List of insects

Earwigs are a very common insect found all over the world. They eat ripe fruit, trash, other insects and the young shoots of plants. They get their name because a long time ago people beleived that earwigs crawled into people's brains through their ears to lay their eggs. Earwigs do like hiding in warm, dark, damp places so it is possible they will hide in people's ears if they have the chance.

A fly is a very common insect that can fly, as the name suggests. Flies lay their eggs in rotting food or dead animals in the wild, and in your house they lay their eggs in any of your food that they find. The eggs hatch into maggots.

Locusts are a kind of grasshopper that form into huge swarms. When they are swarming in such large numbers they can strip crops and gardens completely.

Maggot is the common name for the larvae of flies. Flies typically lay their eggs or put live maggots onto rotting food that they find. Maggots are very commonly seen in carrion. The maggots eat the food, grow bigger and then pupate and turn into flies.

Moths are very similar to butterflies and have a similar lifecycle. They changes completely as they go through their life. A moth starts as an egg, which hatches into a caterpillar or grub. The caterpillar then spins a cocoon and turns into the adult moth. Caterpillars spend all of their time eating. Some moth caterpillars eat leaves, others eat leaf litter on the ground, and others will eat holes through the trunks of trees. Moths are generally not as brightly coloured as butterflies, and are more likely to be seen at night than during the day. Moths are attracted to light.