Six Squirmy Legs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mosquito

The name mosquito comes from Spanish for little fly - they are a kind of fly, being members of the order Diptera. The genus Anopheles gets its name from Greek words that translate to mean no profit (or, more loosely, useless). This is an understatement, as the anopheles mosquitoes carry a number of diseases that are harmful to humans and other animals.

The adult female is the blood-sucking culprit, transferring parasites as it sucks on blood from the mammal of its choice. Anopheles mosquitoes also transmit Dirofilaria immitis, the source of canine heartworm.

Other genera of mosquito are responsible for a range of diseases including yellow fever, West Nile virus, dengue fever, and the Zika virus we all heard so much about at the time of the Rio Olympics.

Answer: Musca domestica

The Musca genus contains dozens of species, some found in only a few places, others more widespread. Musca domestica is thought to have first evolved in the Mediterranean region during the Cenozoic era, and has since distributed itself globally. The female housefly usually only mates once, and uses the sperm she stores to fertilise multiple batches of eggs, which she lays on a suitable source of nutrition for the maggots which hatch soon thereafter; cooked or raw meat, dead animals, fecal matter, all are hospitable sites.

As she crawls around all these appetising surfaces, she transfers matter from one to the other. An important aspect of hygiene in preparing and presenting food when house flies are active is preventing them from contacting exposed surfaces.

Answer: Clothes moth

What makes the larva of this species so special is that they can obtain nutrition from the natural fibres (especially wool and silk) found in clothing, carpets and other furnishing. Their effect is likely to be observed if moths have access to stored clothing which is left undisturbed for a length of time, such as occurs when heavy winter clothing is put away for the summer.

They also appreciate the low level of light typically found in a closet or storage compartment. Steps to prevent damage include making sure the clothing is clean before storage (as they definitely are attracted to dirty fibres); applying mothproofing chemicals; storing clothing with mothballs, which release fumes that deter moths (but which are also carcinogenic, so should be used in such a way as to minimise human inhalation); spraying storage areas regularly with insecticides (taking care to protect any pets such as fish, which may be adversely affected).

Answer: Silverfish

The silverfish is a silvery-blue wingless insect, whose crawling movement is reminiscent of the way a fish wiggles through the water. They appreciate moist dark areas (like cupboards), and devour a whole range of polysaccharides (the chemical name for substances formed from multiple units of simple sugars joined together). Of course they will scavenge the sugar and flour in your kitchen, but they do far more damage when they get into the library, where they adore both the paper and the adhesives used to bind the pages of the books. Photo albums are another favorite target. Clothing and carpets, not to mention any antique tapestries you may have hanging around, are not immune to their attention, either.

Answer: They inject a toxin through their stinger

Most ants produce irritation by spraying formic acid onto the open site of a bite, but members of this genus inject a toxic substance called solenopsin using their abdominal stinger. This produces a painful burning sensation, which can be more serious in sensitive individuals. Solenopsis invicta (unvanquished) is known as the red imported fire ant (RIFA) in many parts of the world where it has managed to establish a foothold, expanding from its native region (tropical South America) by way of accidental importation. they are thought to have been introduced to the USA in Alabama around 1930, and have since spread to cover much of the southern part of that country and northern Mexico.

They have since been spotted in many countries, most of which have caught the invasion early enough to institute successful eradication/control programs.

Answer: True

There are over a hundred thousand different species that are identified as wasps, including a number of insects with other common names - the yellow jacket (just called a wasp outside of North America) is used to describe any member of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula, many of which have distinctive yellow and black stripes. Hornets, also in the family Vespidae, are familiar for the nest they build near human habitation, which they defend aggressively. Most wasps, however, are solitary, and do not build such communal nests.

Answer: Locust

Under the appropriate conditions, some species of short-horned grasshopper (members of the Orthopteran suborder Caelifera) will reproduce rapidly, forming large groups that then move around foraging for food, a process that is referred to as swarming. The young hoppers are usually solitary, but overcrowding can lead to changes in both structure and behaviour that turns them into a gregarious form, which means that they are strongly attracted to each other, and the rate of breeding increases dramatically. The first stage of this process is called an outbreak; when separate groups start to join up it is called an upsurge; when members of widely separated breeding areas join it is called a plague. Interestingly, as plagues proceed the number of insects increases, but the area they occupy decreases due to their mutual attraction. This means that the damage they do to crops in their way becomes increasingly devastating.

The three incorrect options are all members of the closely-related suborder Ensifera, or crickets, sometimes called long-horned grasshoppers.

Answer: False

All honey bees are members of the genus Apis (Latin for bee), which currently includes seven recognized species (out of the approximately 20,000 currently-identified bee species). By far the most popular of these among beekeepers is A. mellifera (the western honey bee, whose species name means honey-bearing in Latin). It was one of the first insects to be domesticated, although all species of honey bees have long been exploited by those who live in their area. There is evidence that honey bees were enticed into artificial hives so that their honey (and wax) could be readily collected nearly 10,000 years ago. Their useful role as pollinators was then exploited, and they are considered to have been fully domesticated around 4,500 years ago.

Honey bees are not the only bees that produce honey, but they produce much more, and more consistently, than any of the other known honey-producers.

Answer: Madagascar hissing cockroach

You may remember the Madagascar hissing cockroach from its appearance in such films as 'Bugs' (although to the best of my knowledge no actual hissing cockroaches can produce fire); they were the models on which the alien Bugs in 'Men in Black' were based. If you are thinking of keeping one as a pet, note that they love to climb, so you need to keep then in an enclosure that allows them to do so, but which does not allow them to climb all the way out, or they will be gone. They can be fed with dry pet food (get the highest quality - they don't eat much) supplemented with fresh vegetable matter. Since they also dislike the light, you will need to make sure they have good hiding spots available, and resign yourself to not seeing them as often as you might want. Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless, so you only have to guard against crawling as an escape mechanism - they will not be flying to freedom.

The hissing cockroach is very large, but it is not the largest cockroach - the heaviest species is Macropanesthia rhinoceros, an Australian native also known as the rhinoceros cockroach. The longest species of cockroach is Blaberus giganteus, the Central American giant cave cockroach.

Answer: Milkweed butterfly

Other names for Danaus plexippus include common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. The monarch is migratory, travelling thousands of miles south from Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States in the fall, and back again in the spring.

This migration is multi-generational, meaning that the butterflies that start out on the journey are not the ones who arrive in their destination. It is described vividly in Barbara Kingsolver's novel 'Flight Behavior', which also raises the issue of the threats posed to monarch populations - the numbers found in the east coast decreased by over 90% between 1995 and 2015.

It has been suggested that one factor is a decrease in the number of milkweed plants available to feed the caterpillars produced during the spring migration period, due to the increased use of herbicides by farmers (growing crops that have been genetically modified to resist them) to remove the plants which are seen as pests.