‘Discover bugs’ (III)
This week, we’ll continue with the remaining parts of ‘Discover bugs’ by Monalisa Sengupta.
25. Spiders help people by eating harmful bugs. They eat grasshoppers and locusts, which destroy crops, and flies and mosquitoes, which carry diseases.
26. Several species of cicadas, called periodical cicadas, take 13–17 years to develop. The nymphs spend about 13–17 years underground before coming out to mate. The adult cicadas die soon after mating.
27. Grasshoppers are eaten as a delicacy in many countries. They are a good source of protein. Many countries also instruct their soldiers to eat grasshoppers if they get lost and run out of food.
28. Killer bees are very dangerous. If their hive is disturbed, they attack anything in the surrounding area. They attack in large numbers and their stings can kill people.
29. Scorpions and centipedes are among the most poisonous creatures on earth. They can kill humans and big animals.
30. Cockroaches are scavengers. They will eat a variety of substances, including book binding, paper, soap, plants and dead animals.
31. A cockroach can hold its breath for 40 minutes. If its head is removed, a cockroach can go on living for up to a week.
32. The best way to keep bugs away is to keep the house clean.
33. The praying mantis is often mistaken for a pest. However, it feeds on other insects, especially crop-eating pests.
34. A silkworm (蠶) is not a worm, but the larva of a moth. A silkmoth feeds only on mulberry leaves. It spins a cocoon from which raw silk is obtained. The cocoon is made of a single, continuous thread of raw silk, which is 300–900 metres long.
Picture source: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/contemporary-art-day-auction-n09501/lot.204.html?locale=en
Picture source: https://www.303gallery.com/artists/tim-gardner/selected-works?view=slider#15
