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viemarin · 1 year ago

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Yes the insects! I didn't know bugs were an actual category of insects? I thought it's just what people called insects they didn't like.

most people don’t know the differences between insects and true bugs, because it’s not common knowledge! (in some languages - like mine - there aren’t even different words for either…)

from what i’ve seen, a lot use both as interchangeable terms when it’s not the case at all ^^ taxonomists (those who classify into families) use ‘true bugs’ to refer to this very particular category of insects :)

actually, a lot of insects whose common names include the word ‘bug’ aren’t true bugs at all - the lovebug is a fly, and the ladybug is a beetle, for example!

What insects are the most dangerous?

one of the most dangerous insect that we know is - the mosquito 🦟

in general, the dislike for mosquitoes comes from the fact that that their bite leaves red, itchy bumps on your skin; but by itself, it’s mostly just an annoyance. unfortunately, a mosquito bite can have more serious consequences depending on the species and its habitat.

the problem is that mosquitoes can carry parasites that will transmit sometimes deadly diseases to humans: like malaria or yellow fever, for example. this only applies to females, though - the males only feed on nectar. (yep, mosquitoes are pollinators! others insects that pollinate include beetles, butterflies / moths, flies, … and, for the fun fact: birds and bats are also pollinators ^^)

it’s estimated that, as a whole, mosquitoes have caused around 2.7 million deaths every year! this makes them the deadliest animal to humans that we know of. :0

there are other dangerous insects, though - and it’s usually because of similar reasons as mosquitoes, aka carrying deadly diseases. those include: kissing bugs (chagas disease - about 12,000 people annually), fleas (either the black plague which, yes, still exist, or typhus - about 110 000 people annually), as well as some others.

some people are also allergic to insects!

that being said, while we should remember that insects can, indeed, be dangerous to us in certain conditions, i think it’s important not to follow ‘insects are the literal plague and we should exterminate them all’ logic too closely. (it’s a thing, unfortunately… i can sort of vaguely see where it comes from, but it’s just such an extreme…)

i’ve seen people posting pro-insects posts being sent death treats, which is like… Big Yikes. insects have importance in our ecosystem - even mosquitoes, as deadly to us as they can be. they keep pest insects in check, they pollinate flowers, they serve as a food source. mosquitoes being gone would cause many disturbances in nature. birds, bats, aquatic animals, etc, rely on them to feed themselves. their role is absolutely central. (of course, it’s possible that some of the changes engendered by the disappearance of mosquitoes could be good for us - but a lot could be bad, too. that’s why we shouldn’t aim to modify nature unless necessary.)

i’m especially passionate abt this topic because i’ve seen sooo many bad takes online on the subject >:(

What differences to social (hive?) insects have with solitary insects?

oh boy, i have sooo many things to say abt this‼️‼️

firstly! 'hive minds' as they appear in fiction do not exist in nature - every insect living in a hive are not mentally connected with each other; they communicate, usually either by pheromones - like ants - or by movements - like bees.

secondly! in insects, social behaviors are more complicated than just ‘social’ and ‘solitary’ - in fact, scientists have described 5 of them: eusocial, semisocial, subsocial, solitary, communal and quasisocial!

insects like bees or ants are at the origin of this concept. people before had no idea how they communicated, so to them, it simply felt like they all shared the same consciousness - hence why hive minds were represented this way in fiction!

that being said, they are a thing; it’s just not what people think it is ^^ to put it simply, hive minds are large, highly organized groups! they can divide tasks between themselves, and they’re organized around a single, fertile female - the queen!

of course, this include all ants and termites, but also some species of bees and wasps!

those two here are the yellowjacket wasp, and the hornet wasp, who both belong in the genus vespidae.

those four insects are what we call ‘eusocial’ - meaning that they exhibit all three social behaviors. but now, you might be wandering: what are these social behaviors?

sharing a common nest

cooperative care of the broods

division of labor

overlapping generations

let me explain what they are~!

the first three are very self-explanatory - every member of the colony lives together, all of them help care for the broods, and tasks are divided between individuals.

but for the last one - what we call ‘overlapping generations' in insects is when certain offsprings grow up, and start helping the parents feed and care for the young.

ants, bees, termites and wasps do all three of these things, so they’re considered ‘true social’ insects.

so how do the other four categories work? to put it simply - we classify species depending on how many of these social behaviors they exhibit! :D

semisocial insects (ie, an halictid bee) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings; have a caste system.

subsocial insects (ie, a cockroach) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings for some period of time.

solitary insects (ie, most of them) no social behaviors.

communal insects (ie, a digger bee) share a common nest with their species. no cooperation in brood care.

quasisocial insects (ie, an euglossine bee) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings.

(subsocial and quasisocial are two categories that are kind of hard to differentiate from each other - they’re both referred to as 'parasocial.' the main difference is, 'how long do they care for offsprings?')

social behaviors are very complex, but that makes them very interesting to learn abt, too :DD

What's the difference between a locust and a grasshopper?

that question is really interesting, because…

locusts ARE grasshoppers ^^ more specifically, they’re short-horned grasshoppers :D

both of them belong in the genus acrididae; they follow a primarily herbivore diet, and are sometimes considered agricultural pests. the main difference is in their behaviors!

grasshoppers are solitary animals, but locusts are the exact opposite, as they develop social behaviors. this is what we call 'gregarious characteristics' x3

it’s only certain conditions that lead grasshoppers to develop those behaviors, the main one being droughts! when a dry spell happens anywhere, the vegetation is going to suffer - unfortunately, this is dangerous for insects such as grasshoppers.

in these cases, they will abandon their solitary ways and become gregarious: they’ll reproduce at an extremely high rate, and when that’s done, the nymphs and swarms will move as one, stopping at any green area they find to eat!

and this change is actually happening on a chemical level - in this situation, grasshoppers will secrete serotonin, which is the hormone that boosts mood in humans. ^^ it’s not the only change, though!

like, physically, locusts have longer and stronger wings, since they migrate - they need to fly long distance, and often. their body is also smaller than a grasshopper’s!

fun fact:

farmers will often use locusts to know when to prepare for droughts, as their presence indicate the arrival of a dry spell :D

What’s the purpose of a butterflies colourful wings?

generally, in nature, colors have one purpose - being a warning sign.

i’m sure you’ve seen the blue-ringed octopus before, but the thing with this little guy is that the blue on its body is here to warn predators that 'hey, i'm venomous, and if you try to fuck with me then i'm gonna poison you'

the same applies to butterflies, especially those with particularly vibrant colors!

the other reasons behind a butterfly’s wings being the way they are can either be as a way to communicate with each other or as a means of scaring off predators. sometimes, this can also be how butterflies communicate with each other!

one example is the forest giant owl butterfly! the eyesposts on its wings are meant to look like an owl’s, which is how it protects itself from becoming someone’s dinner xD

also this is kinda off-topic but i Need you to see those butterflies‼️‼️

right - glasswinged butterfly, left - dead leaf butterfly!

the glasswinged butterfly’s wings might seem weak, but they can actually carry up to 40x their own weight! the more you know xD (and you know i love my mimicry!!)

What physical differences are there between carnivorous and herbivorous insects? (And omnivorous too, if there are any).

gonna answer the shortest question first - yep, there are omnivorous insects too! that include some species of crickets, for example. the number of omnivorous insects is pretty low, though - most of them are herbivorous ^^

(there’s a hypothesis that says herbivorous insects could have evolved into omnivorous ones when they lost their primary source of food, but it’s just a theory atm!!)

but as for physical differences between carnivorous and herbivorous insects, well… they’re all very varied, and there’s not really any specific, physical caracteristics shared between two carnivores / herbivores ^^;

for example, dragonflies and most ground beetles eat flesh, but they look vastly different from each other.

(ok, i kind of cheated on the beetles because they’re not solely carnivorous, but it still works sksks)

most differences happen on an internal level!

(and, of course, we can’t forget our beloved decomposers, those little insects that eat dead stuff x3)

Also I’d love to hear about centipedes and millipedes too!

yeeee its centipedes / millipedes time‼️‼️‼️

okay firstly!!! what are the differences between them!!!!!!!

this is a Good graph :D

some fun facts!!!

centipedes never have 100 legs; in fact, they can’t have an even number pairs of legs, period!

they can have as few as 15 pairs, or as many as 191 pairs!

while most centipedes have are born with a full complement of leg pairs, certain centipedes (like the stone centipedes) add theirs throughout their molts! also‼️ a centipede can sacrifice a few of its legs to escape the grip of a predator! they can even regrow them! (if you find one with some legs that are shorter, then it’s probably recovering from the process ^^)

some centipedes are good moms :D

and for millipedes!!!!!

much like centipedes, millipedes can never have exactly a 1000 legs. (the liars!) the majority of millipedes can have anywhere between 80-400 legs!

millipedes are born without legs! they stay as legless larva until their first molt, where they’ll end up with 6 body segments and 3 pairs of legs :D

like the picture above says, a millipede will curl up into a ball when attacked! some species also take it further by defending themselves via chemicals - they can either be poisonous, or just foul-smelling x3

milipedes were the first known land-dwelling animals over 430 million years ago :0

also unrelated but.

this is a giraffe weevil. he’s a beetle. he fights others from his species with his neck. he is silly

Sometimes I feel sad that my special interest is learning as a broad because I used love school so much but obviously the school system and being autistic and shit kinda ruined my experience and now I really struggle to engage in my own special interest.

But then I remember I’m the perfect friend to other autistics. Like please. Tell me everything about your niche interest. I will ask questions. Lots. I will get as obsessed with you. I will remember for next time.

#୨୧ : webbed wanderings #୨୧ : insects #the saga continues #thank you for the interest 😊#btw.#a part of me wants to mention #that i absolutely suck at pokemon #because all i ever want to do #is capture #bug types +_+#my absolute favorites are!!!!#scolipede and galvantula #are you surprised? ^^

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