Let’s Talk “BUGS"
What is a “bug”?
The term “bug” is just a casual word. Most of the time, we use it to mean any small, leggy critter that crawls, flies, or surprises us by showing up in our shoes. Scientifically speaking though, all bugs fall under a much bigger umbrella—arthropods.
(Say it with me: AR-thro-pods.)
Before you go flipping over logs or staring into the grass for hours (which—yes—is a perfectly respectable way to spend your day), it helps to know a little more about what you’re actually looking at when it comes to bugs.
Arthropods are animals without backbones (invertebrates), but don’t worry—they’ve got armor.
Instead of internal skeletons like ours, they wear theirs on the outside.
They have segmented bodies and jointed limbs (think legs, antennae, pincers… all the pointy things).
Together, arthropods make up nearly
85%
of all known animals on Earth. They are everywhere.
This group includes insects,
spiders, scorpions, centipedes,
millipedes, and even crabs and shrimp.
Insects take the spotlight since they’re the most familiar—and the most diverse. We’ve officially described over a million species, but scientists think there could be over 8 million in total just waiting to be discovered. The tropics hold the lion’s share, but even here in the U.S. and Canada, we’ve got 150,000+ species hanging around.
That’s a whole lot of six-legged neighbors.
~ 1 million species officially described
So far
But scientists think there
could be over 8 million left
to be discovered!
Here’s a fact to make your skin crawl (or spark your curiosity):
there are about 1.5 billion insects for every one human.
Entomology
The official name for studying insects is entomology (en-toe-MAH-lo-jee), and it’s a field that connects to everything from farming and health to environmental science and even solving crimes. Entomologists work in labs and in the field, studying insect behavior, preventing crop damage, fighting disease, conserving rare species, and figuring out how bugs fit into the bigger picture of life on Earth.