10 Amazing Facts About Insects.

Insects could make up as many as three-quarters of animal species on Earth. And we've got a lot to thank these successful mini-beasts for.

Insects play a vital role in keeping our ecosystems healthy. Amongst other things, they break down organic matter and enrich our soil, and provide food for larger animals in the food chain. 

Bees - and other pollinating insects - are also essential in pollinating all sorts of plants, including many of our food crops. Their numbers have declined drastically in the last 60 years, and The Bee Cause campaign has highlighted how we can help them.

                                                                       Hercules beetles

                                       

1. Hercules beetles can lift 850 times their own weight. That’s equivalent to a human lifting 10 elephants.

                                                                         The Raft Spider 

                                     

   

2. The raft spider is the largest spider in Britain.It spends half its life in water, and can stay under the surface for as long as an hour. It does this by using air bubbles trapped under the hairs on its body.

                                                                                   Bees

                                            

3. Bees are probably the most useful of all insects to humans, because they make it possible for plants to grow by pollinating them. Some species also make honey – it’s thought they make about 10 million nectar-collecting trips to produce enough honey to fill a 450g jar.

                                                                     Golden Orb-Web Spider

                                            

4. The golden orb-web spider spins the largest of all orb weaver spider webs, and is believed to make the strongest silk. Its web can be 1-2 metres across, and is built to catch insects such as flies, wasps and butterflies.

5. Have you ever wondered if insects have ears? They do, but they’re not like mammal ears. Crickets have ‘ears’ on their legs, some hawk moths have ears on their mouthparts and mantid ears are between their back legs.

                                                                         Australian Tiger Beetle

                                         

6. An Australian tiger beetle is probably the world’s fastest running insect. A fierce hunter, it can reach speeds of 9 kilometres an hour when chasing prey. That’s pretty incredible for a little insect.

7. Some midges – which are actually tiny bloodsucking flies – beat their wings faster than any other creature. One type achieves an astonishing 1,000 beats a second.

                                                                                  Army Ants

                                             

8. Army ants are individually small but travel in huge numbers - often hundreds of thousands – attacking animals in their path. Small workers sting prey to death, while larger soldier ants with big jaws defend the troop against any threat.

9. Ladybirds can eat as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime, which makes them a gardener’s best friend

    Deathstalker Scorpion

                                           

 

10. One of the most dangerous scorpions in the deathstalker scorpion, which lives in Africa and the Middle East. It uses its highly toxic venom to kill insects and other small animals.