Interesting facts from the life of insects for preschoolers. Unusual insects

There is such an incredible number of different 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 amaze scientists, and already known ones are sometimes changed under the influence of external environment. Evolutionary processes do not stop; it’s just that over the course of several generations the changes they cause cannot always be tracked.

Facts about insects

• The sizes of their smallest representatives do not exceed 0.2 millimeters in adults.
• The first insects appeared on Earth more than 400 million years ago. They survived all 5 mass extinctions and survived even as 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 the weight of all people living today ().
• Approximately 2/3 of all insects in the world eat only plant foods. The rest are partially or completely predators.
• The strongest insect, and indeed the strongest living creature in the world, taking into account size and mass, is the ant.
• The taste organs of butterflies are located very unusually. They are on their hind legs.
• The wingspan of tysanium 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.
• Some 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.
• From the point of view of being rich in protein and nutrients, many insects are very useful.
• Many of them are extremely fertile. Common cockroaches, for example, lay up to 2 million eggs per year.
• Bees kill many more people every year than sharks, tigers or bears and wolves. And even more than poisonous snakes.
• The most fast insect in the world is the dragonfly. When flying, it can reach speeds of up to 55 km/h.
• Some types of moths obtain 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 ().
• Scientists estimate that there are more than 5 million species of insects on Earth that have not yet been discovered.
• More than a million people die every year from mosquito bites in India alone, because mosquitoes carry a lot of dangerous diseases.
• Experiments have shown that wood-eating termites chew wood almost twice as fast while listening to heavy music like hard rock.
• In one species of spider, the first thing the baby spiders hatch from their eggs after birth is to eat their own mother.
• A headless cockroach can live for another week, or even more.
• The world's largest beetles, titans, grow up to 17 centimeters in length.
• Each dragonfly eye is made up of approximately 20,000 tiny lenses.
• The lifespan of some types of dragonflies does not exceed 1 day.
• Some of these creatures, for example, ticks, can go without food for up to 8-9 years. And scorpions can withstand a similar 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 all species of birds combined.
• Ants never sleep throughout their lives ().
• The flies are usually all theirs short life carried out near the place where they were born, unless the wind takes them somewhere far away.
• The most dangerous killer insect is the African tsetse fly. Every year it kills tens of thousands of people and countless livestock.
• The world's largest insect is the giant weta, which resembles a grasshopper or cricket. An adult weighs about 70 grams, which is three times more weight 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 individual bees simply cannot live that long.
• Many insects have more than two eyes. The above-mentioned bees have, for example, 5. And spiders have even more, but their vision is very poor.

They were written for children with attention and memory problems.

It is difficult for them to listen to long stories, remember and retell them as well.

Stories about nature are most suitable for the gradual development of self-control and getting used to working with a book. It is useful to combine work with text with crafts from different materials, drawing.

Stories about insects

Why do bees dance? ?

U honey bee there is a family. It's called a swarm. Sister bees live together. The bee will find a lot of honey and tell the others.

She can't speak! It just buzzes. It’s true, he can’t speak, but he can dance.

The bee dance is simple. She flies in a circle or in a figure eight, buzzes loudly and wags her belly. It's as if he's saying:

I found a lot of honey! Fly after me quickly.

1. Why is the bee called a honey bee?
2. What is the name of a bee colony?
3. How does a bee transmit information to other bees?
4. Call the bee affectionately.
5. What do you call a very big bee, a very small one?..
6. Whose wings does the bee have?

Dragonfly

Dragonflies live near water: rivers, streams, lakes. The dragonfly flies very quickly and dodges deftly. The speed is such that it can catch up with a person racing on a bicycle.

Dragonflies are hunters. They have excellent eyesight. Dragonflies fly like helicopters over a pond in search of prey. Their prey is small mosquitoes and midges. A large dragonfly attacks smaller dragonflies. Doesn't disdain the caterpillar.

When a dragonfly flies, it folds its legs into a house. It turns out to be a trap. A mosquito gaped and fell into the house from her tenacious legs. The dragonfly immediately puts it in its mouth.

Dragonflies are beautiful insects. Take care of them. They decorate nature.

Questions.

1. Where do dragonflies live?
2. What do they eat?
3. How does a dragonfly hunt?
4. Call the dragonfly affectionately.
5. What do you call a very large dragonfly, a very small one?..
6. Whose wings does the dragonfly have?

Ladybug

The small ladybug beetle is known to everyone. She has two hard and durable wings of yellow, orange or red color with black dots. And soft wings hide under them.

Upper wings for protection. Lower wings for flight. Necessary ladybug fly, the upper wings rise, the lower ones straighten, and the beetle flies.

Don't hurt the ladybug. She is a faithful friend and helper. In the garden and in greenhouses, pests - aphids - settle on plants. Aphids suck juices from leaves. The leaves dry out, curl up and fall off.

And the ladybug eats aphids, saving the plants. The ladybug is specially bred and released into gardens. There she fights aphids, helping people.

1. Why does a ladybug need different wings?
2. What is a beetle?
3. How do aphids harm plants?

Ants

IN warm time ants can be found everywhere throughout the year. They run back and forth about their ant business. They seem so small and stupid. In fact, ants are smart insects. Their brain works like a powerful computer. That's what scientists say.

Ants – strong insects. An ant lifts a load 50 times heavier than itself.

The little ant will not allow itself to be offended. He sprays formic acid on the offenders. Formic acid is caustic. It even causes burns.

Formic acid is not scary for people. But you cannot touch the ants or destroy anthills. Ants – beneficial insects in the forest.

1. What is the name of the ant house?
2. How does an ant's brain work?
3. What does an ant spray on its offenders?
4. Call the ant affectionately.
5. How to call very big ant, very small?..
6. Whose head does the ant have?

Fly

Everyone knows the fly. She is harmful and annoying. Buzzing, buzzing.

A fly has six legs and four wings.

The wings are transparent. Two front wings for flight. Hind wings for balance in flight. They are called halteres.

The fly has Velcro on its legs. They help the fly to crawl even upside down.

The fly carries various diseases. She crawls everywhere, and dirt and germs stick to her paws. A fly will crawl across clean place and will leave germs on it.

1. Where does the fly live?
2. What kind of wings does a fly have?
3. Why can a fly crawl upside down?
4. Why does a fly carry various diseases?
5. Call the fly affectionately.
6. How to call very big fly, very small?..

Butterflies

Butterflies are the beauty of nature. There are a lot of them around. The colors of butterflies are different. It pleases our eyes.

Butterflies are small and large. Their body is covered with small scales.

Butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers. They drink it with their proboscis. In the spring, when there are still few flowers, butterflies drink birch or maple sap.

1. What color are the butterflies?
2. What size are they?
3. What is the body of butterflies covered with?
4. What do butterflies eat?

Mosquito

Guess the riddle: "Gray. With two wings. It flies and rings. It bites painfully." A mosquito has a mustache and a proboscis on its head. The mosquito makes no sounds. The ringing comes from mosquito wings. A mosquito flies, and its wings rattle subtly. It turns out to be a ringing sound.

We don't like mosquitoes. A mosquito lands on a person or animal, pierces the skin with its proboscis and drinks blood. Poisonous mosquito saliva will get under the skin. Because of this poison, the bite site itches for a long time. Mosquitoes fly into the heat. It is easier to find warm animals in the evenings and at night. Only mosquitoes bite us. And mosquitoes drink flower nectar. Their proboscis is very thin. They will not bite through thick human skin or animal skin.

1. How many wings does a mosquito have?
2. What sound does a mosquito make when it flies?
3. Where does this sound come from?
4. What do mosquitoes eat?
5. How do mosquitoes find someone to bite?
6. Why does the bite site itch and itch for a long time?
7. Call a mosquito affectionately.
8. How to call very big mosquito, very small?..
9. Whose wings does a mosquito have?

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

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

3. A female cockroach is capable of laying more than two million eggs in a year. In addition, a cockroach can live for nine days without a head.

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

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

6. Snow scorpions contain antifreeze in their blood, which allows them to withstand temperatures down to minus 6 degrees Celsius. However, if you take such a scorpion in your hand, it will die.

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

8. Ants never sleep. There are almost as many species of ants in the world (8800) as birds (9000).

9. Butterflies taste food using their hind legs. And the color of their wings comes from tiny, overlapping scales that reflect light.

10. Aborigines prepare wood larvae “witchetti” by rolling them in hot ashes. Thus, they taste like an omelette.

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

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

13. Dragonflies are the fastest flying insects. Their speed reaches 57 km/h.

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

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

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

17. Crickets have ears located on their front legs, in addition, you can determine the temperature from crickets: to do this, you need to count the number of chirps per minute, divide by two, then add nine and divide by two again. The result will be the temperature in degrees Celsius.

18. About a third of all insects are carnivores and most hunt for food rather than feed on carrion and waste.

19. Grasshoppers can jump a distance that is more than 40 times the length of their body, and a flea can jump a distance that is 130 times its length.

20. On the planet, more than 26 billion insects live in every square mile of inhabited areas. Scientists estimate that there are another 5-10 million species unknown to science.

21. Tiny stinging insects, midges, flap their wings at an incredible speed of 62 thousand 760 times per minute.

23. House flies usually live near the places where they hatched, but it turned out that they can move up to 45 km when exposed to wind.

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

25. A swarm of desert locusts can consist of 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 the inhabitants of New York.

We are surrounded by the invisible world of insects. Little is known about butterflies, flies and dragonflies. Therefore, we have collected for you the most interesting facts about insects that will undoubtedly surprise you!

• 1. Attacus Atlas - this is the name of the largest moth. It is so big that people confuse it with a bird. The wingspan of Attacus Atlas reaches thirty centimeters!

• 2. Flies are small living airplanes. Despite their size, the flight speed of flies can reach 22.4 kilometers per hour (for horseflies), 6.4 kilometers per hour (for housefly) and 11 kilometers per hour (for a carrion fly). These insects masterfully dodge the deadly fly swatter because they plan well.
• 3. In one jump, a flea can jump 33 centimeters. If we translate such an achievement to us, a person would jump as much as 213 meters.
• 4. One swarm of desert locusts can consist of 50 billion individuals. It is also interesting that each insect eats as much food per day as it weighs. Therefore, in one day, the entire swarm of locusts eats 4 times more food than the residents of the New York metropolis all together.

• 5. The buzz of a honey bee is created by flapping its wings very quickly - about 11,400 beats in one minute.
• 6. On the border of Thailand and Malaysia, a grasshopper was caught, the length of which was twenty-five and a half centimeters. This insect made long jumps of 4.6 meters.

• 7. Interesting facts about insects also concern the substances they produce. Did you know that bee venom is chemical composition is an acid and is it an alkali?
• 8. If you cut off the head of a pet cockroach, it will live for another couple of weeks.
• 9. Every year from bee stings More people die than from snakes.
• 10. 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.
• 11. Dragonflies fly the fastest of all insects. Their flight speed is 57 kilometers per hour.
• 12.V natural environment The lifespan of an ant is approximately a year. But in the laboratory these insects live even 4, or even all 7 years for males and 20 years for females.
• 13. Crickets are very unusual insects. Their ears are located on their front paws. And the body temperature of crickets can be measured in degrees Celsius by their crickets. 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.

• 14. An interesting creature lives in Africa Namib Desert– a rolling spider called Carparachneaureoflava. To protect against its main enemies - road wasps - it digs very deep holes, down the slopes of which they roll like a wheel from attacks. The speed is one meter per second, which is equal to 44 revolutions.

• 15. Ants of the genus Dorylus are used by the indigenous people of Africa for cuts and for surgical purposes. With their sting they tighten wounds.

• 16. The lanternfly or alligator beetle lives in Central America. It got its name because unusual shape heads.

• 17. Interesting way Gladiator spiders, which live in Australia, use them for hunting. They spin webs in a square shape, holding the ends between their front paws. When the victim gets caught in the web, the spider covers it with its web in one quick movement.

Interesting video about insects. An insect from another planet. Mantis.

Insects are a huge class of animals that differ from other living beings in structure, lifestyle, behavior, etc. No matter what aspect of their life people pay attention to, everywhere you can find a lot interesting facts, captivating the imagination of not only children, but also adults.

Biologists believe that representatives of this group are the rightful masters of the Earth, since the number of species of this taxon significantly exceeds all other existing groups. A separate science has been created to study insects - entomology, which is practiced by people who admire the uniqueness and diversity of these interesting creatures.

Origin and distribution

Scientists believe that crustaceans are the older brothers of insects. Genetic analysis shows that it was this group of animals that was the ancestor of all butterflies, ants, beetles, etc. The birth of a new class occurred approximately 400 million years ago, after which their numbers increased at the speed of a snowball. They had no natural enemies, and food supplies were not limited in any way, so reproduction and settlement to various parts of the land proceeded at an amazing speed.

If modern man found himself in that era, he would have felt like a participant in a science fiction film or an interesting computer game: Huge six-legged creatures, striking in their size, crawled, flew and ran around. The Paleozoic era is unofficially called the “Golden Era of Insects”, since there was no threat of being eaten by birds (birds did not yet exist), mammals (170 million years remained before their appearance), or being crushed by human feet (people would appear only later 398 million years). Freedom and excellent conditions existence led to the full flowering of the class.

Prehistoric landscapes were decorated with giant mega-insects, striking in the size of their bodies and wings. Soaring through the air were the predecessors of modern dragonflies - meganeuras, which have a fleshy abdomen and a wingspan of about a meter, and eat other ancient mega-insects - dictyonevrids. Dictyonevrids were approximately the same size as pigeons, and their mouth was more like a powerful beak, which did an excellent job of piercing cones in search of seeds.

Modern entomologists were able to study in detail some representatives of the class thanks to a special gift from nature - tree resin, which flowed onto the chitinous shells, enclosing them inside amber unique material for study. Representatives of groups that became extinct many millions of years ago have come to us in such an interesting form.

Small but invulnerable

With the course of evolution, it turned out that large sizes are not so good. Huge animals - dinosaurs - paid for their gigantic dimensions by completely disappearing from the face of the earth, while the development of insects turned in time to the path of reducing their representatives. Asteroid falls, faults earth's crust and volcanic eruptions, continental drift along different parts the world's oceans, major glaciations - it turned out that all the cataclysms are much easier to survive by climbing into a secluded place where you can sit out until better times. Moreover, with a small body, there is no such huge need for food that large representatives of the fauna experience, driven by hunger from their shelters.

A striking feature of the class, expressed in adaptability to different conditions, is observed today: more than 1 million species various forms occupy all known biological and ecological niches. They can be found in any climate on any continent, even in the harshest regions such as Antarctica. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that in the eternal struggle against insect pests, humanity is not destined to achieve a final victory: a person would rather kill himself than completely destroy creatures that he does not like with such a high potential for survival.

How many are there?

Modern science knows a little more than 1 million species, but even according to the most conservative estimates of entomologists, their number is much larger: from 2-5 million to 8 million. Even optimistic scientists understand that most representatives and species have not yet been encountered by humans and have not been described specialists. Some representatives of their taxonomic groups were observed in a single specimen, and many were observed in a single place on the planet.

Students who intend to become entomologists can expect to make some great discoveries in their lifetime: over seven thousand new discoveries are made by entomology scientists every year. interesting species, never seen by man before. By general rules open group You can assign any name, even given name, which will perpetuate the specialist and be remembered by descendants.

Reasons for rapid evolution

The excellent survival rate of insects is primarily due to their relatively short lifespan and rapid reproduction rate. While mammals manage to somehow adapt to new conditions and not die, insects go through hundreds or thousands of generations, in which all the changes have already occurred and become entrenched, so the offspring are fully adapted and practically indestructible.

In addition, most members of the class have impressive reproduction rates. The cockroach, which is the standard of adaptability, is capable of laying more than 2 million eggs per year, almost all of which will turn into sexually mature individuals. In addition, their low weight and size contribute to their spread throughout the planet. skin and wool of various animals or with transport. Some small specimens may be picked up air currents, hurricanes and winds and is transported tens and hundreds of kilometers, and sometimes even to neighboring continents. When the wind subsides, they fall down without the risk of breaking on the ground or rocks, which again contributes light weight. Even an ordinary fly the wind can carry her several tens of kilometers from the place where she lived.

Development cycle

The main interesting and distinctive feature of these creatures is their life cycle. In their development, they go through several stages, during which they look completely different, not only their appearance changes, but also most of the organs and functions of the body. Development occurs in several stages:

• Egg. The female lays an egg, which is inside the shell. Eggs different types They differ in size and shape, are very bright and have unexpectedly complex sculptures, stains, and patterns on the surface. Often this stage falls during a period of unfavorable weather, which in this form is much easier to endure, because the need to look for food disappears.

• Larva. The larva hatches from the egg. Most often, its biological task is to gain weight, so all organs and behavior are determined by the ability to eat often and grow quickly. Some caterpillars can be poisonous, which they signal with their bright, “screaming” coloring. This is necessary to protect yourself from numerous enemies: birds or animals vying for a trophy in the form of a caterpillar. They can also be dangerous for humans, causing poor health, and if touched by a whole brood poisonous caterpillars(for example, in lonomia), even death may occur.

• Doll. After the larva has collected a sufficient amount nutrients, she pupates. The pupa is a formation with a chitinous cover. From the outside it seems that nothing is happening to him, but in fact very much is happening inside. interesting processes. The entire body of the larva disintegrates into cells, and after that new organs and body are formed from them. adult. This change is hidden from the eyes of an outside observer, which is why it arouses such keen interest among all people.

• Imago. Adult stage– imago – conceived by nature specifically in order to prolong the race. For this reason, it no longer needs many functions. A striking illustration of this is the absence of the oral apparatus in adult specimens of certain groups, because until the time of finding a partner can be survived on old reserves, “eaten” at the larval stage, and after laying eggs, there is no point in preserving the life of an adult insect.

The life cycle can take a different period of time: from one day to several years. The record holder for the longest-living class is the cicada, which goes through all stages of development in 17 years, but the trend towards the disappearance of large and long-lived insects from the face of the earth is getting worse every year.

Nutrition

In the classroom you can find representatives who use a wide variety of food sources: dead bodies, droppings, rot, seeds, leaves, wood, roots, blood, skin, etc. Typically, larvae and adults eat different foods. Some can even eat substances that are poisonous, such as strychnine.

Many of them are very picky: even mosquitoes, which seem to bite everyone indiscriminately, have special preferences. Most of all, female mosquitoes like the blood of women with blond hair; they are especially attracted by the body odor of a person who has recently eaten a banana. Male mosquitoes do not need blood, so they feed on flower pollen.

Interesting fact: butterflies have cells that sense taste on their paws, so before starting to eat, they tend to “stomp” on the dish. The same mechanism for recognizing tastes is found in house flies, which strive to land on food with all six paws.

Some specimens, on the contrary, are extremely unpretentious in food, and can serve as an example for many on a diet. Ticks can survive without food for 10 years. Of course, they are not active, they sit in one place and wait suitable conditions to satisfy your hunger. 30% of all species are not "vegetarians", they eat more small insects, feed on the blood or tissues of the body of mammals, and eat carrion.

Many insects eat plants, some are so persistent in this that agronomists around the world are constantly struggling with these eternally hungry creatures. For specialists working in the field agriculture, it is a well-known fact that these animals eat about 30% of the world's crops. Locusts are especially successful in this, one swarm of which can contain about 50 billion individuals. Migrating locusts, living in the countries of Africa, Australia or Asia, during outbreaks of numbers are capable of devouring not only crops on their way, but destroying people’s homes and furniture, so its invasion is considered a real natural disaster.

Social life

The most interesting area for entomologists is social connections among insects. The most outstanding in this regard are one of the first representatives of the class - ants and their relatives - termites. They are characterized by life in a dwelling built on our own, joint raising of offspring and a clear division of functions within the colony.

All representatives of the colony are divided into castes: reproductive individuals, soldiers, workers, etc. The dwellings built by these animals are distinguished by high technical quality and functionality: they have protective structures, a system for maintaining humidity and air conditioning, etc. Such buildings can reach a height of 9 meters, and drop 10 meters deep into the ground. Sometimes settlements are huge megacities that can compete even with human cities: the largest settlement occupies 6 thousand km.

Interesting facts about insects