Ick! Gross! Yuck! is what I thought about arthropods (insects). Arthropods have an exoskeleton, jointed appendages, segmented bodies, and bilateral symmetry. Just past the gift shop at the Museum of Nature and Science is an exhibit that has everything from mosquitoes, to beetles, to grasshoppers, to butterflies. The displays are full of different preserved insects.

We began our tour by looking at how insects use camouflage. Camouflage is when someone or something hides from another. Not only can humans do this, but bugs can too. Certain butterflies, beetles, and most bug species can hide from their natural predators in their surroundings. Anosmatic bugs are different, they don't have to hide from other predators because their colors red, orange, and yellow with a hint of black symbolize that they can bite or sting. Even though they cannot.

A majority of the insects at the Museum of Nature and Science are butterflies. There are hundreds of butterfly species shown at the museum. All of them are different, from the texture of their wings to the pattern of their flight. There are facts on each and every one. Butterflies are lepidopteras - or insects that have broad wings, covered with minute overlapping scales, and are usually bright colored (Webster Dictionary).

Butterflies are the most popular, but they aren't the only insects preserved here. All insects have three pairs of legs, three body parts, one pair of antennae, tracheae (or gills), and most have two pairs of wings. Moths, grasshoppers, beetles, and centipedes can be viewed.

The last section at the museum explains metamorphosis. This is the change that an insect goes through in its lifetime. Each insect that goes through complete metamorphosis begins as an egg, then becomes a larva/nymph, changes to a pupa, and finally becomes an adult. Insects in this category are butterflies, moths, and beetles. Incomplete metamorphosis is when an insect goes through only three distinct stages - egg, nymph, and adult. A grasshopper is in this category.

Cool! Wow! Awesome! is now what I think of arthropods (insects) I hope you do too!