Lepidoptera
Life Cycle
Moths and butterflies undergo a complete life cycle that includes four stages: egg, caterpillar (larvae), pupae and adult. The eggs are usually laid on or close to the caterpillar's food plant either singularly or in groups. A female may lay only a few eggs or tens of thousands depending on the species, but several hundred is reasonably typical. After hatching caterpillars usually develop through 4 to 7 instars over a period of a few weeks up to a few months depending on the species, before pupating.
Feeding
Most larvae of moths and butterflies are herbivores either eating foliage or wood, but some are carnivorous cannibalising other caterpillars or feeding on soft bodied insects such as scale or ant larvae. Adults are generally nectar feeders, although a few have reduced mouthparts and do not eat at all.
Hymenoptera
Fact 1
Bees have two stomachs - one stomach for eating and the other special stomach is for storing nectar collected from flowers or water so that they can carry it back to their hive.
Fact 2
Bees go through four stages of development: Egg, Larvae, Pupae and Adult Bee.
Orthoptera
Fact 1
Grasshoppers have two antennae, 6 legs, two pairs of wings and small little pinchers to tear off food such as grasses, leaves and cereal crops.
Fact 2
Grasshoppers can jump about 25cm high and around 1 meter long. If humans could jump as far as grasshoppers do, relative to size, then we could leap more than the length of a football field.
Hemiptera
Fact 1
Like many of the other stink bugs, the brown marmorated is a pest of fruits and vegetables. It has been found feeding on apples, peaches, blackberries, tomatoes, corn, soybeans, lima beans and green peppers.
Fact 2
Females typically lay 20 to 30 eggs which she secures on the underside of the host plant in the summer. Eggs hatch four to five days later and the nymphs will begin to feed.
Odonata
Fact 1
There are more than 5,000 known species of dragonflies, all of which (along with damselflies) belong to the order Odonata, which means “toothed one” in Greek and refers to the dragonfly’s serrated teeth.
Fact 2
In their larval stage, which can last up to two years, dragonflies are aquatic and eat just about anything—tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, other insect larvae and even each other.
Coleoptera
Fact 1
LADYBUG LARVAE RESEMBLE TINY ALLIGATORS, WITH ELONGATED BODIES AND BUMPY SKIN.
Fact 2
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE LADYBUGS MAY LAY BOTH FERTILE AND INFERTILE EGGS.
Credits:
Created with images by David Whelan - "Fluttering Monarch" • R391n4 - "insect animal nature" • Pinti 1 - "Bee" • ComputerHotline - "Orthoptera sp." • Pixeleye - "stink bug bug insect" • werner22brigitte - "dragonfly insect bug" • skeeze - "ladybug beetle water droplets"