What is the smartest insect on earth?
116917
I don't think anybody will be able to pin it down to one specific insect species, because first, how do you measure smartness, and how do you compare it between species, which show very different behavior. \nAs far as complexity of behavior and brain size is concerned, I think the social insects as a group will be smarter than the non-social ones. Being social adds a whole new repertoire of behavior due to the need to constantly interact with nestmates versus non-nestmates. In addition, social insect species have a home - which they have to find again!\nSocial insect behavior range from dance communication of honey bees, to pheromone communication of ants, pathfinding in ants, individual face recognition in some wasps species. \n\nAs far as specific sources are concerned, there are many papers published, below a link to a random one which came up when I typed in "learning memory insect". You will be able to find thousands more.
453236
no.  insects have six legs.
528493
A bee. With its life-saving honey. I will call her Queen. :)
1045490
I would do whatever bugs do. Try to survive the day without getting killed or eaten by something else
77957
Interesting question, because it shows the difference between two levels or types of speech.\n"Bug" is a common term that people use with different meanings.\nIn contrast, scientific names of natural groups have the same definition and content all around the world. In that sense, 'Insecta' (insects) is a class of arthropods that includes animals with articulated exoskeleton, 3 pairs of legs, 1 pair of antennae, and body divided into head, thorax and abdomen (among other characteristics). The definition of insect is the same everywhere.\nSo, those terms are not opposites, but whether one comprises the other will depend on the popular definition of 'bug'. Some people include also spiders, which are not insects, in the 'bug' category. For others, bugs are only beetles, and therefore would be included in the definition of Insects.\nI looked in my dictionary and it said:\n1. A true bug. \n2. An insect or similar organism, such as a centipede or an earwig. \n3. A disease-producing microorganism.\n\nSo I'd say that for most people, bugs are "insects + others" as you put it.
464137
Bugs Bunny.\n\n(they have a time machine to be able to do that and you know it)
581732
yikes.. okay..\ngrasshoppers, praying mantis, butterflies,mosquitos, dragonflies, gnats, ticks, mites, blackflies, deerflies, spiders,russian wheat aphid, english grain aphid, brown wheat aphid, brown cherry oat( this is an insect)Hessian fly,sorghum greenbugs, winter grain mite,cereal leaf beetle\nbees,wasps, weevils, wheat stem maggots, wheat curl mite,banks grass mite, two spot spider mite,wire worm, cinch bug, false wire worm, false cinch bug,corn leaf aphid,\nDifferential grasshopper, migratory grasshopper, two striped grasshopper, red legged grasshopper, cutworm, black cutworm, dingy cutworm, glassy cutworm,armyworm,western bean cutworm, bronzed cutworm,varigated cutworm, army cutworm,fall armyworm,pale western cutworm*** all of the cutworm species, transform into their own moth..so as well as the cutworm you would now for example have the dingy cutworm moth..* saltmarsh moth, corn earworm, european corn borer, green cloverworm, grain weevils.\n\nThe list goes on and on.. but if you need to find more, do a search for grassland insects..
1084539
Here's an answer to that question from an entomologist.
565948
The heaviest insect is probably the goliath beetle (Goliathus goliath) of Africa, which is reputed to weigh up to 100 grams (more than a small bird)!
991398
South American?  How long a list do you want?\nhelicopter damsel flies (incredible looking\ndragon flies\narmy ants  (awesome critters)\nkissing bugs\nvarious types of scorpions\nTons of various spiders (both scorpions and spiders  are arachnids and not insects -- insects have 3 body parts and 6 legs, arachnids have 2 body parts and 8 legs, both are arthropods as are centipedes and millipedes.\nButterflies,\nflies of all sorts of varieties\nmoths\nbeetles (the most successful insect of all)\nwalking sticks\nmantises\nbees\nwasps\nleaf insects (they look like a leaf)\ntermites\n\nenough???
834237
Check out the Honey Badger, they are without doubt the hardest mammals on this planet. They were even listed in the guiness book of records as the most fearless. Check out the link.
382247
Ant brains are largest amongst insects.  Mushroom shaped brain appendages have function similar to the gray-matter of human brains.\n \nIt has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh II computer.\n\nProbably not sentient in the way that we are. They cooperate with each other and have acute senses.
541004
The fastest insects on land are certain large tropical cockroaches of the family Dictyoptera. In an experiment carried out at the University of California at Berkeley, USA, in 1991, a Periplaneta americana registered a record speed of 3.36 m.p.h., or 50 body lengths per second.\n\nAccording to SeaWorld, the fastest marine organism is the Blue fin tuna, which is capable of reaching speeds of up to 55 miles per hour (!!) for short periods. \n\nA few other contenders I was able to dig up: \n\nBottlenosed Dolphin: Maximum speed of about 40 MPH \nKiller Whale: Maximum speed of about 30 MPH \nShark: (Mako) Maximum speed of about 20 MPH \nPenguin: Maximum speed of about 15 MPH \n\nThe cheetah can attain speeds up to 70-72 mph\n\nThe peregrine Falcon is the fastest bird on record reaching horizontal cruising speeds of 65-90 kmh ( 40-55 mph) and not exceeding speeds of 105-110 kmh (65-68 mph). When stooping, the peregrine flies at much greater speeds however, varying from 160-440 kmh (99-273 mph)! \n\nthere you go...
1139774
That would be absolutely impossible to answer with an exact number.  First, if you mean insect species, there are many that are undiscovered.  If you mean absolute total number of every insect, well, I don't know that anyone could even come close to a real estimate, let alone an actual number.
617453
What’s the most dangerous creature on earth? Without question the answer is: the mosquito. Mosquitoes and the diseases they spread have been responsible for killing more people than all the wars in history. Even today, mosquitoes transmitting malaria kill 2 million to 3 million people and infect another 200 million or more every year. Tens of millions more are killed and debilitated by a host of other mosquito-borne diseases, including filariasis, yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis. \n\nBut for millions of Americans, malaria is something other people get somewhere else. The fact is that nearly half of the world’s population is at risk for malaria. Residents of the United States are not immune. Malaria has occurred in the United States, and still does on rare occasions. Mosquitoes capable of carrying and transmitting malaria still inhabit most parts of this country. And an influx of malaria-infected persons has produced localized malaria transmission in some areas of the United States. \n\nToday, however, the threat of developing encephalitis from mosquitoes is far greater than the threat of malaria in the United States. Encephalitis, meningitis and other diseases can develop from the bites of mosquitoes infected with certain viruses. These include the viruses of West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis, LaCrosse (California) encephalitis, and Eastern equine and Western equine encephalitis. \n\nMosquitoes belong to the group of insects known as diptera, or flies. In fact, mosquito means “little fly” in Spanish. Diptera means “two wings” – the characteristic that distinguishes flies from other types of insects. What distinguishes a mosquito from other types of flies are its proboscis (long tubular mouthparts for sucking up fluids) and the hair-like scales on its body. \n\nThe female mosquito’s life is often measured in weeks or months. Males typically live only about a week. The immature stages of the mosquito are less familiar to us. Mosquitoes hatch from eggs laid in places that are or will be filled with water. The eggs hatch into worm-like larvae that usually lie just beneath the water’s surface, breathe through tubes on the tail end of their bodies, and feed on microscopic organisms, such as bacteria. Thus most mosquito larvae require water containing organic material, such as leaves or sewage to serve as food for microorganisms that will be consumed by the developing mosquito larvae.\n\nIn less than a week, hatchling larvae can grow and develop into comma-shaped pupae. While larvae are commonly called “wigglers” because they wiggle violently when disturbed, mosquito pupae are known as “tumblers” because they tumble through the water when disturbed. While mosquito larvae and pupae breathe through siphon-like devices, the pupal stage does not feed. Usually within three days the pupa will transform into an adult mosquito. \n\nThere are some notable exceptions to the standard mosquito life cycle. The larvae of some mosquito species eat the larvae of other species, though the predatory larvae of some species will develop into blood-feeding adults. \n\nFemale mosquitoes can be particular about whose blood they consume, with each species having its own preferences. Most mosquitoes attack birds and mammals, though some feed on the blood of reptiles and amphibians. Only female mosquitoes bite, because a blood meal is usually required for egg laying. All male mosquitoes, and the females of a few species, do not bite. They feed on nectar and other plant juices instead of blood. \n\nVarious clues enable mosquitoes to zero in on people and other animals they seek to bite. They can detect carbon dioxide exhaled by their hosts many feet away. Mosquitoes also sense body chemicals, such as the lactic acid in perspiration. Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. A person sleeping in a mosquito-infested room may wake up with dozens of mosquito bites, while the person sleeping next to them has none. Si
582124
The fern.  I've found sites listing species that have 480 or 768 or  even 1200 chromosomes!\n\nNo humans are not the "best" and no it's not true that "Acording to evolution the more an organism evolves [whatever that means] the more chromosomes it gets."\n\nHumans aren't even in the running for most chromosomes.  Many plants, and even the lowly amoeba has us beat.  The butterfly has 380.\nOther contenders: \nWhite Ash 138 \nCarp 100\nGoldfish 94 \nSweet Potato 90 \nTurkey 82\nChicken 78 \nDog 78 \nDuck 78\nHorse 64 \nCow 60 \nSilkworm 56\nCotton 52 \nAmoeba 50 \nChimp 48\nTobacco 48 \nHuman 46
300243
As many people have said, dolphins are believed to be the smartest beings after humans, with pigs, chimps( and mice, if one goes by the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, of course) close behind. It's subjective, really, depending on your definition of 'smart'.\n\nBut then, would you really call humans 'smart'? We've done more to mess up the planet than millions of years of life so far--how many pigs have you seen driving SUVs and throwing McDonald's bags out the window on the high-way? ;)