Arthropods

Arthropods are small creatures with external skeletons.

Subcategories: Arachnids (6), Crustaceans (11), Insects (36)

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Ais forAnt

An ant is a small, common insect found all over the world. They live in organised colonies that are mostly workers, with one queen.

Ais forAntlion

The antlion is the larval stage of a kind of flying insect often called a lacewing. Antlions get their name because they eat mostly ants. They live in dry, sandy areas and make their cocoons out of sand stuck together with silk. They catch ants to eat by digging small pits in the sand. Ants fall into the pits and have trouble getting back out, and the antlion comes out from hiding at the centre of the pit and eats them.

Ais forAphid

Aphids, also called plant lice, are a tiny, sapsucking insect. They are attracted to fresh new shoots of plants, especially developing fruit and flowerbuds. They can do a lot of damage to crops, and gardeners do not like them. Aphids can be killed by poison, removed by squirting them off with water from a hose, or their numbers can be reduced naturally by encouraging aphid-eaters like ladybugs and wasps into your garden.
The aphids in the picture are on a the developing flower bud of a rose.

Bis forBarnacle

Barnacles live only in the sea. They are related to crabs and lobsters.
Barnacles stick themselves to a surface and live there in the same place for their entire adult lives. You usually see them on the beach stuck to rocks, or stuck to the bottom of boats. They eat small sea creatures that drift past them in the water.

Bis forBee

Bees are flying insects that collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Some kinds of bee make honey. Many kinds of bee live in colonies called hives, with hundreds of worker bees and one queen bee.

Bis forBeetle

Beetles are crawling insects with hard shells. They often live in dead leaves, under tree bark or among the leaves of plants. Some beetles have wings under their outer shell and can fly. A small number of beetles can swim, and live in the water.
Butterflies are a kind of insect that changes completely as it goes through its life. A butterfly starts as an egg, which hatches into a caterpillar. Caterpillars spend all of their time eating leaves from their favourite plants.
When they are old enough, caterpillars spin a cocoon and while they are asleep inside it, they change into a butterfly. Butterflies eat nectar from flowers, and live for a much, much shorter time than caterpillars.
Caterpillars are the larval stage of moths and butterflies. They hatch from eggs and grow very quickly, eating large quantities of leaves as they grow. When they are big enough they spin themselves into a cocoon and go to sleep. When they wake up, they have turned into a butterfly or moth.
Centipedes are crawling creatures with many pairs of legs. They are most active at night time, and hide under things during the day. Centipedes can move very fast, and eat insects. Their bite is poisonous and can be very painful, but isn't strong enough to kill a person. Centipedes are often confused with millipedes.

Cis forCicada

Cicadas are big, noisy insects that can be found all over the world. Most species are about 2-5cm long but some grow to 16cm long. Only male cicadas make the noise, and they are partly hollow to make the noise louder. Female cicadas are not hollow, and as they are very big and meaty, some people eat them.
Cicadas spend the first part of their life underground as nymphs, a time of their life which can last for up to 17 years. When the nymphs come to the surface, they shed their skin and emerge as winged adult cicadas.
Cockroaches, sometimes just called roaches, are a type of insect. There are thousands of kinds of cockroach but only a few are pests found inside houses. The cockroach in the picture is a German cockroach. They like warm, moist places, and are particularly fond of garbage bins.

Cis forCrab

Crabs are found all over the world around water, both in the sea and in fresh water. They can range in size from a few centimetres wide to up to four metres wide. They have a very thick outside shell, and people catch them to eat.

Cis forCrayfish

Crayfish look like a small lobster and are found in fresh water like lakes, streams and rivers. There are many different varieties of crayfish. Crayfish are also called crawfish, crawdad or yabbies. They can be eaten in the same way as lobsters.

Cis forCricket

Crickets are a type of insect distantly related to grasshoppers. Crickets make a distinctive "chirping" noise. Crickets make this noise by rubbing their hind legs together.
There are many different varieties of cricket, and they all have a slightly different "chirp".
Crustaceans are a kind of arthropod that include crabs, lobsters, krill and barnacles. Most crustaceans live in the sea, but some like the woodlouse live on land.
Dragonflies eat mosquitoes and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around water because their babies or larvae, known as nymphs, live underwater.
A drone is a male bee whose main role is to mate with a queen. Unlike worker bees, drones do not collect nectar or pollen.
Dung beetles are insects that feed on dung. There are many different kinds of dung beetle. Some of them roll dung up into balls and roll it away to use it later.

Eis forEarwig

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.

Fis forFirefly

A firefly is a small beetle that glows in the dark. Many live in warm, grassy or wooded areas near the ground, especially where it's damp. The glowing light is made by the insect to communicate, usually to help find mates.