Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods Quiz

Answer: Any member of the insect group "Heteroptera"

Although the majority of bugs have wings, some can be wingless. All true bugs have straw-like mouth parts designed for sucking plants, insects or blood. Their mouths are constructed with two pairs of needle-like tubes, one of which pierces and the other sucks. You can usually tell if something is a true bug if "bug" is part of its common name, and a separate word, like chinch bug.

But there are exceptions where the common name of a true bug is one word, like bedbug and stinkbug.

Answer: Goliath Beetle

It comes from Africa, can weigh up to 115g, and can also fly at over 20 km/h (it sounds like a helicopter). Because of this it sometimes knocks unsuspecting cyclists off their bikes. The longest species are the Goliathus goliatus and the Goliathus cacicus at 128mm.

Answer: Horned Dung Beetle

This species of scarab, or dung beetle, can support up to 200 times its own weight. That's the equivalent of 36 quarter pound hamburgers!

Answer: Ants

The aborigines used to use army ants when they cut themselves. They would let the ants bite the sides of the wound and then twist and pull off their bodies- leaving their jaws clamped onto the cut. The ants would also release juices over time that helped heal the wound faster.

Answer: Mantis Shrimp

If a mantis shrimp is left in a glass tank for a few weeks it will mistake its reflection for an opponent and vigorously attack it until it causes damage. Apparently a punch from a mantis shrimp is as hard as a boxer's.

Answer: 60 km. per hour

They mold dung into balls and push them backwards with their two hind legs.

Answer: A net to catch fish

It belongs to the Golden Orb Spider and is so thick that expert fishermen can catch fish weighing up to 500g. Glow worms in Waitomo, New Zealand are also known to make webs. (They are not technically glow worms but larvae of gnats). They spin luminous webs- like candy floss- in caves to trap flying insects.

Insects belonging to the order Embioptera also spin silken threads- from their front legs. They spin silken tunnels under stones through which they can move safely.

Answer: Colorado Beetle

They are officially wanted by the police. Homeowners have to rotate the use of insecticides on their gardens because they become resistant to the chemicals very quickly.

Answer: Skyscrapers

And you'd shoot upwards at 300 km. per hour. A hungry flea can do 600 jumps an hour in search of food. A full flea probably could, but could it be bothered? One species of flea can jump 150 times its own body length.

Answer: Tiger Beetle

The Australian species, Cicindela repanda, can run at 2.5 meters per second- that's 125 body lengths a second. Relatively speaking Michael Johnson would have to run a 200 meter race in 0.87 seconds to compete with it. One of the fastest arthropods is the wind scorpion that can clock 10mph. It also has the largest jaws compared to body size of any animal.

Answer: True

Yes indeed. The spider-hunting wasp forces its way into the trapdoor spider's burrow, paralyses it and lays an egg on its body. When the grub hatches it eats the spider alive. The tarantula-hawk wasp uses the same type of attack.

Answer: Bite its mate's head off

This can actually enhance the male's performance!

Answer: Longhorn Beetle

The South American longhorn beetle, Titanus giganteus, from the French/Guiana Brazil region can grow to 16.7cm!
The violin beetle, also known as the guitar beetle can grow to a length of 10 cm/4 inches, although it is very slender and likes hiding in gaps in bark. Unfortunately it is now endangered. The largest land arthropod is the robber crab which can grow to more than 1 meter across. The longest stick insect is the Australian Female Titan Stick that can grow to 33 cm.It's also endangered. I'm afraid the hammer tooth and dynamo Beetles don't really exist.

Answer: shakes itself quickly

It can shake itself so quickly its body becomes a blur, making it almost invisible to enemies.

Answer: She swallows him

The female spoonworm is 7,500 times longer than the male. She swallows the male and he travels down her body until he reaches her sexual organs. Once she is fertilized the male lives inside the female's body.. Must be rubbish to be born as a bloke.

I expected this quiz to go up in rating after I extended it, but it has gone down slightly- do leave a message or comment.