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  title of the text on insects  
         
  Insects are cold blooded. They are among the most diverse groups of animals on Earth, and may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans.

The body of insects is divided in three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), they have three pairs of legs and one pair of antennae. Sizes and colours of insects vary widely depending on their behaviour and habitat.

The life-cycles of insects vary, but most insects hatch from eggs laid by the female (oviparous). Others (ovoviviparous) develop entirely inside the female, and then hatch immediately upon being laid. Some other species gestate inside the mother and are born alive (viviparous). Most of insects present modifications (metamorphosis) along their life-cycle.

The most known insects are dragonflies, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, common flies, bees and wasps, moths, fleas, ants, beetles. You’ll find below pictures of a few of these insects.

dragonfly
Dragonfly
grasshopper
Grasshoper
cricket
Cricket
     
European honeybee
European honeybee
Honeycomb
Honeycomb
housefly
Housefly
     
Beetle
Beetle
Ant
Ant
Ladybird or ladybug
Ladybird or ladybug
     
butterfly
Butterfly
butterfly
Butterfly
butterfly
Butterfly
     
butterfly
Butterfly
butterfly
Butterfly
butterfly
Butterfly

Though a few insects are a danger to the farmer, other insects are vital to the environment and to mankind, some pollinate cultivated crop plants, others improve soil fertility, and others act as scavengers or decomposers. In a world without insects man would not be able to survive.

 
 

Did you know that...

during metamorphosis the insect undergoes changes in its body structure between the larval and adult forms?
Metamorphosis can be complete, as in the case of the butterfly: egg, larva, pupa, imago; or incomplete, as in the case of the grasshopper: egg, nymph, adult.

 
 
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    All Texts and Illustrations © Dulce Rodrigues, 2009. All rights reserved