What is a Bug?

To learn what a bug is, we have to know about

INSECTS 

Primitive insects first appeared on Earth about 350 million years ago.

 

Since that time bugs have adapted to nearly every habitat on earth. From the hottest to the coldest..they live everywhere. Because of their abundance, insects  have also survived their way into just about every subject of human life.

 

There are over a million known species grouped into 34 orders. Of this immense number of bugs, almost 100,000 species are known in North America.

 

Insects belong to  the Phylum Arthropoda, which also includes other creatures who have segmented bodies and paired, many-jointed legs, and an exoskeleton.

 

Sea creatures such as the horseshoe crab, sea spiders and other crustaceans are also members of the Arthropods, but remember they are not insects, just 'cousins' of the insects.

 

Land creatures such as spiders (who are not true insects), ticks, scorpions and more also are Arthropods.

 

The arthropods are divided into classes,  insects belong to the Class Insecta.

 

Insects differ from all their relatives in having body segments grouped in three parts:

1.      A head, which usually has a pair of sensory antennae;

2.      A thorax, with 3 pairs of jointed legs and often 2 pairs of
    membranous wings (sometimes only one pair of wings);

3.      An abdomen.

 

Insects are divided into different Orders.

 

Beetles belong to the Order Coleoptera, butterflies are part of the Order Lepidoptera, and so goes the list.

 

Then the Orders are divided into Families and the Families are divided into Genera, and finally the Genera are divided into Species.

 

When most people talk about a certain kind of bug, they usually are talking about a certain species of insect.

So, a bug is simply an every day word people use to describe whatever little creature they are talking about...sometimes it is a real Insect, sometimes it is a Spider..but always it is segmented, with pairs of many jointed legs and has an exoskeleton. By visiting Bugs.cc lots of times, you will learn and be able to show folks what you really know about bugs, by being able to tell if it is an Insect or other Arthropod.

BACK