Insect Interest

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Flies Facts

A flea can jump 150 times its size. That is the same as a person able to jump up 1,000 feet in the air.
A dragonfly has a lifespan of for to seven weeks.
A housefly can only ingest liquid material. They regurgitate their food to liquefy the food that they are going to eat.
A house fly's feet are 10 million times more sensitive than a human tongue.
The amount of blood a female mosquito drinks per serving is five millionths of a liter.
Dragonflies can fly up to 50 miles per hour.
Only female mosquitoes bite humans. Male mosquitoes live on natural liquids from plants and other resources.
One of the most dangerous insect in the world is the common housefly. They carry and transmit more diseases than any other animal in the world.
Most fleas do not live past a year old.
The itch from a mosquito bite can be soothed by cutting open a clove of garlic and rubbing it on the bite.
Mosquitoes prefer children over adults.
Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color.
A mosquito flaps its wings 500 times a second.
The average life span of a mosquito is two weeks.
The Arctic tern flies an average of 22,000 miles a year!
posted by Animal Addicted at 2:17 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Wasp Facts

Wasps that feed on ferment occasionally get drunk and pass out.
Tarantula wasps paralyze tarantulas and lay a single egg on the still living spider; when the egg hatches, the wasp larva has fresh food.
The female yellow jacket wasp lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Female workers develop from the fertilized egg and male drones develop from the unfertilized egg.
posted by Animal Addicted at 2:17 AM 0 comments

Monday, February 11, 2008

Beetle Facts

The heaviest insect in the world is the Goliath beetle from Africa. A big male can weigh up to 100 grams.
There are more than 300,000 species of beetles, making them the largest order of insects in the world.
The metallic-colored wing covers of some beetles are used for jewelry.
posted by Animal Addicted at 2:16 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Butterfly Facts

Butterflies get their name from the yellow brimstone butterfly of Europe that is first seen in the early spring or "butter" season.
Female Queen Alexandra butterflies, from Papua and New Guinea, are the largest in the world, some with wingspans larger than 26 cm.
Butterflies and moths are found on all land masses except Antarctica.
The atlas moth, one of the largest silk moths, can be mistaken for a medium-sized bat when flying.
There are over 2,000 species of butterflies in the rainforests of South America.
Butterflies belong to, alongside with moths to an order called Lepidoptera.
The fastest flying butterfly is the Monarch, which has been clocked with a speed as high as 17 miles per hour.
Butterflies are further divided into 30 orders, the main basis of classification being their wing structure.
The main features of butterflies have in common are:6 legsone pair of antennaea segmented body in which three body parts, a head, a thorax and an abdomen can be distinguished.
Night butterflies have ears on their wings so they can avoid bats.
A butterfly's taste sensors are located below their feet.
The color in a butterfly's wings does not come from pigment. The color is produced prism-like by light reflected by their transparent wing scales.
The largest butterfly is the Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly from Papua New Guinea. The wingspan of the butterfly can reach to be almost one foot.
A butterfly has to have a body temperature greater than 86 degrees to be able to fly.
A butterfly can see the colors red, green, and yellow.
The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'!
Butterflies belong to INSECTS, which is the largest, most varied group of animals.
posted by Animal Addicted at 2:15 AM 0 comments