Memorize these and you could recognize 44.9% of all Insects clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | termites | 13 | The bodies of these "white ants" make a liquid capable of dissolving glass |
| 2 | a beetle | 8 | Poe's "Gold Bug", or the VW advertised with the slogan "Think Small" |
| 3 | a mosquito | 8 | Of all insects worldwide, this disease carrier poses the greatest health hazard to humans |
| 4 | antennae | 7 | One way to tell a moth from a butterfly is these on a butterfly end in a knob |
| 5 | the praying mantis | 7 | This "praying" insect is the only insect that can turn its head from side to side |
| 6 | fleas | 6 | Bubonic plague is spread by these insects who bite infected rats |
| 7 | beetles | 6 | Because males of this Lucanidae species have jaws resembling deer antlers, they are called this |
| 8 | a wasp | 5 | Solitary types of this insect include cuckoo, potter & mud dauber |
| 9 | a ladybug | 5 | It might want to fly away home to Massachusetts, where it's the state insect |
| 10 | the dragonfly | 5 | At a length of 4 1/2", the giant green darner is the largest U.S. species of this insect |
| 11 | a cricket | 5 | Acheta domesticus, the house species of this, is the one "on the hearth" in literature |
| 12 | a butterfly | 5 | Species of this insect include Rajah Brooke's birdwing, tiger swallowtail & red admiral |
| 13 | butterflies | 4 | Painted lady, great purple hairstreak & zebra aren't rock bands but types of these |
| 14 | a moth | 4 | Although the female of the gypsy species of this insect has wings, it cannot fly |
| 15 | silverfish | 4 | It's the household pestseenhereon dry land |
| 16 | Insect | 4 | The earwig |
| 17 | cockroach | 4 | The German variety of this household pest is also called the Croton bug, after New York City's Croton Reservoir |
| 18 | the firefly | 4 | Glowworms are the larvae or wingless females of this soft-bodied beetle |
| 19 | the boll weevil | 4 | Since entering the U.S. from Mexico in the 1890s, it's cost the cotton industry billions upon billions of dollars |
| 20 | a flea | 4 | This wingless insect that preys on cats & dogs is a carrier of bubonic plague |
| 21 | wasps | 3 | Most species of these are solitary, but the paper ones & yellow jackets are social |
| 22 | mosquitoes | 3 | Different species of this insect spread dengue fever & encephalitis as well as malaria |
| 23 | locusts | 3 | One of the biblical plagues brought upon Egypt was swarms of these cricket-like insects |
| 24 | lice | 3 | Pediculus capitis, a species of this blood-eating insect, lays its eggs on the hair of humans & other mammals |
| 25 | grasshoppers | 3 | Katydids & bush crickets are long-antennaed kinds of this insect |
| 26 | dragonflies | 3 | The weaker & more delicate of these fierce insects are called damselflies |
| 27 | crickets | 3 | In the Orient, the males of these insects are caged for their songs, this Buddy Holly group wasn't |
| 28 | cockroaches | 3 | Common types of these pests in U.S. homes are the German, American, Australian & brown-banded |
| 29 | boll weevils | 3 | Known for causing crop damage, these beetles are also called billbugs |
| 30 | Arachnid | 3 | The brown recluse |
| 31 | a gizzard | 3 | Like chickens, cockroaches have this muscular organ where they grind their food |
| 32 | wings | 3 | Male crickets produce their well-known chirp by rubbing these together |
| 33 | the monarch | 3 | The Viceroy butterfly does its best to look like this bad-tasting butterfly |
| 34 | the legs | 3 | The ears of a cricket are on this part of its body |
| 35 | the gypsy moth | 3 | This pest escaped from a Mass. lab where it was brought in the 19th c. as a possible silkworm |
| 36 | pupa | 3 | Seen here, it's the stage of moth development between larva & adult |
| 37 | metamorphosis | 3 | 1915 story in which Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find he has changed into a giant insect |
| 38 | eggs | 3 | Some species of thrips are the only known animals that can reproduce by both bearing live young & doing this |
| 39 | bumblebee | 3 | Unlike the honey bee, this very large bee doesn't die when it stings; it can sting numerous times |
| 40 | a honeybee | 3 | It wasn't until 1983 that Utah finally made this its state insect |
| 41 | a cicada | 3 | Some of these insects are known as 17-year locusts because it takes 17 years for them to develop |
| 42 | a larva | 3 | A baby butterfly |
| 43 | the mayfly | 2 | Also called a shad fly or dayfly, it's the only insect to go through a subimago or sub-adult stage |
| 44 | pollination | 2 | Insects are responsible for about 80% of this process important to plants |
| 45 | pheromones | 2 | Ants can communicate by releasing these chemicals from glands located throughout the body |
| 46 | nocturnal | 2 | Most insectivores are considered this, from the time of day when they're active |
| 47 | moths | 2 | Of its varieties, the atlas is 1 of the largest & the death's head hawk chirps by blowing its nose |
| 48 | Madagascar | 2 | The tenrec is found only on this island off Africa known for its lemurs |
| 49 | larval | 2 | A maggot represents this stage in the metamorphosis of a fly |
| 50 | drone | 2 | Of the 3 classes of honeybees, the 1 whose name could describe the sound of a hive |