How Are Insects Different?

Metamorphosis, Nature's Ultimate Transformer

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How Are Insects Different?

There are many types of insects that can be different in many ways. Some insects have different body parts like a proboscis that is used for feeding or stingers that are used for protection. There are insects that can fly and others that can swim.

Examples of insect proboscises - True bug (A), Ant (B) and Honeybee (C).

Time lapse video of a cicada finishing metamorphosis. Video by Dennis McDaniel.

One way in which insects can be different is by the type of life cycles they have. Some insects will undergo an incomplete metamorphosis and will change from a nymph to an adult.

There are other insects that will go through a complete metamorphosis that has many stages. These insects will start as larvae, which look very different from adults. When they emerge from their pupa, they will be newly formed adults. It is no surprise that entomologists enjoy studying the fascinating world of insects.

Additional images via Wikimedia Commons. Green Hairstreak egg by Gilles San Martin.

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Almost all insects begin their lives as eggs, like this egg laid by a Green Hairstreak butterfly.

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