InsectsThe name ‘bug’ is often used to describe insects (and sometimes other creepy-crawlies), but the word ‘bug’ should really only be used for one group of insects, the sapsuckers of the order Hemiptera. This is only one order in a class of two dozen other orders that comprise one of the most diverse groups of organisms in the world. They range in size and shape from giant, thin stick insects to tiny round beetles. More than a million species have been identified and there are many more to be discovered. In Australia, over 85,000 species have so far been described, and it is thought that there is at least an equal amount yet to be named.
Insects are arthropods and therefore have a hard exterior skeleton (the exoskeleton), body segmentation, and multiple appendages. They are usually differentiated from other arthropods by their three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae, usually three body segments, and the possession of wings.
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