Insect Defense! Insects have been around for a long, long time. In fact, insects are one of the most successful animals on Earth. They are also extremely diverse…over one million species have been discovered. That is half of all animal species known to man! So what is it that makes them so successful? Entomologists, scientists that study insects, have found many insect adaptations. Insects have evolved to live nearly everywhere! Insects can live in deserts that reach temperatures of over 100 F, and yet, they also can be found on high mountains in below freezing temperatures (which entomologists have noticed that they can make a type of "antifreeze" to keep their body from freezing solid)! Some insects have adapted to living indoors such as the silverfish, which survives on a diet of paper and glue. Instead of telling your teacher that your dog ate your homework, it would be a better idea to blame it on the silverfish! Some incredibly remarkable adaptations also include insect defenses. Stinging, bad taste, mimicry, and camouflage are all popular techniques used by insects. Pretend you have an insect collection with the insect types below. You want to group the insects in 4 separate boxes based on their specific type of defense. After you have grouped all your insects, check out the solution! Box #1 Stinging Insects These insects sting predators and often have bright colors to warn them. Box #2 Bad Taste These insects have a horrible taste. Predators will usually spit them out and never go after anything that looks like them again. These insects have bright colors to warn about the taste. Box #3 Mimicry These insects do nothing themselves except look and act like insects from Box #1 or #2 to fool predators. Predators will usually leave them alone as soon as they see them. Box #4 Camouflage These insects look just like leaves, bark, branches, or whatever their environment appears to be. They are very hard for their predators to find. Insects in your Collection: Ladybug (can secrete a foul fluid) Walking Stick Wasp Monarch Butterfly (a butterfly that consumes poisonous milkweed in its larvae stage) Viceroy Butterfly (resembles the monarch but does not feed on milkweed) Honeybee Bee-Fly (a harmless fly that looks like a bee) Thorn Bug (a small insect that looks like a thorn) Check your answers!