Presentation Guidelines

Fun Facts About Bugs
(Handout available in PDF.)

• Three out of four creatures on the planet are insects; they outnumber all other creatures.
• Insects would outweigh all creatures if they were put on a scale. (insects vs. all animals)
• There are more kinds (species) of insects than any other kind of creature.
• They have been around a long time. Fossil records show that they began to inhabit the earth 150 million years before dinosaurs.
• Ants can lift over 50 times their weight.
• Fleas can jump the equivalent of a human jumping a football field.
• They have adapted to live and survive among all groups of organisms: mammals (flies, mosquitoes), plants (bees, butterflies, fungus ants), arthropods (aphid tending ants).
• They have adapted to live in all types of habitats: desert, arctic, marsh, prairie, streams, lakes, deciduous forest, conifer forest, residential areas, cities, rain forests, caves, and even the ocean.
• Humans eat insects.
• Live beetles are tethered to people as live jewelry.
• The mayfly (Ephemoroptera) has one of the shortest life spans. Adults only live for a few hours after emerging from the water.
• The queen termite lives the longest, 10-15 yrs.
• For every human there are one million ants.
• Also check out this website http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/.