Can You Name the Insect from a Description?

Beetles have hardened wings. This feature gives them a particularly hard exoskeleton, which makes a crunching noise when you step on them.

Bees help pollinate plants and flowers. Without them, we wouldn't be able to grow food.

Butterflies are related to moths. Brightly colored butterflies are typically poisonous, and their bright colors signal to animals not to eat them.

Ants live in hills and other colonies. Ants have been around for more than 140 million years.

Female mosquitoes feed on the blood of mammals to nourish their young. Because of their ability to pierce the bloodstream, mosquitoes transmit blood-borne diseases.

Ladybugs, or ladybirds (in Europe), are actually beetles. Some experts insist that ladybugs do not meet the actual definition of a bug.

Termites feed on wood, which means your home is at risk. They can cause a lot of damage. Interestingly, termites are related to cockroaches.

Fleas, like mosquitoes, feed on the blood of mammals. These parasites can jump as much as 100 times their length.

Fly larvae, called maggots, are sometimes used by fishermen. Flies lay their eggs in a food source for the larvae.

Bedbugs are difficult to get rid of. This is why bedbug infestations strike fear into moms everywhere. The first evidence of an infestation might be small bites, since these insects feed on the blood of mammals.

Jiminy Cricket was Pinocchio's friend in the Disney adaptation of the story. In real life, crickets make a chirping noise by rubbing their wings together.

Earwigs are creepy looking insects, but they didn't get their name from making their way to the brain through the ear canal. In fact, their name comes from the shape of their hind legs, which look a bit like a human ear.

Dragonflies have been traditionally looked upon in a negative way in Europe, sometimes being referred to as the devil's darning needle. Many rain forest species are in danger of elimination.

Aphids are sometimes called greenflies and blackflies. However, sometimes they are white and fluffy. Nature, right?

The praying mantis is named such because it often adopts a position that makes it look like it's praying. It is true that the female sometimes bites off the head of the male after mating.

A little grammar lesson... louse is the singular form of lice. Lice are common in schools and day care centers because they are easily transmitted between children.

Mr. Miyagi, of Karate Kid fame, often wished patience on his grasshopper, or his student. Grasshoppers are related to crickets and have been around for more than 250 million years.

Thrips have fringed wings. Thrips feed on plants and are considered pests on many farms.

Cockroaches are considered a pest in the home, but we suppose that just about any bug could be considered a pest if there were enough of them. The thing about cockroaches is that they are associated with a lack of cleanliness. Interestingly, only about 30 out of thousands of cockroach species are known to cohabitate with humans. And, P.S., they couldn't really survive a nuclear war.

Wasps are known as angry, stinging insects. They live in colonies in nests that they make using their saliva and chewed plant matter.

Mayflies are also called Canadian soldiers. These insects are found near water because adult mayflies lay their eggs in water.

Locusts played a role in helping Moses free the slaves in Egypt. Locusts are related to grasshoppers and do not usually live in groups.

They are called katydids in the U.S. and bush bugs in the U.K. These grasshopper cousins are nocturnal and look like small green leaves.

The potato bug might also be called a pillbug, a roly poly or a doodlebug, but its formal name is Armadillidium vulgare. Some people keep them as pets because they are considered so cute.

Booklice, or Psocoptera, don't really eat old books, but they do eat the glue that was used to bind old books. That's why these bugs are often found in old books.

Scale bugs secrete a waxy substance that makes them look like a fish scale or a shell. Scale bugs are plant parasites.

The kissing bug is also known as the vampire bug. These bugs are attracted to humans because of the way they smell.

The stonefly is said to be so intolerant of pollution that they will not go near polluted water. So, if you see one near water, you can bet that water is drinkable. Good to know if you find yourself in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Cicadas live in their young stage under the ground and emerge at about 15 years to mate. There are, however, some species that emerge more often, sometimes even annually.

The lacewing has wings that are lacy and resemble nets. These intricate patterns are actually veins.

Velvet ants seem like hairy, fuzzy ants, but they aren't actually ants, they're wasps. They may also be called panda ants if they are black and white, because they look like... well... tiny pandas.

The jumping bristletail has a three-pronged tail. These bugs have been around for more than 250 million years, according to fossil evidence.

The scorpionfly resembles a scorpion, which is how it got its name - the fly, not the scorpion. In the scorpionfly, though, the taillike structure that resembles the tail of the scorpion are the scorpionfly's reproductive organs.

Silverfish love damp environments, so you might spy one occasionally in your basement. Silverfish get their name because they move in a swimming motion, like a fish.

Charlotte was actually not an insect, she was an arachnid. Spiders are arachnids, which might be bugs, but they aren't technically insects. Congratulations if you got this tricky question right!