What makes an insect an insect, and how are they different from bugs? Can insects see, hear, breathe, and smell? Do they communicate with one another?
Even though insects are the most varied creatures on Earth, they all share certain features. Their bodies are made up of segments, which in the adult are subdivided into three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. (Spiders, by comparison, have only two main body regions—a cephalothorax and an abdomen. In ticks and mites, the head, thorax, and abdomen are fused into one.) Insects’ heads have two compound eyes and two antennae, or “feelers.” The thorax is where the legs and wings are attached. Adult insects have three pairs of legs, and most have two pairs of wings. Although there are many similar and related organisms—like spiders and scorpions and millipedes—none have all of the same traits that insects share.
