🔍 What's Bugging You? 🐛

All insects have 3 body parts and 6 legs. But that doesn't mean they all look the same! Scientists group insects based on things like their wings, mouths, and number of legs. A butterfly's wings are covered in tiny colorful scales. A fly only has one pair of wings. A wasp has smooth, see-through wings and a thin waist. A beetle's wings are hard like a shell. A "true bug" sips its food through a straw-like mouth! A grasshopper has big, strong back legs for jumping. And a dragonfly holds its wings out flat and still. Watch out! One of the creepy crawlers below is not an insect! Do you know which one does not belong? Count the legs to find who is not an insect at all. Look closely at each insect below. Then sort it into the group where it belongs. Read the flip book to learn something about each creature! 🌿

Every insect shares the same basic body plan. It has a head, thorax, and abdomen, plus six legs and a hard outer exoskeleton. Scientists have sorted more than a million insect species into groups called orders. They group insects by shared features, especially their wings and mouthparts. Butterflies and moths have wings covered in tiny scales. Flies have only one working pair of wings. Wasps, bees, and ants have thin, clear wings and a narrow waist. Beetles have hard wing covers that protect a second, flying pair underneath. True bugs have a mouth shaped like a drinking straw for piercing and sucking. Grasshoppers have enlarged hind legs built for jumping. And dragonflies hold two pairs of long, transparent wings out flat when they rest. One specimen below isn't an insect at all. Check its leg count and body shape to spot it. Compare it to the insect body plan above. Then sort it into the "Not an Insect" bin. Study each insect photo closely, then sort it into its order! 🌿

Insects belong to the phylum Arthropoda, along with spiders, crabs, and centipedes. But insects are the only arthropods with wings. Having wings is a big part of why insects are the most successful animal group on Earth. Scientists have described insects into around 29 different orders. Seven of the most common orders are shown in this game. They are Lepidoptera (scale-winged butterflies and moths), Diptera (two-winged true flies), Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, and ants), and Coleoptera (sheath-winged beetles). The rest are Hemiptera (true bugs with piercing-sucking mouthparts), Orthoptera (jumping grasshoppers), and Odonata (dragonflies with huge compound eyes). Look closely at each specimen's wings and mouthparts. Those are usually the clearest clues to which order it belongs in. One specimen below is a fellow arthropod but not an insect at all. It has 8 legs and only two body regions instead of six legs and three. So it belongs in the "Not an Insect" bin, not any order above. 🌿

Insects are classified into Orders using derived characteristics: features that evolved after a group split off from a shared ancestor, rather than superficial resemblance. Wing structure and mouthpart anatomy are the two most diagnostic traits. Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths) have scale-covered wings and a coiled, haustellate (tube-shaped, sucking) proboscis. Diptera (true flies) have a single functional wing pair; the hind pair reduced to balance organs called halteres. Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants) share a constricted petiole and membranous wings. Coleoptera (beetles) have sclerotized (hardened) forewings, or elytra, that meet in a straight dorsal line. Hemiptera (true bugs) have a beak-like rostrum for piercing and sucking. Orthoptera (grasshoppers) show enlarged, muscular hind femora adapted for jumping. Odonata (dragonflies) pass through an aquatic naiad stage before emerging with two pairs of long, transparent wings. As you sort each specimen, look for the derived trait that places it in its Order. One specimen belongs to Class Arachnida rather than Insecta. Apply the same logic of derived characteristics (leg count, body regionation, presence/absence of antennae) to correctly exclude it into the "Not an Insect" bin. 🌿

Tap each card to learn about it, then sort them all! 🌿

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⚠️ NOT AN
INSECT!

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Tap to learn!

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