of insects live. However, it is they who, by their example, clearly demonstrate what truly phenomenal capabilities are endowed with, it would seem, completely defenseless beings. Moreover, like many other animals, insects do not “survive” in such a complex and harsh environment, but live in it that full life, the features of which are included in their genetic program. Let's look at this with some examples.

Cold tolerance of insects

Some insects are conquerors and permanent inhabitants of mountain peaks. In the saddle of Elbrus at an altitude of 5300 m, you can see dragonflies and urticaria. And settled flies, beetles, aphids, butterflies, locusts are found in the Himalayas even at an altitude of 6000 m above sea level. They feed on plant pollen and organic debris that mountain breezes bring. Insects live under stones, in the soil, in rare patches of alpine plant carpets, and even in the snow. But there are especially many of them at the edge of melting ice, where there is high humidity and it is easier to find food brought by melt water. For a normal life and reproduction, crickets of one of the species necessarily settle in mountainous areas covered with snow, since the device of their body is designed only for a habitat with a low temperature. And the jaundice butterfly living in the northern latitudes and high in the mountains is endowed with an amazing property of live birth, which puzzled entomologists at one time, since this is not typical for butterflies. It is assumed that live birth helps her offspring to complete development during the short summer of these places.

The isotome flea lives exclusively on the surface of eternal snows. Every night, the body of this tiny insect is subjected to the most cruel tests, but the insect again and again demonstrates an excellent ability to live in extremely harsh conditions. It freezes completely as soon as the sun sets, but due to its dark color it also thaws quickly in the warm morning rays. Having revived, the isotome flea continues to deal with all the vital problems of life, implementing its hereditary program, which it will pass on to its descendants. Recently, entomologists have discovered that some species of twitching mosquitoes are also able to live and procreate in such extreme conditions that would seem to be incompatible with life. They live in the crevices and tunnels of glaciers on the high slopes of the Himalayas. This insect is endowed with such an excellent organism that it feels great and does not freeze at -160C. And the female mosquito even shows activity in winter period when frost rages in the mountains. How twitchers live and procreate at such low temperatures, and what are physiological features their organism of mosquitoes of this species is not yet clear to scientists.

About 40 species of insects (mosquitoes, bumblebees, beetles, day and night butterflies) live beyond the Arctic Circle - where there are flowering plants. Due to the northern type of organism, mosquitoes of some varieties play a particularly important role in the cold Arctic deserts and the tundra zone. Their males and females, flying from flower to flower, feed on nectar and pollinate plants along the way. After all, there are practically no bees in the tundra and taiga. In the Arctic, bumblebees are also busy pollinating flowers. Their body is well equipped to work in cold climes. The active work of the muscles and the shaggy warm coat of the bumblebee provide heating of its body up to + 370C at outdoor temperature air 00C. This heat is generated during flight due to chemical reactions occurring in the muscles.

The body of not only the inhabitants of the highlands, but also the inhabitants of mosses and lichens of the Antarctic islands, for example, beetles of certain species, is able not to break down when rapidly cooled to almost -400C. Their genetic program controls the unique mini-production of glycerin oil and other special substances that act like the well-known car antifreeze. Some species of amphibians and other cold-resistant representatives of the animal world are endowed with the same saving substances. And the beetles and flies that live in Alaska are endowed with a remarkable ability to withstand even temperatures down to -600C. Insects, of course, freeze, but their body is equipped in such a way that ice crystals form only from the outside, without damaging cells, organs and tissues.

From wet tropics to waterless deserts

For a myriad of insects ecological niche Tropical forests occupy a considerable part of the earth's surface. The branches of trees, starting from a height of at least 15 m, are so closely intertwined with each other and tightly entwined with vines that almost no light breaks through the crown formed. The forest canopy, which is sometimes 30 m thick, is inhabited by animals such as monkeys, birds, mice, frogs, insects and even earthworms (!). The local inhabitants are born here, grow up, live an active full life and die. And many of them never touch the ground in their entire lives. And insects live on all the "floors" of the forest: in the ground, leaf litter, in tree trunks, in the depths of the tropical canopy and on the highest tier of the forest - on the branches and leaves of this so-called "roof of the world".

Of the insects in the rainforest, butterflies, beetles, ants, termites, and cicadas predominate. Butterflies and beetles are unusually large and beautiful. They were given a bright color to help them find their mates, because otherwise, in the thick of intertwined branches, it is impossible for insects to see or hear each other. There are also amazing bird-winged butterflies, whose giant wings (30 cm) allow males and females to fly above the continuous crown of tropical trees during the mating season.

Insects also make up a significant part of the inhabitants of the deserts. Most of all there are ants, mosquitoes, mosquitoes, dark beetles and beautiful gold beetles, especially black and golden. All of them hide from the heat of the day in deep minks, and get out to hunt only after dark. Magnificent possibilities of the organism and behavior are demonstrated by dark beetles of some species that live in the hottest and most arid regions of the desert. Thanks to instinctive behavioral mechanisms, they go to the tops of the sand dunes at night to "drink the moisture of the mists." Lowering its head, the beetle raises its abdomen up and turns towards the moist wind from the sea. Moisture, condensing on its special ribbed back, flows directly into the insect's mouth.

From salt water to oil

Representatives of most species of insects live on land, but many of them live in a wide variety of aquatic environments, including non-traditional ones. Thus, the special structure of the body of the larvae of some species of mosquitoes allows them to develop perfectly in hot geysers, where only bacteria can still live. The same ability is shown by green dragonflies, whose young individuals are inhabitants of geysers with a water temperature of +400C. Mosquito larvae in mass are able to breed in the brackish coastal waters of the Caspian Sea. And insects such as, for example, some species of bugs, have all the possibilities for a normal life in the oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Surprisingly, there is a California oil fly, the habitat and all the vital activity of which is associated exclusively with thick crude oil. According to the hereditary program, she feeds on insects that have got there and stuck and even produces her offspring in oil. In her body, everything is “provided” for this. The fly's intestines are inhabited by symbiont bacteria that break down oil paraffin and promote its absorption. The fly can freely run on its thin legs on the oil film without sticking to it, however, touching the film with any other part of the body is fatal for the fly. The body of the larvae of this fly, which develop in crude oil and feed on adhering insects, is also provided with everything necessary. So, the program of instinctive behavior makes these babies, like aquatic larvae, hold the tips of breathing tubes specially made by the body above the surface of the oil in order to breathe air oxygen.