Insects on Pitara Kids Network

How do Houseflies Spread Diseases?

Sun, 07 Jan 2001 19:49:44 +0000

The housefly (musca domestica) is one of the most common of all insects. It is a major health hazard, particularly in parts of the world where sanitary conditions are poor.

The housefly has a dull gray, bristled body that is about 7 mm in length. It has large reddish compound eyes. Its mouth cannot bite but consists of a spongy pad.

The Wonderful World of Insects

Mon, 27 Nov 2000 15:58:31 +0000

What is an Insect?

Insects are found all over India from the icy Himalayas to the burning sands of the Thar Desert. They are found in the murky depths of rivers and lakes, and in the grass in your neighbourhood park. In fact, insects are everywhere-flying in the air, hidden among leaves and flowers, buried deep in the ground and even swimming in the water!

Some insects are so small that you may not be able to see them while others like certain beetles are as big as a mouse. Yet the smaller insects are the more active. Did you know that ants and bees pull or lift objects many times heavier than their own weight, or that flies flap their wings as many as one thousand times a second? Insects are strange and fascinating creatures.

Why do Flies have Compound Eyes?

Fri, 11 May 2001 00:04:44 +0000

Just like a man woos the woman he loves, takes her to nice restaurants, buys her presents, and courts her to impress her before marriage, animals too choose their mates through courtship.

Since animals cannot do all these, they do it differently. Some animals put up a colourful display, while others give little gifts to their beloved – a choice worm, a designer nest and so on. A few species display their love through a series of grunts and others, like the Saurus crane or the stickleback fish, perform an intricate courtship dance.

How Bad is the Sting of a Scorpion?

Sat, 17 Feb 2001 14:20:30 +0000

Ever seen a scorpion scurrying across with two crab-like claws and its tail high in the air? Well this tail is what has to be watched out for! The zing in the scorpion is in its tail for it has a sting.

Scorpions are poisonous animals. They are arthropods belonging to the class Arachnida and are relatives of the spiders and ticks. Though they are considered creatures of the desert, you can find them in most climates, hot or cold. They can be found in snow-covered peaks, in caves, in grasslands and forests. You can even find them in your homes.

Which Insects Live the Longest?

Mon, 27 Nov 2000 07:47:29 +0000

Take a look around. Which insects do you see? A fly sitting on your computer screen, a mosquito buzzing in your ear just as you drop off to sleep, a butterfly flitting about in the garden outside, or how about the ants that made off with the remains of a dead moth?

Most of the insects we see around us have rather short lives. A few hours, a few days, that’s about how long most insects last. We don’t notice them dying out because they’re promptly replaced by a new bunch. Yet, some insects live comparatively really long lives.

Does the Black Widow Spider Kill her Mate?

Tue, 06 Jun 2000 06:08:59 +0000

Largest of the cobweb weavers, the black widow or Latrodectus Mactans is a poisonous spider. They get their ignoble name because the females commonly eat their mates after mating (as is common among spiders) and hence are often widows. They comprise about six species and inhabit warmer regions of the world.

Shiny black in colour with a reddish hourglass shape on the underside of her spherical abdomen, the female black widow is about one inch long. The male is about half her size and may have a pair of reddish stripes on the side of his abdomen.

The Bed Bug and the Mosquito

Fri, 01 Oct 1999 01:31:34 +0000

A long, long time ago there lived a bed bug. He had a huge family. There were children, grandchildren, and great grand children. They all lived together on a beautiful bed. They lived in the corners and crevices of the bed. And the huge, beautiful bed belonged to the king of the country.

When the king slept, the bug and his entire family used to crawl out of their home. They would wait for the king to drift off to deep sleep and then feast on the king’s blood. The king’s blood was sweet, as sweet can be and they relished their meal.

Roach Sense

Mon, 22 Oct 2001 23:08:45 +0000

Have you ever caught a glimpse of a cockroach scurrying across your kitchen floor? Well, by the time you manage to get your hands on a roach repellent, the cockroach would have disappeared. Not surprising really, considering you are dealing with one of the greatest escape artists in the insect kingdom.

Yes, cockroaches or roaches for short, are adept at wriggling out of tight spots. Whether it is a frog lurking behind a bush, or a descending broom, these creatures have an uncanny ability to scent danger. That’s how they have survived on earth for the past 320 million years!

Why do Locusts Swarm?

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 15:57:51 +0000

Have you ever tried chasing a frisky grasshopper? If you have, you will definitely know that scampering after a jumpy bug is not an easy task. Most species of grasshoppers have a keen sense of hearing and the moment they sense trouble, they can hop fast and furious!

Sometimes, shortage of food turns grasshoppers into migratory insects as they venture out in search of newer pastures. This situation happens when the species begins reproducing rapidly and does not have enough food for all the members of its community.

Mosquito Menace

Tue, 10 Dec 2002 06:57:42 +0000

Guess what besides fat raindrops, rain clouds in Mumbai bring? Those tiny terrors, mosquitoes. Result: nights spent tossing and turning, and swatting the insects. But the next morning you wake up with those tell tale red marks on your arms, pause to think if you took a bath or not the previous night.

That’s right. Human sweat turns mosquitoes on more than anything else. Research carried out by scientists in The Netherlands say that mosquitoes are actually quite finicky about whom they sting and never ever nibble at random. They find sweaty people absolutely irresistible however and the more stale the sweat the better. Yuck!

The Song of the Bee

Thu, 03 Jun 1999 22:15:56 +0000

Buzz! buzz! buzz!
This is the song of the bee.
His legs are yellow;
A jolly, good fellow,
And yet a great worker is he.

In days that are sunny
He’s getting his honey,
In days that are cloudy
He’s making his wax:
On pinks and on lilies,
And gay daffodillies,
And columbine blossoms,
He levies a tax!

Buzz! buzz! buzz!
The sweet-smelling clover,
He, humming, hangs over;
The scent of the roses
Makes fragrant his wings:
He never gets lazy;

The Last of the Big Ones

Thu, 29 Mar 2001 10:48:16 +0000

The red-and-silver Dragonfly happily flitted across the pool:

“Zim, Zim, Zim,

Over the water I skim.

Now dart in,

Now dart out,

Dash across

And turn about.”

“Oh, bother,” croaked a hoarse voice as with a plop, a large Bullfrog settled himself on a lily pad. “A little less darting and dashing might be better all round. It’s hot and dusty enough without your hovering above my head.”
“Zim, Zim,

Do centipedes really have 100 feet?

Wed, 05 Dec 2001 13:50:22 +0000

They are called centipedes because it is believed that they have 100 feet. Actually, they don’t. Of the 3,000 different types of centipedes on our planet, none have 100 feet. Some have 50 and some as much as 350.

The extremely venomous Peruvian Giant Yellow-leg or Amazonian Giant Centipede. These eat everything from insects to birds!

All centipedes have an odd number of body segments, and each segment has two legs attached to it. So, that magic number 100 has never been reached.

Why Don't Spiders Get Caught in Their Webs?

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 11:34:30 +0000

Spiders are not insects but are classified by biologists as arachnids. Arachnids are different from insects as they have eight legs and no antennae. There are over 40,000 species of spiders and some of them build webs while others rely on speed to catch their prey.

A spider building its web is extremely fascinating to watch. Some spin these webs by squirting silken threads from modified excretory glands in their body. Each silk gland (some species have up to five) produces a different type of silk. Some silk glands produce a liquid silk that becomes dry outside the body; while other glands produce a sticky silk that stays sticky.

Little Blue Daisies

Sat, 29 Sep 2001 19:34:09 +0000

Little blue daisies

in my flowerbed
First came the ladybird
red red red
Fly away ladybird
said the daisy blue
Poor little ladybird flew flew flew

Then came the grasshopper
green green green
He hid in the leaves
not to be seen
Hop away grasshopper,
said the daisy blue
Poor little grasshopper
Went hop, hop hop

Third came the bumblebee
black black black
Humming to himself
a brand new song
Fly away bumblebee, said

Why do Woollens Get Holes?

Sun, 16 Jul 2000 07:18:44 +0000

Most people think moths are responsible for eating up our woollen clothes, furs and rugs and making holes in them. This is because when we open these boxes in spring, a number of moths fly out. Don’t you believe it! Moths do not eat wool.

It is the larvae (caterpillar) of certain moths that cause holes in our woollens. Caterpillars feed on wool, furs and other fabrics and damage them. But where do these caterpillars come from? The lifecycle of moths, butterflies and sawflies is in four stages – eggs, larva (caterpillar), pupa and adult.

Why are Moths Attracted to Light?

Thu, 14 Jun 2001 23:16:46 +0000

Have you seen a moth circle a lamp, or fly straight into a candle flame? It looks as if the light is pulling it in.

For a long time, people thought moths used the Moon to find their way. A moth flies in a straight line by keeping a far-off light, like the Moon, at the same angle. So people thought a nearby lamp tricked the moth and made it spin in circles.

But scientists now think that idea is wrong. In 2024, they filmed flying insects in very slow motion, and found something surprising. Insects keep their back turned towards the brightest light. That is how they know which way is up!

Insect which Swims on Its Back

Mon, 29 Oct 2001 14:55:17 +0000

Swimmers, who are in a lazy mood and want to relax, prefer floating on their backs. Did you know that there is a bug that swims on its back? It is called the Backswimmer. It is about 0.13 to 0.63 inches long.

Unlike many other insects who use their wings for this purpose, the backswimmers make use of their hind legs to paddle on their backs. Some of them have hair on their legs which help them to swim. It provides a larger surface area to push against the water.

The Cool Firefly

Wed, 05 Sep 2001 14:21:52 +0000

Firefly is just a name. They are actually very cool insects. And they are not even flies, they are beetles. They have a way of sending out light signals every now and then. If you see them at night on a tree, you might think it is a brightly lit Christmas tree. That is the kind of light these fireflies produce.

But the light they send out does not have heat, like the bulbs we use. The firefly’s light is cold. Actually these beetles could be the most efficient bulbs if only we knew how to use them. For almost all the energy they produce gets changed into bright light – cool light.

Beautiful Flowers that Stink!

Tue, 11 Sep 2001 15:38:50 +0000

A blow-fly was looking for an ideal place to lay eggs. Like rotting meat. So that when her little maggots were born, they could feed on the meat.

As she turned a corner in the grassland, she smelt something stinking in the air. The smell of rotten meat! With great joy she perched on it and laid her eggs. She was happy that her children would have enough food to eat.

The blow-fly did not know she had made a great mistake. What she had sat upon was not meat but a flower, which stinks. It is called a carrion flower.
So, when the blow-fly’s eggs hatched and the little maggots came out, they had nothing to eat. They died of starvation.

The Flies and the Honey Pot

Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:57:58 +0000

A jar of honey chanced to spill
Its contents on the windowsill
In many a viscous pool and rill

The flies, attracted by the sweet,
Began so greedily to eat,
They smeared their fragile wings and feet.

With many a twitch and pull in vain
They gasped to get away again,
And died in aromatic pain.

What's Biting the Flea?

Tue, 01 Feb 2000 02:22:01 +0000

Scratch, scratch scratch goes your pet dog or cat. Behind the ears, on his body. He whips about trying to chew up his tail. What’s eating him? You part the hair and feel around. It’s a flea!

Fleas are parasitic insects that suck the blood of birds and mammals. There are over 2,400 flea species worldwide classified under the order Siphonaptera. They are tiny wingless insects like the lice in our hair, either black or reddish brown.

Spiders and their Magical Web

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 21:42:27 +0000

Most of us have come across cobwebs that accumulate in our walls, and ceilings when we dust our homes. The webs are under tables, cellars, and sometimes across branches and leaves at the park. All these cobwebs are the work of spiders.

Spider webs are fine silken threads. Originally spiders spun silk to protect their eggs and to line their nests. But later they adapted to use this silk to weave a web and trap their prey. Sometimes it is also used to provide a safety line so that if they fall, they get suspended in the air.

The Truth About Bats

Wed, 26 May 1999 21:30:39 +0000

Bats are among the world’s least appreciated and most endangered animals, thanks to centuries of myth and superstition. Contrary to common misconceptions, bats are not blind, they are not rodents and they won’t get tangled in your hair. The truth is that bats are mong the most gentle and beneficial animals on earth.

A bat is a winged mammal with the ability to fly. It’s ability to maintain sustained flight, unique among mammals, results from the modification of hand-like forelimbs into wings. Bats are mammals just like humans which means all bats are warm blooded, have hair, bear young ones and nurse them.

The Tiny World of Ants

Sat, 06 Mar 1999 03:06:29 +0000

It is believed that ants evolved from wasps and have lived in the Earth for at least 100 million years. It is said that at any one time there are at least 1 quadrillion living ants on the Earth.

Ants are no doubt the most successful of all social insects of Hymenoptera, an order that also includes wasps and bees. Ants are colony makers and their colonies may contain from a few to 20 million individuals. The ant family contains more than 4,500 described species that can be found in tropical or temperate areas of the world.

Chimp Traits

Sun, 23 Sep 2001 15:00:45 +0000

Do you think chimps are chumps? If the answer is yes, then you are in for a surprise – because chimps or chimpanzees are actually very, very intelligent. Chimpanzees are the most intelligent of the ape family. It was known that chimpanzees use tools intelligently to obtain food. They use rocks to crack open nuts or use sticks to dig the earth for choice insects and termites.

Once a chimpanzee learns a certain method he/she teaches it on to all the other chimps in the area. Scientists say that different groups of chimps follow different customs or styles related to eating, grooming and courtship. So this teaching one group’s ‘customs’ to another group is an act of ‘culturally transmitting a ritual’.

It's a Beetle's World

Fri, 11 Jun 1999 03:09:41 +0000

Have you ever had winged visitors to your room on a rainy day, that are black, shiny and button-like, and which fall to the ground with a distinct tapping sound? You might also be familiar with those cute-looking insects with bright orange bodies dotted with black, called Ladybirds, hovering over flowers and tender leaves. There also might have been times when an unlucky one splats on your windshield or gets crunched underfoot. Well, these are all different kinds of BEETLES — creatures that can be called evolution’s biggest success story.

Do Some Animals Farm?

Sat, 04 Aug 2001 00:29:13 +0000

We all live the way we do in villages and cities because a long, long time ago, the early humans gave up hunting for farming. They domesticated plant species by cultivation, ploughed the land and harvested the grain. That was the beginning of civilisation as we understand it.

But, do you know that certain ant species were actually farming fungus years before humans learnt how to farm?

Microbes begin Deforestation

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 07:34:21 +0000

May 19: The conifer trees on the hills of Himachal Pradesh may soon become history. No, they are not being cut by humans. This time, it is the turn of microbes to go on a rampage.

Insects, fungi and various kinds of insects are eating into the deodar, pine and kail trees of Chopal and the stretch that lies between Sundernagar and Jhenjheli, Suket division in Mandi and at Bharari and Mashobra in Shimla. The trees are drying up due to this.

Paris is Bugged by Termites!

Wed, 05 Dec 2001 13:47:45 +0000

Recently Parisians have been facing quite a bit of trouble; bookshop owners live in mortal terror of their precious books disintegrating, while owners of wooden houses are constantly worrying that their homes might collapse into a pile of rubble.

Strangely enough, the cause of all this problem is really teeny. In fact the culprit that has most of Paris, France, upset is able to squeeze through an opening as small as 1/32 of an inch! Not so terrifying after all, but then these creatures live in gigantic colonies – consisting of more than a million members and love munching on wood and paper.

Winner Juice

Thu, 14 Nov 2002 08:46:25 +0000

Winner Juice [Illustration by Sudheer Nath]

October 28: Ask anyone who watched the recent Olympic Games, and they will tell you that it was the 28-year-old Japanese sportswoman, Naoko Takahashi, who won the women’s marathon.

But you could say that the race was won by giant killer hornets, whose stomach juices were drunk by the athlete to improve her stamina phenomenally.

A fascinating report by the ‘Telegraph Group’ of England, published in ‘The Hindu’ newspaper recently, stirred up a hornet’s nest in the world of sport with this announcement.

Excerpts From 'The Wonderful World of Insects'

Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:50:05 +0000

What is an Insect?

An insect is quite different from you and me. It has a body that is divided into three parts: the head, the middle which is called the thorax and the abdomen which is usually the largest part of the body.

Did you know that many insects can see in more than one direction without turning their heads? This is because they have compound eyes. Compound eyes are made up of lots of cone-shaped units packed close together.