Insects have how many legs

Arachnids are a separate group of insects, including ticks , mites, harvestmen, and spiders; each has only two body sections. Many animals have two legs; some have four, but some have even more. Most insects have six legs, three body segments, and an exoskeleton. There are a couple insects, however, that have much more than six legs - such as the centipede and the millipede. The names centipede and millipede suggest that they have one-hundred and one-thousand legs respectively; however, millipedes are born with only three pairs of legs, and most have less than one-hundred legs.

As the millipede grows more segments during its seven year life span, it also grows more legs; there are two legs per body segment. The record-holding millipede, for the largest amount of legs, had seven hundred fifty legs - still two-hundred and fifty legs shy of the thousand legs most people expect of a millipede.

Millipedes are an interesting arthropod, in that they coil their body into a spiral to protect their belly when threatened. Their exoskeleton segments then protect them from harm. Suddenly, that phrase takes on a whole new significance! No one wants to share their bed with bugs, and this feeling especially applies to the aptly named bed bugs. Bed bugs are small, parasitic insects that feed on our blood while we sleep.

If you've spotted large, black ants in or near your house along with small piles of what looks like sawdust, there's a chance you may have wood ants. As their name might suggest, wood ants — also called carpenter ants — can cause structural damage to wooden parts of your home. Bed bugs are tiny pests that love to hide in furniture and other common areas. In recent years, bed bugs have gone from living in obscurity to taking center stage in the United States.

But you don't just find them in your home — you can also encounter them while traveling. Learn how to check for bed bugs while traveling and what to do if you find them. Scorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and in fact all arachnids—not just spiders—have four pairs of legs see illustrations.

Insects have three pairs. Also, notice that I said "four pairs" instead of "eight. Spider Myths. Previous Next. Explore even more! Additional spider resources and more myths poor spiders can't catch a break! Myth: "Eight legs" always means "spider". Illustration: Henry C. Breadcrumb Home.