INSECT STRENGTH

SIZE

• Insects are so successful because they have a protective shell or exoskeleton, they are small, and they can fly. Their small size and ability to fly permits escape from enemies and dispersal to new environments.
• Because they are small they require only small amounts of food and can exist in very small niches or spaces. In addition, insects can produce large numbers of offspring relatively quickly.
• Natural selection acts on their body size, favoring those that are better suited to their environment. Larger insects may have advantages such as increased mobility, ability to defend against predators, or greater efficiency in acquiring resources.

FLIGHT

• Flight is one of a general insects essential adaptation for many reasons. Benefits of flight include evading predators, dispersal, and finding a mate. Other functions of wings include protection, sound production, heat retention, visual communication, and orientation. These are some of the reasons why the adaptation of flight is important to the success of many insects.

REPRODUCING

• Reproducing is a amazing thing for all living creatures, it helps a species species thrive. Insects are great at reproducing because some of the insects have the capability to lay thousands or hundreds of eggs this makes insects very successful.
• Unfertilized eggs become males while fertilized eggs become females. In a few species, females produce only females. A single embryo typically develops within each egg, except in the case of polyembryony, where hundreds of embryos may develop per egg. Insects may reproduce by laying eggs or, in some species, the eggs may hatch within the female which shortly thereafter deposits young. In another strategy common to aphids, the eggs hatch within the female and the immatures remain within the female for some time before birth.

SPEED

• Insects are incredibly fast, they achieve this by, having six legs allows insects to run at fast speeds while remaining surprisingly stable, this is known as a tripod gait. This makes insects successful because they can get away very quickly from predators and gather up food fast.

Madagascar hissing cockroaches

• Somethings I learned about the Madagascar hissing cockroaches is that they are very resilient because the test we did on them, like penny pulling and swimming shows how adapt and strong the cockroaches are. The cockroaches pulled about 40 to 50 pennies, and when introduced to water they learned how to swim this shows how they are so successful.

COCKROACHES AND MEALWORMS

• Cockroaches are very old, they originated more than 280 million years ago in the Carboniferous era.
• Cockroaches are able to go for so long without sustenance because they are cold-blooded insects. However, they can only survive for one week without water, which is why they are commonly found in humid or high-moisture areas around the home, such as basements and bathrooms.
• Even though mealworms look like worms, they have six jointed legs like adult beetles. This is hard to see because they are very little.
• Mealworms live in cool, damp areas such as animal dens, and underneath rocks and rotten logs. This natural instinct makes a mealworm move towards darker light.