From butterflies and beetles to bees and flies, insects play an extremely crucial role in the world around us. In this article, discover four fascinating facts about insects.
We do not always see insects, but they are all around us every day. Whether it be on the ground or in the air, insects are part of our environment! While some of them definitely creep us out or annoy us, they also fill us with extraordinary wonder. Insects amaze us with their incredible strength, highly acute eyesight, and keen sense of smell.
Incredible strength
Most insects are small, some are even very small, and yet some of them have super strength! For example, ants are known for their impressive strength. They can carry up to a thousand times their own weight. However, they are not the only creatures with a tremendous amount of strength! We can also take a closer look at the Onthophagus taurus, a dung beetle that is capable of pulling a load 1,140 times heavier than its own weight. Isn't that incredible?
And that's not even all. There are beetles with larvae that have powerful mandibles and muscles, capable of boring into wood to create tunnels.
Acute eyesight
While some insects possess extraordinary strength, for other insects, it is their vision that sets them apart. But how do they have this great vision? It’s thanks to visual opsins. These are molecules found in the retina that are responsible for color perception. One is sensitive to blue, another to red, and the last to yellow. Humans have three of them.
Birds capable of distinguishing shades of color have four. But the record for visual acuity is held by dragonflies! They have between 11 and 30 visual opsins. At night, they can distinguish millions of different colors. And that’s not all! They’re also able to see below, above, to the right, to the left, and even behind their heads. This makes them one of the most effective predators on Earth.
An exceptionally keen sense of smell
We know that dogs have an amazing sense of smell. But even they are far outmatched by the sense of smell of certain insects. Did you know that the sense of smell is essential for insects? It allows them to search for food, detect predators, and even find mates. Some species, such as butterflies, are able to find food or a mate hundreds of meters, or even kilometers, away.
Many species of insects remain discovered
There are approximately 153,000 species of insects recorded on Earth, compared to 46,000 species of vertebrates. That is three times as many! But did you know that some insects remain unknown? It is estimated that there are still 3 to 5 million insects yet to be discovered—including 2 million flies and mosquitoes, more than 1 million beetles, and hundreds of thousands of butterflies.
Originally written by Salomée Vidal (Yummypets) and translated by Jennifer Eubank (Yummypets).
Source: 20minutes.fr
