What is insects?

What Does insects Mean

Insect is a term that comes from the Latin insectus , in turn coming from insecāre ( "cut" , "make an incision" ). The etymological origin of the concept is linked to the marks that the body of these animals presents and that resemble incisions.

An insect, therefore, is an arthropod that has a body divided into a head, thorax, and abdomen . Insects, which undergo metamorphosis during their development, have one pair of antennae, one or two pairs of wings, and three pairs of legs. When the term insect appears written with an initial capital letter ( Insect ), it refers to the taxon of these animals.

When it comes to establishing a classification of insects, we would have to say that there are several alternatives. However, among the most important and significant is the one that groups them in this way:

• Odonates, such as dragonflies. They are identified by having two pairs of wings.

• Dermaptera, among which are earwigs. In their case, it should be noted that they have very long and thin antennas that, as a general rule, do not display.

• Diptera, such as flies and mosquitoes. They only have one pair of wings and also what are known as halteres.

• Lepidoptera, such as butterflies or moths.

• Dictyoptera, among which are cockroaches.

• Orthoptera, such as crickets and grasshoppers. Its main peculiarity, compared to other insects, is that they have hind legs that are prepared and adapted to jump.

• Coleoptera, as would be the case with beetles. Of this type of insects, what is usually highlighted is that it only has one pair of wings since, through its evolution, the other it had has become a set of cases called elytra.

• Hymenoptera, among which the ants, wasps or bees stand out.
Experts say that insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet , with about a million known species and between six and thirty million species not yet described. If the broader estimates are accurate, insects would account for more than 90% of life forms on Earth .
On the other hand, it is estimated that there are 200 million insects for every human being. Most insects live in the terrestrial environment, although some have their habitat in aquatic environments.
The ants , the flies , the mosquitoes , the bees , the wasps , the beetles , the butterflies , the moths , the crickets and dragonflies are some insect species. Other animals, such as spiders , scorpions, or centipedes , are often mistaken for insects because of their body structures, but they actually belong to other taxa.

The human being tends to fight the insects for being a pest for crops and because many of them can transmit diseases , although there are some cultures that use insects as food or in the field of medicine .
In addition to all the above, we would have to highlight the existence of the term social insect. This is a term that is used to refer to all that insect that is part of a community that has the peculiarity that it is made up of beings of different castes.

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