Russ Anderson, age 12, of Duluth, Minn., for his question:

WHERE DO INSECTS SPEND THE WINTER?

Insects have been at home on the earth for more than 200 million years, and in the modern world there are perhaps a million different species. Throughout the long ages, they have adapted to survive the earth's changing moods and seasons. Each species copes with the problems of winter in its own way.

If insects were as big as tigers, we might mistake them for visitors from alien worlds. What's more, their life cycles are quite unlike those of the more familiar earthlings. They are, of course, coldblooded creatures who depend on their surroundings for the warmth they need to remain active. For this reason they have developed remarkable adaptations to survive through the winter.

Most insects complete their life cycles during a single year. The busy adults are active during the summer season when they mate and produce batches of eggs. In most cases, the adults perish before the first frostMeantime, the next generation is left behind to survive until the following spring.

During the summer the female cricket deposits batches of small white eggs in the ground. Come spring they hatch into nymphs, looking like miniature, wingless copies of their parents. As they grow, they molt several times and finally emerge as winged adults. In winter next year's crickets are sleeping underground as tough little eggs.

Most moths and butterflies spend the winter in the pupa stage, sleeping as chrysalises or in silken cocoons. A few species migrate to warmer climates. Several other insects spend the winter in the soil as grubby larvas. Honeybees huddle in their hives, queen wasps hide in sheltered crannies, waiting for spring when they start new colonies.

The mosquito is an aquatic insect, who lays her tiny eggs on the water. Come spring they hatch into wriggly swimmers, and after a pupa period they leave the water and take to the air as adults. The adult females will pester us all summer  and perish in the fall.