Little animals are everywhere. Yes, insects are animals! Even when nothing seems to be around, hold still. Do you hear a buzz? Or hear a faint clicking? It is likely that you are listening to an insect or other creature hard at work. Some of these animals are active during the day, making them diurnal, and some are active at night, making them nocturnal.
Insects are commonly found on the forest floor, under leaf debris, or inside hollow logs for shelter. Diet varies by species, but usually involves vegetation of some kind. Insects like butterflies enjoy nectar from flowers, while millipedes enjoy dead organic matter, or detritus.
Remember to be kind when looking at these animals. Do not remove habitat structure in search of them, and do not intentionally harm insects if they happen to be in your path. Prevention tactics for harmful insects such as ticks can be found by visiting the tick safety page.
What makes a bug a "bug"?
Not everything that gets called a “bug” is classified as an insect. Insects, spiders, centipedes, and millipedes are similar because they are invertebrates, meaning they have no bones.
Scientific classification abides by the following hierarchy: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Insects, spiders, centipedes and millipedes all belong to the kingdom Animalia and the phylum Arthropoda. However, after their phylum classification, the animals split into different classes. Find out what distinguishes them below.
Insects are in the Insecta class
These animals have exoskeletons, three-part bodies (head, thorax abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs (six legs total), and one pair of antennae. They have compound eyes, or eyes which take in thousands of data points to form a single image, usually providing a wide-angle view.
Fun fact: insects are the largest group of animals on Earth, making up about 97% of all species!
Spiders are in the Arachnida class
Arachnids have exoskeletons, a two-part body (cephalothorax and abdomen), eight legs, and two extra pairs of appendages for feeding, defense and sensory perception. Spiders have simple eyes, or eyes which contain a single lens. They do not have antennae or wings, but have an abdominal silk spinning organ.
Fun fact: What most people call “daddy long-legs” are not actually spiders, but harvestmen, members of the order Opiliones.
Centipedes are in the Chilopoda class
Centipedes have long, multiple segmented bodies with one pair of legs per body segment. They have odd numbered pairs of legs that point outward from their body and one pair of venom claws at the head. Centipedes are carnivorous.
Fun fact: It is a myth that centipedes have 100 legs! Most have around 30.
Millipedes are in the Diplopoda class
Millipedes have long, cylindrical or flattened bodies of many segments. There are two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments, and can have up to 400 legs. Their feet are positioned under their hard bodies. Millipedes eat dead plant matter.
Fun fact: the name millipede roughly translates to “thousand foot” in Latin.
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