Created by Elementary Teachers: Julia Christian, Andrea Cox,

1. Are Insects Helpful or Harmful? Created by Elementary Teachers: Julia Christian, Andrea Cox, Cherie Crane, Cheryl Graves, and Wanda Massey

2. Some Insects are helpful. • They help with pollination. • They make materials that we can use for food and clothing. • They eat other harmful insects.

3. Insects that make materials for clothing and food • Silkworms spin a chrysalis of silken thread that is used to create silk for clothing. • Honeybees make more honey than they can eat, so humans use the excess honey for food.

4. Insects that eat harmful bugs • Ladybird beetles (or ladybugs) kill aphids, mites, small insects, and insect eggs. Whether in the adult or larva stage, they feed on these insects which are harmful to crops. • The praying mantis can eat a large number of harmful insects in its life time. • Many other insect larvae, such as the firefly, also eat harmful insects.

5. Insects that help plants grow • Bumblebees pollinate plants that are food for the farmers’ livestock. • Butterflies help pollinate flowers and other plants.

6. Other ways insects are helpful • Fireflies were once used to help people light their way through the forest at night. • Some insects, such as ants, termites, and crickets, are a great source of nutrition for humans.

7. Some insects are harmful. • They eat food crops. • They carry harmful germs. • They eat clothing and other materials used by people.

8. Insects that eat plants • Crickets and grasshoppers eat crops such as corn and beans. • Caterpillars and other insect larva also feed on plants and crops.

9. Insects that carry germs • Flies and mosquitoes carry a variety of germs and diseases that can be deadly to people and animals. They pick up germs from garbage and leave them on food and other things as they walk around. • Roaches are other insects that spread germs.

10. Insects that eat clothing and other materials • Moths eat a variety of fabrics used to make clothing. • Termites eat through wood and can be damaging to houses and other buildings.

11. Other ways insects are harmful • Lice and fleas infect humans and animals by clinging to the hair and laying eggs. They can infest anybody (whether they bathe often or not) and bite their victims, leaving itchy red spots.

12. Who needs bugs? • We all need bugs! • If we did not have insects, we would not have food to eat! • Most insects are helpful to humans. • 99% of insects are helpful. • Only 1% of insects are harmful.

13. References used for this presentation • Microsoft Encarta 2000 • Iowa State Entomology Image Gallery http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegallery • Bug Info http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmnh/buginfo/start.htm • USGS- Children’s Butterfly Site http://www.mesc.usgs.gov/butterfly/Butterfly.html • Texas Agriculture Extension Service- Field Guide to Common Insects http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/fieldguide/index.html • Huang’s Bug-eating Page http://www.cyberbee.net/bugeat • San Francisco University- Dept. of Geography http://bss.sfsu.edu/geog/bholzman/courses/fall99projects/ladybug.htm • Mantipolis http://home5.inet.tele.dk/crypto/index.htm • University of Florida- Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/en/flies.html • University of Kentucky- Dept. of Entomology http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/efstruc.htm • University of Nebraska- Dept. of Entomology http://ianrwww.unl.edu/ianr/entomol/images/images.htm