Types Of Insects

Insects belong to the class Insecta of the phylum athropoda of kingdom animalia. The class insecta includes more than 1 million species of insects, making it the most diverse class of the kingdom animalia. Although there are many types, families and subfamilies of insects, all the insects tend to have following characteristics:

• Since they are arthropods they have a hard exoskeleton. Their body is divided into three parts: a head, thorax and abdomen.
• The head of all the insects bear compound eyes (eyes bearing numerous lenses) and antennae.
• The abdomen of insects bears six legs. In some wings are also present along with the legs. Insects are also called hexapoda because of the fact that they bear six legs. Those that bear wings are the only invertebrates which can fly.
• All the insects lay eggs and every insect has to undergo metamorphosis before reaching the adult stage.

As it has been mentioned, insects are highly diverse and have more than a million species in the world, classifying them is not an easy thing.

There are many categories and families of insects according to the biological animal kingdom system. We here will discuss only some general categories of insects.

These categories are the most common out of many other categories of insects.

This category includes: mosquitoes, tsetse fly, stable fly and the common house hold fly also called Drosophila melanogaster.

These insects belong to the large category of flying insects. They lay their eggs in garbage, swamp, ponds and dirty stagnant waters.

The eggs of these insects hatch into worm like larvae which undergo metamorphosis to become adults.

The flies are dangerous insects as they are the most common vehicles for viruses and bacteria.

Mosquitoes in specific are responsible for carrying malaria causing protozoan and bacteria of various diseases such as dengue.

Bugs are small insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. Bugs lack wings and are mostly found in homes.

They are generally harmless. All the bugs have a typical mouth which can pierce into food and extract juice from it.

Bugs have a diverse family which includes some common bugs such as: stink bug, cicada, water bugs, bed bugs, potato bugs etc.

A part from being common at homes they are also found in ponds and soil where they live in burrows.

Beetles are often confused with bugs but they both are completely different. Beetles have a small rounded body with two pairs of wings.

The outer wings form a hard protective shell for the inner wings. Although they can fly they prefer to use their legs more often as compared to the flies.

The larva that emerges from the eggs of the beetles is like a caterpillar and sheds its skin gradually to become an adult.

Beetles are mostly benevolent but some can also be destructive. Examples include: ladybugs and Asian Longhorn beetles.

Ants belong to the order Formicidae of class insecta. These insects have thin cylindrical bodies with large six prominent legs.

They do not have wings. The ants are social insects and live in colonies. Ants can sting which can cause allergies and red marks on the skin.

Ants share many features with wasps and bees and can be placed with them but they belong to a separate order because they have wings.

The most common types of ants are fire ants and the harvester ants.

Butterflies and moths are also flying insects with large showy wings.

Butterflies in specific have large and very beautiful wings with unique and interesting color patterns.

Both butterflies and moth feed on flower nectar which they suck by their long straw like mouth called proboscis.

The eggs of both these insects hatch into caterpillars which then after some time turn into a cocoon which then turns into adults.

Butterflies are mostly active during the day whereas moths are nocturnal.

Wasps And Bees

Wasps and bees belong to the order Hymenoptera. These insects have a body shape similar to ants but they have wings and mostly colored patterns on their bodies.

They too live in colonies and are social. Bees are called the busiest insects and they live in colonies in hives where they produce honey.

Wasps are mostly parasites and play a major role in natural pest control in the field of agriculture.