All About Nature: Animals to Paint Online

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Insects are arthropods (a type of invertebrate, animals that lack a backbone). All insects have a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. The legs (and wings, if applicable) are attached to the thorax. Insects breathe through holes called spiracles. Insects hatch from eggs.

There are about a million different types of insects and many more that have not been discovered yet. Insects evolved during the Silurian Period, 438 to 408 mya (long before dinosaurs appeared). Insect means "segmented" in Latin.

The following is a sampling of insects:

Ant Ants are social insects.

Assassin Bug Assassin bugs are insects that eat other insects.

Bee Bees are flying, social insects that live in a hive.

Blue Morpho Butterfly A brilliant blue butterfly from rainforests of South and Central America.

Butterflies and Moths Printouts about these beautiful flying insects.

Butterfly Life cycle See how a butterfly starts out as an egg, hatches into a caterpillar, becomes a pupa, then emerges as a fully-grown adult.

Dragonfly The dragonfly is a flying insect with a long abdomen.

Firefly The firefly (also known as the lightning bug) is a luminescent flying insect.

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are insects that can hop, walk, and fly. There are about 10,000 different species of grasshoppers.

Green Darner Dragonfly A blue and green flying insect with transparent-to-yellow wings.

Harlequin Bug This small agricultural pest is brightly-colored.

House Fly The common house fly is a small, flying insect.

Jumping Bean Moth A brown moth that spends its larval stage inside a seed pod.

Ladybug Tiny flying insects that eat garden pests.

Lightning Bug The lightning bug (also known as the firefly) is a luminescent flying insect.

Luna Moth A green moth with long hindwing tails and distinctive eyespots.

Mosquito A small flying insect that is a carrier of disease.

Oregon Silverspot Butterfly A brown and orange butterfly that lives in humid coastal salt-spray meadows and fields in the Pacific Northwest of the USA.

Painted Lady Butterfly A very widespread and common butterfly.

Painted Lady Butterfly Life Cycle The life cycle of this common butterfly.

Pond Skater A bug that walks on water. It is also called the water strider.

Praying Mantid Predatory insects that eat garden pests.

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly Queen Alexandra's Birdwing is the biggest butterfly in the world. Its wingspan is about 1 foot (30 cm) wide.

Silkworm The silkworm moth is an insect (not a worm) that produces a silken cocoon. This cocoon is harvested to make silk thread.

Ulysses Butterfly The Ulysses is a spectacular swallowtail butterfly from Australia.

Viceroy Butterfly The Viceroy is an orange and black butterfly from North America.

Walkingstick The Walkingstick (also called the laboratory stick insect) is a long, slow-moving, plant-eating insect that looks like a twig.

Wasp Wasps are insects with 2 pairs of wings and strong jaws. Many wasps sting.

Water Strider A bug that walks on water.

Yellow Jacket A yellow jacket is a type of social wasp, a flying, stinging insect.

Zebra Longwing Butterfly The Zebra Longwing is a small, black-and-yellow striped butterfly from warm areas.

Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly The Zebra Swallowtail butterfly is a common butterfly with distinctive black and white markings.

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