Is it an insect? Put your skills to the test

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Is it an insect? Or is it something else?

Orange-red beetle with black spots crawling on pink flower buds against a blurred green background — A milkweed beetle. (Photo via Shutterstock)

A lot of things can look like an insect, sound like an insect and walk like an insect, but is it an insect? Let’s find out!

For a living thing to be considered an insect it must have the following:

Three body segments. Insects all have a head, a thorax and an abdomen.
Six legs.
Four wings. Most insects have four wings. The wings can be soft, like a butterfly, or both hard and soft, like a firefly.
Two antennae.
Two compound eyes. Almost all insects have two compound eyes, but some have more.

Did you know bugs and insects are actually different things? Insects are a class of invertebrates that consists of about 30 smaller groupings. Bugs are one of the smaller groupings under insects.

Words to know

Abdomen: The bug butt! It houses the digestive and reproductive systems of the insect.

Compound eye: An eye that has hundreds or thousands of tiny, photoreceptors called ommatidia. Each ommatidia acts like a single eye. Insect brains will see all of these individual images and piece them together to create one image.

Exoskeleton: An armor-like skeleton that insect muscles attach to.

Invertebrate: An organism that does not have a backbone.

Thorax: The midsection of the insect body that holds the head.

Some of the most common smaller groupings are beetles (Coleoptera); wasps, bees and ants (Hymenoptera); butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera); flies (Diptera); and true bugs (Hemiptera).

Now it’s time to put your new knowledge to the test! Is an earthworm an insect?

It does crawl around and wriggle like it could be an insect. But it doesn’t have legs, eyes, wings and antennae. Earthworms are actually part of a larger group called Annelids, not insects. Although they could be distant cousins!

How about a praying mantis? Is a praying mantis an insect? Let’s check our list.

Green praying mantis perched on a leaf against a blurred dark green background, alert and still. — A praying mantic. (Photo via Shutterstock)

They have a head, a thorax and an abdomen; six legs; two antennae; and two compound eyes, but do they have wings? Yes, they do! They have a hard set of wings and a soft pair of wings underneath! That means a praying mantis is part of the insect group.

Spiders! I bet those are insects. Let’s check!

Wait, spiders have eight legs, two body segments, no antennae, no wings and eight eyes. While spiders are invertebrates, they are part of a different group called Arachnida. The group Arachnida includes scorpions, ticks, spiders and daddy longlegs. Spiders are another close cousin of insects, but not quite in the same group.

Is a firefly an insect?

A firefly, or lightning bug. (Photo via Shutterstock)

Fireflies, or lightning bugs, have a head, a thorax and an abdomen; two antennae; four wings; two compound eyes; and six legs. We have found another insect! Fireflies are part of the beetle and weevil group, Coleoptera. This group is known for hardened wings that protect their softer, membranous wings underneath. Other insects in this group that you might be familiar with are ladybugs and ground beetles.

Next time you find a nice log to roll or patch of grass to lay in, look around and see what you can find! Use our list of five characteristics to see if the little critter you found is an insect. Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve has a great grassy hill to look for insects on. You can also try your own yard or a park near you!

Remember, any insects you catch should be released right back where you found them. Happy hunting!