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What Is an Insect?

Insects and their relatives, including spiders and scorpions, belong to a huge group of animals called the arthropods. The main thing that all arthropods have in common is their hard outer coat, which is called an exoskeleton and protects their soft insides. The bodies of arthropods are divided into sections.

• Bees, Wasps, and Ants
• Butterflies and Moths
• Social Insects
• Spiders
• Telling Insects Apart

Name	Type
American House Spider	Arachnids
Black Widow Spider	Arachnids
Black-and-yellow Garden Spider	Arachnids
Black-legged Tick	Arachnids
Carolina Wolf Spider	Arachnids
Daddy-long-legs	Arachnids
Desert Tarantula	Arachnids
Giant Hairy Scorpion	Arachnids
Goldenrod Spider	Arachnids
Green Lynx Spider	Arachnids
Windscorpions	Arachnids
Convergent Lady Beetle	Beetles
Firefly	Beetles
Japanese Beetle	Beetles
Long-jawed Longhorn Beetle	Beetles
May Beetles	Beetles
Red Milkweed Beetle	Beetles
Rose Weevil	Beetles
Six-spotted Green Tiger Beetle	Beetles
Ten-lined June Beetle	Beetles
Two-spotted Lady Beetle	Beetles
American Copper	Butterflies and Moths
Anise Swallowtail	Butterflies and Moths
Black Swallowtail	Butterflies and Moths
Bumblebee Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Cabbage White	Butterflies and Moths
Cecropia Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Clouded Sulphur	Butterflies and Moths
Common Checkered-Skipper	Butterflies and Moths
Eastern Tent Caterpillars	Butterflies and Moths
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Butterflies and Moths
Fiery Skipper	Butterflies and Moths
Gray Hairstreak	Butterflies and Moths
Gypsy Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Hummingbird Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Imperial Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Long-tailed Skipper	Butterflies and Moths
Luna Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Monarch	Butterflies and Moths
Mourning Cloak	Butterflies and Moths
Ornate Tiger Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Polyphemus Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Red Admiral	Butterflies and Moths
Sara Orangetip	Butterflies and Moths
Silver-spotted Skipper	Butterflies and Moths
Spring Azure	Butterflies and Moths
Tomato Hornworm	Butterflies and Moths
Viceroy	Butterflies and Moths
White-lined Sphinx	Butterflies and Moths
Woolly Bear Caterpillar Moth	Butterflies and Moths
Zebra Swallowtail	Butterflies and Moths
House Centipede	Centipedes and Pillbugs
Pillbug	Centipedes and Pillbugs
Dogday Harvestfly	Cicadas Dobsonflies and Kin
Eastern Dobsonfly	Cicadas Dobsonflies and Kin
Green Lacewings	Cicadas Dobsonflies and Kin
Periodical Cicadas	Cicadas Dobsonflies and Kin
Scarlet-and-green Leafhopper	Cicadas Dobsonflies and Kin
Assassin Bugs	True Bugs
Common Water Strider	True Bugs
Green Stink Bug	True Bugs
Small Milkweed Bug	True Bugs
Squash Bug	True Bugs
American Horse Fly	Flies
American Hover Fly	Flies
Black Flies	Flies
Black Horse Fly	Flies
Blue Bottle Fly	Flies
Common Midge	Flies
Crane Flies	Flies
Deer Flies	Flies
Giant Crane Fly	Flies
House Fly	Flies
House Mosquito	Flies
American Cockroach	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Carolina Locust	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Carolina Mantid	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Differential Grasshopper	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Field Cricket	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
German Cockroach	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
House Cricket	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Jerusalem Cricket	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Northern Walkingstick	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Praying Mantis	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Snowy Tree Cricket	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
True Katydid	Grasshoppers Crickets and Kin
Atlantic Bluet	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Common Green Darner	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Common Whitetail	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Eastern Forktail	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Ebony Jewelwing	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Flame Skimmer	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
Mayflies	Mayflies Dragonflies and Damselflies
American Bumblebee	Social Insects
Bald-faced Hornet	Social Insects
Eastern Subterranean Termite	Social Insects
Honey Bee	Social Insects
Little Black Ant	Social Insects
Paper Wasps	Social Insects
Yellow Jacket	Social Insects

Most insects and arachnids... have hard outer shells called exoskeletons have multiple pairs of legs breathe through holes in the sides of their bodies are cold-blooded give birth to young hatched from eggs

Insects and arachnids are often confused with each other because they sometimes look the same.

Both are cold-blooded - they don't produce their own heat like mammals or birds. So what's the difference?

have six legs (three pair) have antennae for feeling around have bodies in three parts: head, abdomen and thorax usually have wings	have eight legs (four pair) have feelers called pedipalps have bodies in two parts: head and abdomen never have wings