Fly

The fly is one of the most common and well-known insects in the world and the fly is found on every continent with the exception of the innermost polar regions of the Arctic Circle and Antarctica.

There are more than 240,000 different species of fly worldwide but only around half of these have actually been scientifically documented, something the science world wants to look into further.

The insect fly includes bugs like the mosquito, a tiny fly found worldwide that feeds on animal blood. In this way the deadly disease of malaria continues to threaten the lives of those humans bitten by an infected mosquito.

Flies and mosquitoes alike are known pests worldwide, generally connected with dirt, decay and disease as many species of fly are known to carry disease due to their ingestion of animal faeces, and connection with decaying bodies.

Flies are omnivorous animals and will eat almost anything from nectar of plants, to sap and even animal blood. The fly is able to prey on such things at it uncoils it's long, straw-like tongue which then sucks the liquid into the fly's body. The maggots which are the baby flies, are known to feet primarily on decomposing matter such as excrement and flesh.

Due to it's small size and abundance, the fly is preyed upon by a wide variety of predators around the world including amphibians such as frogs, toads and newts, fish that eat flies that land on the surface of the water, reptiles such as lizards and small mammals.

Flies have an extremely short lifespan, only living for about a month. The female fly lays her eggs in decomposing material, both plants and animals, which hatch very quickly. The eggs hatch into fly larvae which are more commonly known as maggots and quickly transform into an adult fly. It is thought that the process from egg to fly takes just under 2 weeks.

Earwig

The earwig is a small sized insect that is found in a variety of habitats around the world. There are nearly 2,000 different species of earwig that are found throughout the American, Australian and Eurasian continents.

The earwig has a small body size, that is split into three parts in a similar way to numerous other insect species. The earwig has sharp pincers on its abdomen and large wings that generally remain concealed against the body of the earwig. Although earwigs are able to fly, they often don't.

Earwigs are nocturnal animals that often hide in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night. Damage to foliage, flowers, and various crops are commonly blamed on earwigs but they also eat certain insects that damage them.

The earwig is thought to get its name from people fearing that earwigs crawled into your ear to lay their eggs. Although this is not the sole intention of the earwig, it is certainly thought to be possible as they like narrow, warm spaces such as the ear canal.

The earwig is an omnivorous animal meaning that earwigs will eat almost anything they can find. Earwigs spend most of their time feeding on a wide variety of other insects and plants including flowers, fruits and leaves.

Due to their small size, earwigs have a number of natural predators wherever they live in the world. Amphibians such as frogs, newts and toads are among the most common predators of the earwig along with birds and other larger insects such as beetles.

Female earwigs lay up to 80 small eggs which hatch within a couple of weeks. Female earwigs are known to be extremely protective of their young, often watching over them until they have reached their second moult (earwigs moult 5 time over the course of their lifetime). 

Bumble Bee

The bumble bee is the most common type of bee with around 250 different species of the bumble bee found around the world.

Despite the fact that the bumble bee can be found in many countries, it is indigenous to the Northern Hemisphere, breeding more successfully in the more temperate climates.

The bumble bee is best known for having a sting on it's tail, which the bumble bee uses to protect itself from danger. Once the bumble bee has stung something with it's sting, the sting breaks off and the bumble bee generally dies. Despite common belief, not every bumble bee has a sting, in fact the male bumble bees (known as drones) do not have a sting at all. Only the female bumble bee has a sting on it's tail.

One of the main causes in the decline of the bumble bee populations is the fact that the places where the bumble bees nest are being disturbed often destroying the bumble bee's nest in the process.

The bumble bee is a herbivorous animal feeding primarily on nectar. Bumble bees also eat pollen and honey when there is no nectar available. Bumble bees have numerous natural predators including birds, larger insects and amphibians such as frogs and newts.

The queen bumble bee is the one who lays the eggs. She lays her eggs in a round-shaped mound that she then seals with wax. When the baby bumbles bees (larvae) hatch they are forced to eat their way out of their sealed dome.

Bumble bees are known to play a valuable part in the eco-system as around 1/3 of what humans eat is pollinated by bees. It is estimated that around 80% of the world's crop species are dependent on the pollination by bees to survive.

Sadly due to high pollution levels and habitat loss, the bumble bee populations are rapidly declining with the bumble bee being one of the few insects that is classed as being threatened with extinction. Human beings do not give bees the respect they deserve, as bumble bees are vital to the survival of plants which are in turn vital to the survival of humans.

Butterfly

The butterfly can be found in most countries in the world, but there tend to be more butterflies in warmer climates. The butterfly is a type of insect that feeds on flower nectar through its long and curled straw-like tongue.

Butterflies are similar in appearance and tendencies to moths, with many species of butterfly often getting confused as a moth and moths with butterflies. In general the butterfly species tend to be more brightly coloured than the moth species, but there are exceptions.

The butterfly's most reputable characteristic is the fact that there is an incredible morphing process, during the life cycle of the butterfly. The butterfly starts life as a caterpillar, which cocoons itself in a silky thread. The caterpillar emerges from it's time in the pod, with colourful wings.

The butterflies in the tropical rain forests of the southern hemisphere, can get to incredible sizes, with the wings of these butterflies displaying some of the brightest colours in the natural world.

It has been estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 different species of butterfly in the world as more are constantly being discovered particularly in dense jungle regions that have little contact with humans. The different species of butterfly vary in size and colour as well as the differences in the bright patterns that are displayed on the wings of the butterfly.

Butterflies are herbivorous animals as butterflies are known to only eat plant matter with a high sugar content. Butterflies fly between the flowers drinking the nectar through their long tongue which acts as a straw. Whilst doing this, the butterfly transfers pollen between the plants, meaning that the butterfly plays a vital role in the pollination of plants around the world.

Due to their small size and colourful wings, butterflies are preyed upon by a number of animals around the world. The main predators of the butterfly include amphibians such as frogs and newts, small reptiles such as lizards and mammals including bats.

Butterflies reproduce by the male butterfly inserting his sperm into the pouch of the female butterfly. When the female butterfly is ready to lay her eggs, she performs a kind of self-fertilisation process as when the female releases an egg, it passes the pouch that contains the sperm of the male butterfly and is fertilised.

Female butterflies lay around 100 eggs at a time, with some species of butterfly laying their eggs in a cluster (all at one time) and other species of butterfly lay there eggs individually onto numerous different plants. The egg soon hatches as larvae which develops into a caterpillar and then into a butterfly.

Butterflies have intrigued and been of one of natures wonders due to their gentle nature and bright colours. Butterflies are commonly used in art and literature around the world and across numerous different cultures. 

Asian Giant Hornet

Asian Giant Hornet Classification and Evolution
The Asian Giant Hornet is the largest species of Hornet in the world with some queens reaching more than 5cm in length. They are found throughout Eastern Asia, particularly in Japan where they are commonly known as the Giant Sparrow Bee. It is not to be confused with the more placid Asian Hornet which arrived in France in 2005 and, although similar in appearance to the Asian Giant Hornet, the Asian Hornet is thought to be no more dangerous than the European Hornet. The Asian Giant Hornet was first classified in 1852 by a British entomologist called Frederick Smith, who worked in the zoology department of the British Museum. He later became the president of the Entomological Society of London from 1862 - 1863.

Asian Giant Hornet Anatomy and Appearance
This Wasp species is larger than any other with average Asian Giant Hornets growing to between 2.7cm and 4.5cm in length, with a wingspan of around 7cm. The queens can grow to 5.5cm but are similar in appearance to the worker Hornets with an orange head, black mandibles and a black and golden body. The Asian Giant Hornet has two sets of eyes, one compound and one ocelli, both of which are brown in colour along with their legs. Unlike other species of Wasp, and indeed Bees, the stinger of the Asian Giant Hornet is not barbed and therefore remains attached to it's body once used. This means that Asian Giant Hornets are able to sting their victims repeatedly, injecting a complex venom that is known to contain eight different chemicals.

Asian Giant Hornet Distribution and Habitat
The Asian Giant Hornet is found throughout Eastern Asia in Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, but they are most commonly found in the mountains of Japan. They are found inhabiting higher altitude forests in both temperate and tropical areas, where there is plenty of food and suitable places to build a nest. The nest is founded by a fertilised female (known as the queen) who selects a suitably sheltered site such as the hollow trunk of a tree, where she begins to build herself a nest out of chewed up bark. Wasp nests contain a series of single cells which together create the well-known honeycomb affect.

Asian Giant Hornet Behaviour and Lifestyle
Asian Giant Hornets are known for their fearless and extremely aggressive attitudes, and they seem to favour one animal in particular, the Honeybee. Asian Giant Hornets like to feed the Honeybee Larvae to their own young and are known to completely destroy whole Bee hives in the process. Rather than using their stinger, Asian Giant Hornets, kill the guarding Bees using their strong mandibles with extreme force and agility. One Hornet is said to be able to tear up to 40 Honeybees in half every minute just to get at what it wants. Asian Giant Hornets are sociable Insects, working together within the colony to forage for food, growing the size of the nest and caring for the young. They are known as workers but they do not reproduce, as that is the job of the queen.

Asian Giant Hornet Reproduction and Life Cycles
Once having built her nest in the spring, the fertilised queen lays a single egg in each cell which hatch within a week. Asian Giant Hornet Larvae undergo a five-stage changing process known as metamorphosis, in order to get to their adult form. This takes around 14 days by which point the hive has it's first generation of workers that ensure that the colony as a whole is well-maintained. By the late summer, the population of the colony is at it's peak with around 700 workers, most of which are female. The queen then begins to produce fertilised (female) and non-fertilised (male) eggs. The males leave the hive once they have reached their adult form and usually die once mated. The workers and current queens tend to die out in the autumn leaving the young fertilised queens to survive the winter and begin the process again the next spring.

Asian Giant Hornet Diet and Prey
The Asian Giant Hornet is a dominant predator within it's environment, mainly hunting other insects, particularly Bees. Asian Giant Hornets are also commonly known to kill larger Insects such as Preying Mantises and even other Wasps and Hornets. Adult Asian Giant Hornets are unable to digest solid proteins and instead only eat the fluids from their victims. They are also known to feed their catch to their larvae (particularly the Honeybee Larvae) in the form of a regurgitated paste. The Larvae then secrete a clear liquid which the adults consume, and is thought to give them a bit of an energy boost. Asian Giant Hornets predominantly use their mandibles rather than their powerful stingers in order to secure their prey.

Asian Giant Hornet Predators and Threats
Due to the fact that the Asian Giant Hornet is an apex predator within it's environment, it has no real natural predators within it's native habitats. Humans pose the biggest threat to the world's largest wasp, mainly as they are consumed as part of normal diets in the areas where they are found. This is particularly common in the mountains of Japan where the Asian Giant Hornet populations are in the highest abundance. Despite it's size and bad temper, numbers of the Asian Giant Hornet are declining in certain areas. This is mainly due to habitat loss in the form of deforestation. Honeybees in Eastern Asia are also starting to develop their own defence again the Hornets, trapping them in their nest until it becomes too hot for this giant Wasp and it dies.

Asian Giant Hornet Interesting Facts and Features
The stinger of the Asian Giant Hornet is 1/4 inch long and because it has no barb, the Asian Giant Hornet is able to sting it's victims multiple times. The venom injected by the stinger is incredibly potent and contains eight different chemicals, each with a specific purpose. These range from tissue degeneration and breathing difficulties, to making the sting more painful and even attracting other hornets to the victim. The Asian Giant Hornet is a relentless hunter and only a few are said to be able to completely wipe out a 30,000+ Honeybee colony in a couple of hours. The saliva produced by the larvae of the Asian Giant Hornet is said to give them their renowned energy and stamina when consumed on a regular basis. When chasing their prey, they have been reported travelling distances of up to 60 miles, at a top speed of 25 mph.

Asian Giant Hornet Relationship with Humans
Oddly enough, these incredibly large and indeed dangerous Insects, are actually eaten by people who share the habitat of the Asian Giant Hornet. The Asian Giant Hornet is consumed by some as a regular source of food and is most commonly deep fried or served as a Hornet sashimi. Despite the fact that the venom of the Asian Giant Hornet is incredibly potent, it is only in rare cases when the person is more vulnerable, that it is actually the poison that has caused them to die. In Japan alone, 40 people are killed every year by stings from Asian Giant Hornets but fatalities are mainly caused by allergic reactions, often from multiple stings.

Asian Giant Hornet Conservation Status and Life Today
The Asian Giant Hornet is today listed as a species that is Threatened from extinction in the near future, should the circumstances surrounding it's survival not change. Despite their dominance in their natural environments, the Asian Giant Hornet populations are being severely affected by habitat loss is certain areas, predominantly in the form of deforestation.