Amber Kingswood, age 14, of Burlington, Vt., for her question:
WHY DO INSECTS ALWAYS SEEM TO SURVIVE?
Scientists tell us that insects first appeared on Earth at least 400 million years ago and down through the ages, they have struggled endlessly to survive. During this struggle, insects have gradually developed an incredible variety of body forms and ways of life. They have adapted themselves to almost all types of living conditions.
One reason insects always seem to survive is that they can adapt to even the harshest living conditions.
Another reason for the success of insects in surviving is their small size. Insects can live in places that are too small for other animals, and where they can also find food and protection from their enemies.
The skeletons of insects have also helped them survive. An insect has its skeleton on the outside of its body. This tough coat of armor protects its internal organs against injury and loss of moisture.
Most insects have wings, which give them a great advantage over most other kinds of animals. Flying makes it easier for insects to search for food, to escape enemies and to find mates.
Much of the success of insects comes from their powers of reproduction. Most insects have short lives. They quickly become adults and reproduce.
Most insects lay many eggs. Many kinds produce several generations during a single season. Because insects can reproduce so quickly and in such great numbers, they can adapt to changes in their surroundings that could otherwise wipe them out.
Insects also have special methods of reproduction. The females of some species can reproduce without mating. A queen honeybee, after mating once, can lay eggs for the rest of her life.
Insects have been so successful in their fight for life that they are often said to be man's only rivals for control of the Earth.
Entomologists, the scientists who study insects, have already classified more than 800,000 kinds of insects.
Today there are at least four times as many kinds of insects as all other kinds of animals combined. The total number of individual insects is unbelievable.
Scientists estimate that the average number of insects for each square mile of land equals that of the total number of people on the Earth.
Most insects are less than a quarter of an inch long. The smallest ones include fairy flies and some beetles. They are about one hundredth of an inch long and one of them could very easily crawl through the eye of the smallest needle.
Giant insects include the Goliath beetle, which grows to be more than four inches long, and the Atlas moth, which has a wingspread of 10 inches