With an estimated total of six to ten million extant species, insects make up over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth.

Insect respiration is accomplished without lungs. In most cases, air is taken in through openings on the sides of the abdomen and thorax called spiracles and transported directly to tissue cells using tracheal tubes.

The insect world is famous for its Olympian power-lifters, but the horned dung beetle (Onthophagus Taurus) takes the gold. A mere 10 millimeters long, the beetle can pull up to 1,141 times its own body weight--the equivalent of a 150-pound (70 kilogram) person lifting six full double-decker buses. scientists believe the beetle evolved such brawn because brute strength is the deciding factor in males' competition over females, which is waged as head-to-head pushing matches in dung tunnels.

The largest recorded contiguous colony of ants in the world stretches 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometres) from northern Italy, through the south of France to the Atlantic coast of Spain, and is made up of a species of Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) introduced into Europe during the 1920s.

Insects are regularly consumed as food by 80% of the world's population. More than 2 billion people worldwide eat insects every day, and for many it is the only available meat rich in protein, sugars and vitamins.

Caterpillars have six pairs of simple eyelets called stemmata. You would think an insect with 12 eyes would have excellent eyesight, but that's not the case. The stemmata can detect changes in light intensity but cannot form an image.

Honey bees will tap about two million flowers and fly 50,000 miles (80,000 km) to make one pound (454 g) of honey.

Butterflies don't have mouths that allow them to bite or chew, instead they have a long straw-like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices. But their taste sensors are located on their feet. Just by standing on a leaf, they can taste it to see if it's a good place to lay eggs.

Although ladybugs are most often thought of as red with black dots, they come in a multitude of other colors, including orange, yellow, black, gray, pink, and even blue.

Acting dead allows the moorland hawker dragonfly to reproduce with the mate of her choice. When undesirable males approach, she will drop from the air and lie motionless on the ground. A University of Zurich study showed that the females' death feigning usually works. Most males in the study, buzzed the crash site briefly, then flew off to look for other conquests.