By William Bower All summer long the insect population has been building up, and by the end of August, they have reached their peak. Insects are the most numerous and diverse group of all animals on earth, and a vast majority of these insects have never been formally identified. Insects live in every kind of habitat on earth. |
So far scientists have recorded approximately 360,000 species of beetles; 180,000 species of butterflies and moths; 120,000 species of flies; 110,000 species of bees, wasps and ants; 82,000 species of true bugs; 20,000 species of grasshoppers; 5,000 species of dragon flies and 2,000 species of praying mantises.
For most of us, the word bug covers all insect species. The origin of our word bug, which is used for an insect, is uncertain but generally assumed that the word comes from the middle English word bugge that meant bugbear or scarecrow. Bugge is believed to have come from the Welsh word bug, meaning ghost or hobgoblin (a grotesque appearance), relating to something frightening. The word was first used for what we now call a scarecrow.
Although the name bug is used for insects, the word generally describes a particular group of insects. Although bugs are insects, not all insects are bugs. We then add to this confusion by calling some insects by names that are misleading. For instance, the lightning bug is not a bug, and even the name firefly is misleading because these insects are neither flies nor bugs but actually beetles.
Here is a simple rule used by entomologists: if the insect is a true bug, write “bug” as a separate word. For example: a boxelder bug is a true bug and is written as two words. If it was not a true bug, it would be written as boxelderbug. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, with the lightning bug being one of them.
Although the bug clan ranks fifth in the number of species, they probably rank first in the number of individuals. Most bugs can be considered as being harmful to man since they feed upon useful plants; However, a few produce valuable products, such as dyes, shellacs and waxes.
The life cycle of an insect, such as a butterfly, has four stages in its life: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and winged adult. A bug has only three stages: egg, nymph and adult. Since a bug has no pupa (resting stage), it is said that a bug has an incomplete life history, known as “a gradual life” by most entomologists; while an insect’s life is usually known as a metamorphosis.
The Greek word for insect was entomon, which is the source of our word entomology, that was derived from entemnein. With en meaning in and temnein meaning cut, this literally means creatures divided up into segments. The term was translated into Latin as insectum and translated into English as insect by Pliny, the famous naturalist.
Insects are fascinating. They live everywhere in the world and survive on an amazing range of diets. Although they do bug and repel us at times, they are quite beneficial.
We have all used the word bug to describe many other things besides insects, and we also have sayings associated with the word bug, such as: a fire-bug starts fires; a litterbug throws out trash and an annoying person is a bug. Did you know that a bug-eye is a flat-bottomed boat used by oyster fishermen on the Chesapeake Bay; a defected system is said to have a bug in it; an illness is said to be a bug or flu-bug; a small car (Volkswagen) is known as a bug; a listening device is often called a bug and last but not least one can be crazy as a bed bug or snug as a bug in a rug?
Tragically, a large number of insects across the world are becoming extinct as the result of human activities, such as rampant deforestation and widespread pollution. A good example of this is that our honeybees are dying off at an alarming rate, causing concern that we might not have enough insects to pollinate our plants.