It has been said that insects are the most successful life form on the planet. We have gone through many evolutionary changes but one thing remains the same - the insect. As much as you try to avoid these creatures, there isn't a place on earth where they do not exist. On the sea, you can find seashore collembolan and marine flies on the surface. While beneath the surface, small larvae of beetles and true flies live and swim. Even in the cold depth of Antarctica and the Arctic, you will find some insects living and very much active during the 'warmer' months. You could even find larvae of the psilopa petrolei, a kind of fly, alive in pools of crude oil. Some insects are also a little bit scary because of their size and features. The Acteon beetle from South America measures 9 centimeters long, 5 centimeters wide and is 4 centimeters thick. Also found in South America is the South American Longhorn Beetle, which measures over 16 centimeters (the antennae are not even included in this measurement!) can look very intimidating. While a stick insect called Pharnacia kirbyi has a reputation of being the world?s longest insect. Even though some insects are big and scary, a number of insects are so small that they measures less than one millimeter in length. A feather wing beetle from North America, called Nanosella fungi, measures .025 millimeters while another Alaptus Magnanimus, a fairy fly, is .21 millimeters long. Several insects also travel in big numbers. A swarm of locust is known to destroy field crops in just few hours. The swarm may contain up to 28,000,000,000 locusts. That?s over 70,000 tons of locusts! |
