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Why are there so many insects? The answer is that they have found so many weird ways of living. They eat many different kinds of food, from wooden furniture to plant pollen to elephant dung. Some insects can disguise themselves to hide from enemies. Others use powerful weapons and clever tricks to stay alive.

SIDEBAR

ARE ALL BUGS INSECTS? Not all creepy crawlies are insects. All insects have six legs and two feelers. Creatures with eight legs, such as spiders, are not really insects. Nor are slugs and worms because they have no legs at all!

How can you spot an insect? All insects, when they are fully grown, have six legs. Their bodies are divided into three parts—the head, thorax, and abdomen. They also have two feelers on their heads, called antennae. Insects do not have bones inside their bodies like us. Instead, they have a hard, tough outer skin, called an exoskeleton. This protects their soft insides. As they get larger, they lose this skin and grow a new one.

You can see the main parts of an insect in this picture of a wasp. Not all insects have wings.

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