Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for insect in Welsh ( trychfil, from trychu "to cut" and mil, "animal"), Serbo-Croatian ( zareznik, from rezati, "to cut"), Russian ( насекомое, from seč'/-sekat, "to cut"), etc. The word insect first appears documented in English in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. A calque of Ancient Greek: ἔντομον ( éntomon), "cut into sections", Pliny the Elder introduced the Latin designation as a loan-translation of the Ancient Greek word ἔντομος ( éntomos) or "insect" (as in entomology), which was Aristotle's term for this class of life, also in reference to their "notched" bodies. The word insect comes from the Latin word insectum, meaning "with a notched or divided body", or literally "cut into", from the neuter singular perfect passive participle of insectare, "to cut into, to cut up", from in- "into" and secare "to cut" because insects appear "cut into" three sections. Human activities also have effects on insect biodiversity. ![]() Insects are consumed as food in 80% of the world's nations, by people in roughly 3000 ethnic groups. ![]() Silkworms produce silk and honey bees produce honey and both have been domesticated by humans. Many insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Insect pollinators are essential to the life cycle of many flowering plant species on which most organisms, including humans, are at least partly dependent without them, the terrestrial portion of the biosphere would be devastated. Some insects perform complex ecological roles blow-flies, for example, help consume carrion but also spread diseases. Some species are parasitic, and may vector diseases. Some insects damage crops by feeding on sap, leaves, fruits, or wood. Humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides, and a host of other techniques. Other species communicate with sounds: crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances. Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Some insects, such as earwigs, show maternal care, guarding their eggs and young. Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as certain bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, with larval adaptations that include gills, and some adult insects are aquatic and have adaptations for swimming. Insects are the only invertebrate group with members able to achieve sustained powered flight, and all flying insects derive from one common ancestor. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, composed of the front and rear on one side with the middle on the other side. The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants.Īdult insects typically move about by walking, flying, or sometimes swimming. Fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm (22 to 28 in). The higher level relationship of the insects is unclear. ![]() Insects that undergo three-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The immature stages often differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, and can include a usually immobile pupal stage in those groups that undergo four-stage metamorphosis. Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. ![]() Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects are the most diverse group of animals they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. Diversity of insects from different orders.
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