Table Of ContentMolly Aloian & Bobbie Kalman
Crabtree Publishing Company
www.crabtreebooks.com
C
reated by Bobbie Kalman
Dedicated by Samantha Crabtree
To my parents, Bobbie and Peter, thank you for your unconditional love.
Editor-in-Chief Photo research
Bobbie Kalman Crystal Sikkens
Writing team Consultant
Molly Aloian Patricia Loesche, Ph.D., Animal Behavior Program,
Bobbie Kalman Department of Psychology, University of Washington
Substantive editor
Illustrations
Kathryn Smithyman
Barbara Bedell: pages 4 (all except silverfish), 23, 28,
29 (all except centipede), 30 (ants), 31 (ants and ladybugs)
Editors
Antoinette “Cookie” DeBiasi: page 14 (proboscises)
Kristina Lundblad
Katherine Berti: pages 5 (dragonfly and mosquitoes), 31 (dragonfly)
Kelley MacAulay
Margaret Amy Salter: pages 4 (silverfish), 5 (butterflies), 6, 7, 10, 11,
Design 13, 14 (butterfly on flower), 15, 16, 29 (centipede), 30 (butterfly),
Margaret Amy Salter 31 (butterfly)
Samantha Crabtree (cover) Bonna Rouse: pages 19, 30 (beetle)
Mike Golka (series logo) Tiffany Wybouw: pages 5 (wasp), 31 (wasp)
Production coordinator
Images by Brand X Pictures, Corel, Digital Vision,
Katherine Berti
Otto Rogge Photography, and Photodisc
Crabtree Publishing Company Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aloian, Molly.
www.crabtreebooks.com 1-800-387-7650 Insect bodies / Molly Aloian & Bobbie Kalman.
p. cm. -- (The world of insects series)
Copyright © 2005 CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY. All rights Includes index.
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2340-0 (RLB)
ISBN-10: 0-7787-2340-2 (RLB)
retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means, ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2374-5 (pbk.)
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without ISBN-10: 0-7787-2374-7 (pbk.)
the prior written permission of Crabtree Publishing Company. In 1. Insects--Anatomy--Juvenile literature. I. Kalman, Bobbie.
Canada: We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of II. Title.
QL494.A46 2005
Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.
571.3'157--dc22 2005000493
LC
Published in Canada Published in the United States Published in the United Kingdom Published in Australia
Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing3
616 Welland Ave. PMB 59051 Maritime House Charles Street
St. Catharines, Ontario 350 Fifth Avenue, 59th Floor Basin Road North, Hove Coburg North
L2M 5V6 New York, New York 10118 BN41 1WR VIC, 3058
C
o n t e n t s
So many insects! 4
Insects are arthropods 6
No backbones 8
Three body sections 10
Insect eyes 12
Two antennae 13
Mouthparts 14
Six legs 16
Wings for flying 18
Insect food 20
Complete changes 22
Growing wings 24
Hiding from predators 26
Insects or not? 28
Insect scavenger hunt 30
Glossary and Index 32
S o m a n y i n s e c t s !
Insects are animals. There are many
kinds of insects. Insects do not
all look the same. Some insects
are tiny. Others are big. Insects
also come in different shapes and
fleas
colors. Some insects are shown
on these pages. How many of
these insects do you know?
ants
silverfish
ladybug
4
Insects with wings
Many insects have wings.
Butterflies and mosquitoes
are insects that have wings.
Other insects do not
dragonfly
have wings. Name all
the insects on these
pages that have wings.
wasp
butterflies mosquitoes
5
I n s e c t s a r e a r t h r o p o d s
Insects belong to a big group of
animals called arthropods. The bodies
of arthropods are made up of small
parts called segments. The segments
are joined together. Look at this blue
wasp’s leg. The leg is made up of five
segments that are joined together.
3 4
1
2
5
6
Joints that bend
Arthropods have joints that bend. A joint is a
place where two body parts come together. Your
knees and elbows are joints. Many arthropods
have joints in their legs and feet, just as you
do. They move their legs and feet by
bending them at the joints.
praying mantis
Did you know?
crab There are more than one million
kinds of arthropods on Earth.
Crabs, spiders, and lobsters
lobster tarantula
are arthropods,
but they are
not insects!
7
N o b a c k b o n e s
Insects are invertebrates.
Invertebrates are animals that do
not have backbones. A backbone
is a group of bones in the middle
of an animal’s back. Instead
of backbones, insects
have hard coverings
called exoskeletons.
Exoskeletons are made of a
tough material called chitin.
Insects make chitin inside
their bodies.
8
