I Am The Insect Trivia Quiz

Answer: Emperor dragonfly

The emperor dragonfly is a member of the Aeshnidae family, which contains the world's biggest dragonflies. Males have a distinctive blue abdomen with a black stripe and a green thorax, and are very territorial. It preys on butterflies, tadpoles and smaller dragonflies, and lays its eggs in aquatic plants.

Answer: Sacred scarab

What role do dung beetles play in seed distribution? The answer is in the dung they eat and bury, as when animal dung contains seeds, the seeds are spread through the actions of the beetles. Although the sacred scarab is a dung-eater itself, not all dung beetles solely eat dung - some of them also eat fungi, leaves, or even millipedes. Dung beetles, including the sacred scarab itself also played a role in ancient Egyptian culture; they often featured on amulets, and the sun god Kheper had the head of a dung beetle, and rolled the Sun across the sky like a ball of dung.

Answer: Seven-spot ladybird

The nursery rhyme in question is, "Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home / Your house is on fire, your children all gone." The seven-point ladybird exists on all continents besides Australasia and Antarctica, and is Europe's most common ladybird. It is much loved by gardeners as it preys on aphids, which colonise and destroy plants.

As well as being pretty, its spots and red shell also act as a deterrent to predators, along with a toxic substance which it secretes from its legs.

Answer: Boll weevil

The boll weevil spread from Mexico to the US in the late 19th century, and infested cotton fields across the USA, causing major damage to the cotton industry. It also spread across South America in the latter half of the 20th century, to Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil. The USDA set up an eradication programme using techniques such as malathion spraying and shredding cotton stalks, in order to get rid of possible shelters for the pests.

The song in question is a traditional blues song which has been covered by the White Stripes, amongst others.

Answer: Western honey bee

The most common honey bee in the world, the Western honey bee, is crucial in the pollination of plants, as it rubs its legs against the anthers of a plant to gather pollen grains. These grains are then deposited on other plants. As its name suggests, it also produces honey from nectar and sweet deposits, which are stored in a comb (a wall which bees build in their nests with wax cells).

The queen is a single fertile female, with a more rounded abdomen than other females; workers are females who gather pollen; and drones are males whose main purpose is reproduction. Drones do not have stingers.

Answer: Cicada

Each different species of cicada has its own mating call, which the males make using organs called tymbals. Tymbals are membranes at the base of the cicada's abdomen, and he makes his mating call by contracting his tymbal muscles. It also serves to deter birds.

This particular species of cicada is one of the ones used in Chinese cooking, and can be eaten roasted or deep-fried (but remember to take out the hard parts before cooking!)

Answer: Praying mantis

The female of the species really is more deadly than the male in this case! In order to be in with a chance, the male praying mantis, or European mantis, has to approach the female from behind. If she looks at him, he stops dead. When he is close enough, he mounts her behind, but has to get away from her quickly after mating. Losing his head won't kill a male praying mantis instantly, however - he can still mate with a female without a head, and can live on for five days.

The religious aspect comes from the fact that the way the mantis holds its legs makes it look as though it is praying.

Answer: German cockroach

The German cockroach is a close relative of the Asian cockroach, but can only glide rather than fly. Although it was thought to have originated in Europe (hence the name), more recent research has pinpointed its origins as being in Ethiopia or even southeast Asia.

They are considered to be pests due to reproducing very quickly and being able to adapt to and resist pesticides and sugar bait. They like meat, starchy foods and even non-edible items such as toothpaste, but have been known to eat each other if there is no food source available.

Answer: Giant northern termite

Also known as the Darwin termite, the giant northern termite is only found in northern Australia. A primitive termite, it has caused a major decline in vegetable farming in that area, as its population can number in the millions when there is abundant water and food, and favourable soil conditions.

As well as eating plants and wood, it also eats other materials such as leather or ivory. It also shares some features with cockroaches, such as wing shape and laying eggs in bunches (other termites lay single eggs).

Answer: Human botfly

This is one critter you definitely don't want to encounter. While some botflies or warble flies favour deer or horses, this one targets humans, with the unwitting help of mosquitoes. Females will capture a mosquito and attach their eggs to its body, and when they release it and it feeds on a human, the eggs are deposited and hatch beneath the skin.

They are mainly found in the Americas, and their larvae can be killed by suffocation with petroleum jelly or glue mixed with insecticides.