Honeydew honey is made by bees from honeydew. Honeydew is excreted by aphids and maggots, and rarely by other sap-eating insects. They feed mainly on protein from the sap of the plant, while water, sugars, free amino acids and the rest are quickly excreted in the form of honeydew. 1)
Paraponera clavata ants are called bullet ants and inhabit South America. Locally they are known as “twenty-four-hour ants.” The source of the name is the waves of incapacitating pain that accompany their bite, lasting about 24 hours, caused by a neurotoxin contained in the ant's venom. It is believed that of all venomous animals, the bite of this ant is the most painful. 2)
Wētā is the collective name for about 70 species of large proctoscopic insects, endemic to New Zealand. There were no mammals on the islands before the arrival of humans, so the locusts occupied an ecological niche similar to mice and rats. They are among the largest insects in the world: Including the antennae and legs, their length can exceed 11 inches and they weigh 2.5 ounces. The name comes from the Maori word “wētāpunga”, meaning “deity of ugliness.” 3)
The common earwig can invoke fear. The elongated body ending in large pincers stimulates the imagination. The pincers are at the end of the abdomen, and formed from transformed abdominal pituitaries or scleral processes, and have a defensive function. The common earwig is also sometimes called a pincer. 4)
Elaiosomes (ant-bodies) are fat- and carbohydrate-rich outgrowths of seeds or fruits of some plants. They provide food for ants, which in turn contribute to the spread of these seeds by carrying them to the vicinity of nests and often placing them in the substrate. This method of diaspore dispersal is called myrmecochory and occurs in over 11,000 plant species. 5)
There are over 20,000 species of ants in the world. Of this number, 12,500 species have been classified to date. 6)
Mycocepurus smithi ants are a species with no males. It is the only species that reproduce asexually. Within the Mycocepurus smithi species, there are only genetically identical females. 7)
Worker ants are females that are characterized by underdeveloped reproductive organs. 8)
Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera which is the largest of all orders with about 400,000 species. It includes almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms. 9)
The English name beetle derivates from the Old English word bitela, meaning little biter, which is related to bītan (to bite), and finally leads to the Middle English betylle. 10)
In the United States, there are about 100 families of beetles. Weevils are the largest family of insects and the largest family of beetles. 11)
Individuals of both sexes of the glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) differ greatly in appearance. The male is winged, while the larva-like female is not winged. Females have light organs on the underside of their abdomen. 12)
Cantharid (Latin: Lytta vesicatoria) is a beetle in the oleic family known by the misleading name “Spanish fly”. It feeds mainly on ash trees. For self-defense, the insect produces a highly irritating substance called cantharidin, which has been used as an aphrodisiac since ancient times. 13)
There are several divisions of butterflies. The most popular are those that divide butterflies by appearance. Another well-known division is also the one on the time of flight. This second division divides butterflies into diurnal butterflies and moths. It is important to note that these man-made divisions have been distinguished artificially, have blurred boundaries, and overlap. 14)
Butterflies are the second most abundant insect group (the first being beetles). 15)