Bugs that crawl

BeetlesSome beetles can walk on land or fly in the air. Others spend most of their time swimming in water. Some beetles are a big help to farmers. Others are pests that destroy farm crops. Beetles live everywhere on Earth except in the oceans and near the North and South poles.

Beetles are among the most common insects in the world. In fact, scientists have found about 350,000 different species (kinds) of these strange and interesting creatures.



Spiders

“If you want to live and thrive, let a spider run alive!” That is an old English saying that means not killing spiders will bring you good luck. There is also a myth that killing a spider will bring bad weather.

Letting a spider live won’t bring you good luck or good weather. But scientists say there is no good reason to kill a spider. Most spiders will not harm you. They rarely bite. Only 30 of the 40,000 species (kinds) of spiders cause illness when they bite people. The black widow and the brown recluse are two spiders that have painful or deadly bites.