Care Guide Reference

Insects

Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and most widely distributed sub-classification within the classification Arthropoda. Insects comprise the most diverse group of animals on the earth, with over 800,000 species. Insects may be found in nearly all environments on the planet. The oceans being the only exception where crustaceans tend to predominate.

Insects range in size from less than a millimeter to over 18 centimeters in length. Insects possess segmented bodies supported by an exoskeleton, a hard outer covering made mostly of chitin. The body is divided into a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. The head supports a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of compound eyes, and a mouth. The thorax has six legs and wings if present in the species. The abdomen has excretory and reproductive structures.

Most insects have two pairs of wings located on the second and third thoracic segments. Insects are the only invertebrate group to have developed flight, and this has played an important part in their success.

Insects hatch from eggs, and undergo a series of moults as they develop and grow in size. This manner of growth is necessitated by the exoskeleton. Moulting is a process by which the individual escapes the confines of the exoskeleton in order to increase in size, then, grows a new outer covering. In these species, an egg hatches to produce a larva, which is generally worm-like in form. The larva grows and eventually becomes a pupa, a stage sealed within a cocoon or chrysalis in some species. In the pupa stage, the insect undergoes considerable change in form to emerge as an adult, or imago. Butterflies are an example of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis.

They are an amazing classification well worth the interest they attract within the pet trade.

Written by DNS Exotics