Page 76 - Volt Elevate The World Around Us Book 4

In a colony, there are usually three types of members.

y The queen: She lays eggs to produce more insects.

y The workers: They collect food, build nests and take care of the young ones.

y The soldiers: They protect the colony from enemies.

Let’s look at some common examples of insect colonies.
y Ants live in anthills which have many passages. The
queen ant lays eggs, worker ants collect food and look

after the young, and soldier ants guard the anthill.
y Bees live in hives. A hive may have thousands of bees.

The queen bee lays eggs, worker bees collect nectar
from flowers to make honey and soldier bees protect
the hive. anthill
y Termites build huge mud nests, sometimes as tall as a person. They also live in groups

with a queen, workers and soldiers.

Useful Insects

Insects help us in many ways.

y Insects like honeybee suck nectar from flowers. They
make honey with this nectar. We use honey for several
purposes.

y Butterflies, bumblebees and some other insects help
in the transfer of pollen grains from one flower to
another.
y We get silk from the cocoon of the silkworm. termite nest

Harmful Insects

Some insects bite or sting. They can cause pain. Some are even carriers of diseases.

y Mosquito bite spreads diseases like malaria and dengue.

y Houseflies sit on garbage and rotten food. The germs from these things stick to their
feet. These germs get transferred to fresh food items when the houseflies sit on them.
This contaminates the food. When we eat this contaminated food, we get diseases
like cholera and dysentery.
y Termites feed on wood and damage furniture, doors and other wooden items.

y Bugs, wasps and lice bite us. This can cause itching and redness of the skin.

y Locusts eat fully grown crops and damage them.

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