Looking for insect names in English to teach your child? Don’t know how to make your child learn the names in a simple and easy way? How to make learning these difficult insect names fun for kids?
We are here to provide answers to all your questions. In this article, we have covered the names of different kinds of insects for kids, activities to learn these names and some fun facts about insects to make the learning process fun from them.
Let’s begin!
What Are Insects?
Insects are a group of animals with three body segments – a head, a thorax, and an abdomen along with six legs. Also, insects have a pair of antennae on their head. The number of insects on Earth is estimated to be over one million species. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
Different Types Of Insects For Kids
Wondering how many types of insects are there? Well, there are many. Below we have covered some categories of insect names with pictures. Let’s read!
1) Flying Insect Names
In this section, we will take a look at the names of some insects that have wings and can fly.
1. Bee
An insect with wings is known for its role in pollination. Bees pollinate one in three mouthfuls of what we eat.
2. Wasp
These are common pests related to bees and ants. Some common species of wasps, like hornets and yellow jackets, live in nests ruled over by a queen wasp.
3. Fly
The most common insect that can be found everywhere in the world except for the ice caps of the South and North poles, Flies have the ability to taste with their feet.
4. Dragonfly
Insects with elongated bodies and large transparent wings, Dragonflies are known for their bright and attractive iridescent colours that range from green to metallic blue.
5. Moth
Moths are plain brown in colour. Although they aren’t the most harmful insects you can find in a home, they can cause damage to clothes, food, and other belongings.
6. Butterfly
Butterflies are insects with beautiful and graceful wings. This insect uses their feet to taste and smell the flowers.
7. Mosquito
Insects with three pairs of legs and a segmented body, Mosquitoes are well-known for their ability to pierce the skin, suck blood, and transmit diseases.
8. Grasshopper
An insect with long legs, special eyes that allow them to see in all directions at once, and the ability to fly, Grasshoppers are generally green or brown in colour.
9. Beetle
This insect can be found in a variety of colours and is one of the world’s oldest insects. Beetles have the ability to live everywhere as they can live in the hot environment as well as in the coldest ones.
10. Cricket
Insects with long antennae, Crickets are known for their chirping sound in warm evenings. There are about 900 species of crickets around the world.
2) Crawling Insect Names
In this section, we will take a look at the names of some insects that crawl on surfaces.
1. Ant
Ants can lift more than 1-15 times their body weight. These small insects live in a colony with their queen.
2. Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the largest crawling insects, which later become moths or butterflies.
3. Spider
Spiders are insects with eight legs. There are more than 40,000 spider species around the world.
4. Cockroach
These are common house pests that can quickly colonize homes. Cockroaches are reddish-brown to black in colour and come in various sizes.
5. Termite
Termites are white ants that chew through wood and can destroy house structures.
6. Bed Bugs
These are tiny insects that are 1 or 2 mm in size. Bed Bugs are difficult to eliminate and usually require special treatment to get rid of.
7. Louse
A Louse is a small insect that lives on the bodies of animals and people.
8. Silverfish
An insect with a silvery appearance and fish-like movements, Silverfish have long antennae and are very active at night, and move very vast.
9. Earwigs
Earwigs are a little more than one inch in size. This insect has very long slender antennae and a long pincher at the rear.
10. Booklice
Insects with flat bodies that are light brown or cream in colour, Booklice are commonly found feeding on old books.
Other Insect Names For Children
Here is the list of some more A to Z insect names for kids –
| Ladybug | Bumblebee | Fireflies |
| Hornworm | Hornet | Woodworm |
| Tick | Stick Insect | Scorpion |
| Maggot | Silkworm | Dung Beetle |
| Green Fly | Leaf Insect | Locust |
| Praying Mantids | Cicada | Green Stink Bug |
| Greenfly | Grub | Lacewing |
| Millipede | Napidae | Orchid Mantis |
| Red Velvet Mite | Sphinx Moth | Stonefly |
| Treehopper | Water Beetle | Fleas |
| Armyworm | Cutworm | Darkling Beetle |
| Crane Fly | Damselfly | Fruit Fly |
| Gypsy Moth | Leafhopper | Milkweed Bug |
| Horse Fly | Mealworm | Spittlebug |
| June Bug | Paper Wasp | Hover Fly |
Activities That Will Help Your Child Learn Insect Names
Wondering how to teach your little one these insect names? We have got you covered. Below we have covered some amazing activities that will help your child to remember the name of common insects and some harmful insect names as well.
1. Learn With Playdough
Encourage your child to make insects like a caterpillar or a butterfly, or a honeybee, using their playdough. This way, they will learn the name of the insect as well as the shape of these insects.
2. Colour The Insects
Take a printout of the outline of a few insects on a sheet. Give this sheet to your child and ask them to fill the insects with the right colour. This activity will help your child learn the colour and appearance of insects along with their names.
3. Name The Insects
Fill a small bucket with shaving cream. Add plastic toy insects to the basket. Ask your child to find the insects, take them out and name them. Help your child if required.
4. Fun With Flashcards
A great way to revise your child’s knowledge about insects is through flashcards. Here is how you can make your own flashcards activity into a fun memory game. Print a few pictures of common insects on card paper in small size. Lay down all the cards facing down. Now, name one insect and ask your child to guess which card shows the picture of that insect. The first few turns will have to be a wild guess, after which your child will be expected to memorise the placement of the cards and open the correct one upon the name being called.
5. Build-A-Bug Activity
In this particular activity, all you need with you is some coloured paper, a pair of child-safe scissors and some glue. Then, with different coloured paper, fold, cut and paste them to create different insect shapes. You and your little one can keep references in front of you for this as well. As an additional activity, you can turn this into a bug mobile for your kid’s room, by just hanging all these papered insects with strings of thread.
Fun And Interesting Facts About Insects For Kids
- Dragonflies are believed to have been on Earth for 300 million years.
- Caterpillars have 6 eyes on each side of their head.
- A ladybird can eat more than 5,000 insects in its lifetime.
- A single honey bee colony produces around 100 kg of honey each year.
- Mosquitoes are common home insects that are attracted to smelly feet, so remember to wash your feet properly.
- Grasshoppers can store their jumping energy in their hind legs.
- A bee can beat its wings around 190 times. That’s 11,400 times a minute!
There are a lot of interesting insects that you will come across in the garden or even at your home. The names of insects mentioned above are some common insects that one can encounter in everyday life, so children must know the names of these common insects. We hope you had a fun time learning these names.
Also Read:
Insects and Their Body Parts for Children
Animal Names for Preschoolers and Kids
Animals Group Names in English for Children
