A Moment of Science
Though most true bugs eat plant sap, some feed on animals. One such true bug is the assassin bug, which feeds on fellow insects.
True bugs are distinguished from other insects by the structure of their mouthparts and the way they feed.
Many studies are done on ant behavior, but these amazing Amazonian ants are especially tricky.
It’s such a common sight, you probably don’t think twice. You swat at the fly buzzing around your head, and it seeks refuge on the ceiling. You stomp at an ant crawling along the baseboard, and it escapes by climbing the wall. Insects seem to respect the law of gravity about as much as someone with diplomatic immunity respects a local jaywalking ordinance. How do they get away with it? Learn more on this Moment of Science.
Find out about the animals that travels long distances in a single-file line head-to tail.
The blood of an insect functions differently than the blood of a human. In humans, blood gets its red color from hemoglobin, which travels through blood vessels carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Insect blood, however, does not carry gasses and has no hemoglobin.
The hope is that as the fly walks across the surface, its little body charges up, allowing poisonous spores to stick to its body like metal shavings to a magnet. If this happens, then soon enough, the fly will walk no more.
The difference in pain is due to the way each insect obtains blood. Mosquitoes have mouth parts that are highly modified for piercing; they have a sharp proboscis, a prominent tube-like part that extends from their head and houses organs known as stylets which work like hypodermic needles to penetrate the skin and suck up your blood.
Here’s how innate immunity works. In your bug body there is a fluid called hemolymph, which is equivalent to human blood. If you’re injured, components in the hemolymph interact with specialized cells in your immune system to clot and form a scab that seals off your wound and prevents infection.
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