The Lord Howe Island Phasmid or Land Lobster, Dryococelus australis, may be the rarest insect in the world and is possibly also the rarest invertebrate.
The craze for this insect is also justified because it can make anyone a millionaire overnight. The world knows this most expensive insect as the stag beetle. This beetle is only 2 to 3 inches in size and is said to be one of the smallest, strangest and rarest species on Earth.
The Giant Wētā is the world's heaviest insect in terms of weight, which at 71g is three times that of a mouse and heavier than a sparrow. A female Giant Weta ( Deinacrida heteracantha) filled with eggs can reach up to in excess of 70g and the largest of the species are found on Little Barrier Island.
Ants are perhaps the most common bug that you may find in your home. The reason for this: crumbs. Food morsels and a reliable water source are sure to attract ants.
The giant lacewing, or Polystoechotes punctata, belongs to a family of insects that predates the dinosaurs. After vanishing in the 1950s, one specimen has been rediscovered in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The millipede is making scientists rethink the evolutionary timescale for bugs and plants.
On September 9, 1947, the world's first computer bug was recorded. But this was no ordinary 'software bug'. It was a real-life moth that was causing the issues with the computer's hardware. This “first actual case of bug being found" was recorded by computer scientist Grace Hopper.
The Pillbug
And a lesser-known fact about them is that their blood appears blue, which is due to the presence of the chemical hemocyanin. Pillbugs need moisture to survive, so they're likely to be found in your basement, avoiding the spiders that love to dine on them.
Centipedes
These lanky critters were voted the least favorite insect by 4.4% of the survey respondents. Zoëcon has a range of premise and contact products to combat centipedes, including Zenprox® EC, Essentria® All Purpose, Lambda 9.7 CS, and more.
Although silverfish have a creepy appearance and are occasionally mistaken for venomous centipedes, silverfish are not known to bite humans and do not carry diseases. In most cases, a silverfish will instantly flee to safety when it is disturbed.
The Australian tiger beetle, Cicindela hudsoni, is the World's fastest running insect recorded to date, with an average speed of 5.5 mph (9 km/h). This doesn't sound very fast but the tiger beetle is a small animal, so at 5.5 mph it is moving at a relative speed of 171 body lengths per second.
Lethocerus patruelis is a giant water bug in the family Belostomatidae. It is native to southeastern Europe, through Southwest Asia, to Pakistan, India and Burma. It is the largest European true bug and aquatic insect.
The golden tortoise beetle is an insect species in the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae). This group consists of more than 37,000 species of fully herbivorous beetles grouped into 2500 genera. This makes them one of the most commonly encountered beetles.
Many species of tiger beetles are in decline and several are listed as endangered or threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. They are vulnerable because they are often restricted to open sandy habitat in which they can catch prey and areas with sand in which their larvae can dig borrows.
A team led by Dr. Simon Tierney discovered that a species of blind water beetle expresses opsin genes which are usually only found in species with eyes, even though this species has lived underground for millions of years and is eyeless. The research was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Bonus–The Laziest Insect in the World: Zoologger
It's one thing to snooze most of the day away and only expend enough energy to feed. It's quite another to freeload at someone else's expense! That's exactly what the Zoologger beetle does, a recently discovered species native to Cambodia.
Beneficial insects fall into three main categories: Pollinators: We depend on these insects—including bees, butterflies, flies, and moths—to pollinate our garden's flowers. Predators: These insects eliminate pests by eating them. Things like ladybugs, praying mantids, and green lacewing larvae fall into this category.
The pigments, however, are usually rather bland, and thus insect blood is clear or tinged with yellow or green. (The red color that you see upon squashing a housefly or fruit fly is actually pigment from the animal's eyes.)
For example, blood-sucking bugs are parasites that feed on human and other mammal hosts and have the potential to transmit disease. The most common types of blood-sucking bugs you should be on the lookout for are mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and bed bugs. Learn more about their origin and treatment.
Bed bug bites usually do not pose a serious medical threat. The best way to treat a bite is to avoid scratching the area and apply antiseptic creams or lotions and take an antihistamine.
A typical version of the story is: In 1946, when Hopper was released from active duty, she joined the Harvard Faculty at the Computation Laboratory where she continued her work on the Mark II and Mark III. Operators traced an error in the Mark II to a moth trapped in a relay, coining the term bug.
The 'Bug' or 'Bogey' part of the word is traceable back to the fifteenth century in the meaning of 'Hobgoblin', devil or ghost. In East Anglia particularly, the word Bugbear', first recorded in the sixteenth century, is still used in referring to problems with machinery.
Mayflies are the oldest surviving winged insects on the planet. Knecht discovered a mayfly impression from some 300 million years ago in rock behind a strip mall in Massachusetts.