Insects are animals, and make up the most diverse group of animals.Insects are animals that roamed the earth even before humans, around 300 million years ago. There are so many different types of insects, and only one million species have been discovered so far.Insects belong to the class Insecta or Hexapoda, animals belong to the animal kingdom. Just by looking at the body anatomy of the two, you can see how just how different the two are from one another.Almost all insects are invertebrates and they have exoskeletons, meaning they don’t have any bones. Some people also confuse arthropods with insects but they aren’t the same. Arthropods also have an exoskeleton but even they aren’t insects. The word ‘animals’ is mostly associated with mammals such as lions, tigers, and elephants. Insects can be distinguished very easily because their bodies are divided into three segments. Almost all insect species follow the same pattern. The three regions of these organisms include the head which is where they have a pair of eyes and antennae, the thorax which has jointed legs which is why they are known as Hexapoda, given they have six legs, and their other features such as wings are also on the thorax. The final region is the abdomen. Invertebrates have a segmented abdomen.If you enjoyed this article, why not also find out is a spider an animal and is a snail an insect here on Kidadl?Is an insect considered an animal?An animal is very different to an insect. There are a number of features that tell show us just how diverse their bodies are.Bees and ants are examples of insects, not all species of insects have wings but some do.Some groups defy animals such as anything other than humans, mostly birds, domestic animals, and wild animals along with livestock. The body segments in an animal are different and more complex than the ones in an insect. Animals are also known as metazoa and a multicellular organism. Anything that is not a human is known to be a part of the animal kingdom. However, when this means organisms such as birds, dogs, cows, and other such wild animals. The bodies of animals are very different and they are multi-cellular organisms, they don’t have a thorax. For example, moths are insects but dogs are animals. A study by scientists believes that we have around 1 trillion species of insects on our planet.What is not an animal?Many scientists agree that the animal kingdom includes all vertebrates, which are nothing but animals with bones. No matter what class they ultimately fall in, they are part of the animal kingdom.All vertebrae are animals, which also includes mammals, birds, and reptiles. Even fish and amphibians are animals. This logic, however, doesn’t believe that humans are animals so anything that isn’t a vertebrate is not an animal. Animals form groups and they search for prey. Many predators such as tigers and wild animals often search for their prey in-groups and this kind of behavior is not seen in many insects. Arthropods still have a predatory nature but insects do not show that.What kind of animal is an insect?Some people believe that insects are also animals and then they further diverge from humans and are classified into the arthropods classification, and then hexapods.The animal kingdom is divided into a lot of different groups. These groups are called phyla. Insects come under the phylum, arthropods. Although, insects are not exactly arthropods, and arthropods are very different to insects. Insects have three segments whereas arthropods have two. Arthropoda are further divided into four classes one of which is the Insecta, which accounts for all insects. If we see the classification this way then insects do come under the animal classification but we cannot call them animals, they come under the class Insecta. In other words, we can also say that insects are invertebrates, meaning they are animals without bones. No species of insects have bones, as all of them have an exoskeleton. The clear definition of an animal is that all species under this classification are vertebrae, meaning they have a backbone.What are the four classes of insects?There are trillions of species of insects, however, it’s easy to classify them into four classes.Cleopatra contains beetles and other such insects.Lepidoptera includes butterflies and moths.Hymenoptera includes bees, ants, and wasps.Diptera includes true flies.These classes help to classify the millions of insect species in a systematic way and understand their traits better. Mosquitoes are also insects.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Is an insect an animal? Interesting insect facts answered for kids! then why not take a look at Dates vs figs: dried fruits difference facts simplified for all!, or Most venomous animal in the world: list of dangerous animals revealed!
Insects are animals, and make up the most diverse group of animals.
