You insects are the only invertebrate animals capable of flying, and because they have articulated legs they are classified in the phylum of arthropods. Currently, around 900,000 species of insects, most of which are found in the terrestrial environment.
You insects have their bodies divided into heads (where we found the antennas), chest (where we find the wings and legs) and abdomen. At antennas in insects they have the same function as touch in human beings, in addition to being through them that the animal is able to capture smells. Most insects like butterflies, bees, beetles, cockroaches, grasshoppers have two pairs of wings, while other insects like mosquitos and flies only present a pair of wings. Ants and termites males and females have wings only at the time of reproduction, and there are other insects that do not have wings at any time in life, such as moths, fleas, lice, etc.
The body of insects is divided into head, thorax and abdomen
Oinsect body is clad in a very strong armor we call the exoskeleton.Oexoskeletonconsists mainly ofchitin, a carbohydrate of the polysaccharide group.
as theexoskeletonis a very rigid structure, the bugit can only grow after this exoskeleton is replaced, a process we call changes or ecdysis.
During the changes, the animal's organism produces a new exoskeleton underneath the old exoskeleton, which splits allowing the exit of thebug.As soon as it comes out of the old exoskeleton, thebug, which is now with a new and very flexible exoskeleton, manages to grow, and after a few minutes or even hours, this new exoskeleton hardens and this growth stops.
In this image we can see a cicada coming out of the ancient exoskeleton, in the process we call molting
US insects several types of mouthpiece, depending on your type of food, they are:
¨Lick-sucking mouthparts: found in butterflies, moths, etc., it is adapted to lick and suck nectar from flowers;
¨Biter-sucking mouthpiece: found in insects that suck the sap of vegetables (bugs, cicadas, male mosquitoes) and the blood of animals (female mosquitoes);
¨Chewing type mouthparts: found in cockroaches, grasshoppers, beetles, bees. It is adapted to the handling and chewing of food;
¨Licker-type mouthparts: found in the housefly. This mouthpart absorbs food after dissolving it with salivary secretions.
THE insect breath is made through tracheas (tracheal breathing), it's the circulatory system it is composed of a heart located in the abdomen that pumps blood into a vessel, which then distributes this blood to other regions of the animal's body.
You insects are dioecious, that is, they have separate sexes, and most of them suffer metamorphosis, a process that consists of a transformation of the animal's body and its way of life.
By Paula Louredo
Graduated in Biology
