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Ladybug

Ladybug — Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English, Australian English, South African English), ladybugs (North American English) or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). The family name comes from its type genus, Coccinella. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described, more than 450 native to North America alone. Coccinellids are small insects, …

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Katydid

Katydid — The family Tettigoniidae, known in American English as katydids and in British English as bush-crickets, contains more than 6,400 species. It is part of the suborder Ensifera and the only family in the superfamily Tettigonoidea. They are also known as long-horned grasshoppers, although they are more closely related to crickets than to grasshoppers. Tettigoniids may be distinguished from …

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Horsefly

Horsefly — Insects in the order Diptera, family Tabanidae, are commonly called Horse flies. Often considered pests for the bites that many inflict, they are among the world’s largest true flies. They are also important pollinators of flowers, especially in South Africa. Tabanids occur worldwide, being absent only at extreme northern and southern latitudes. Flies of this type are among …

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Grasshopper

Grasshopper — Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish them from bush crickets or katydids, they are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers. Species that change color and behavior at high population densities are called locusts. The Grasshoppers have antennae that are almost always shorter than the body (sometimes filamentous), and short ovipositors. …

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Glowworm

Glowworm — Glowworm (or glow-worm) is the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but all are insects (Arachnocampa being a fly and all the others being beetles). The major families are: Lampyridae (fireflies), found around the world. The wingless adult female is the glowworm …

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Flea

Flea — Flea is the common name for any of the small wingless insects of the order Siphonaptera (some authorities use the name Aphaniptera because it is older, but names above family rank need not follow the ICZN rules of priority, so most taxonomists use the more familiar name). Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of …

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