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Insects Trivia

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The average spider can travel up to 1.17 miles per hour.

The biggest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing. It lives in Papua New Guinea, and has a wingspan greater than 11 inches (28 centimeters).

The biggest dragonflies are South American giant damselflies. Their wingspan is up to 7 inches (19 centimeters) and their bodies are 5 inches (12 centimeters) long.

The bite of a brown recluse spider can result in a wound so severe that it may require two months to heal.

The blood of a honeybee never clots.

The bombardier beetle produces two harmless chemicals in its body that when mixed react together to form a boiling hot spray of chemicals. The beetle shoots the burning mixture at attackers with an explosive sound, and rarely misses its mark.

The bombardier beetle, when disturbed, defends itself by emitting a series of explosions, sometimes setting off four or five in succession. The noises sound like miniature popgun blasts and are followed by a cloud of reddish-colored, vile-smelling fluid.

The bumblebee does not die when it stings – it can sting again and again. In bumblebee hives, the entire colony, except for the queen, dies at the end of each summer. Each year, an entirely new colony of bees must be produced.

The buzzing of flies and bees is not produced by any sound-producing apparatus within the insects' bodies. It is simply the sound of their wings moving up and down at a rapid rate.

The calling songs of male field crickets are species-characteristic, and are used to attract sexually responsive females. Females are attracted to the calling songs of males of their own species and not to songs of other species.

The careful attention to the rearing of silkworms determines the quantity and quality of the silk. So concerned were the ancient Chinese that any worm out of synchronization with the rhythm and transformation of the majority of worms would be buried or fed to fish to avoid any variation in the silk produced.

The caterpillar has more than 2,000 muscles.

The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly will eventually multiply its original weight by 2,700 times. If a 7-pound newborn human gained weight at the same rate, as an adult, it would weigh well over 9 tons.

The common male housefly completes its entire life cycle in just 17 days.

The dog flea appears similar to the cat flea, but is rarely found in the United States. Cat fleas are commonly found on both cats and dogs in North America, while dog fleas are found in Europe.

The evolution of social life in ants and termites has been accompanied by an extraordinary royal perk — a 100-fold increase among queen ants in average maximum lifespan, with some queens surviving for almost 30 years. This longevity can be attributed in part to the sheltered and pampered life of the royal egg layer.

The fastest insect on record that has been reliably measured is the Australian dragon fly, which has a top speed of around 57 km/h. Contrary to popular belief, the deer botfly CANNOT fly faster than a jet plane. It would be crushed by the pressure.

The fastest snail is the ordinary garden snail. This snail could move at 0.03 miles per hour (0.05 kilometers per hour).

The females of many species of moths are wingless. To compensate for this, their bodies are always larger and heavier than those of their male counterparts.

The golden orb-weaver spiders of Papua New Guinea spin the biggest, strongest webs. With supporting threads reaching up to 19 feet (6 meters), their webs can reach 5 feet (1.5 meters) across.

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