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# insect

«insect» in Mova's school dictionary: **a small animal with six legs and a body in three parts…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an insect, insects)

### meaning for a pupil

An insect is a small animal with six legs and a body in three parts (head, thorax, abdomen); most insects have wings and antennae. Ants, bees, butterflies, beetles and flies are insects. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science, insects are invertebrates (no backbone) with an exoskeleton; many go through metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult). They pollinate flowers, feed birds and recycle dead things. In safety, some insects sting (bees, wasps) or bite (mosquitoes); tell an adult if a sting makes you swell or find breathing hard. Spiders are NOT insects: they have eight legs.

### examples

- A ladybird is a small insect. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x1)
- Insects have six legs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x2)
- Bees are useful insects that pollinate flowers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x3)
- We looked for insects under the log. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x4)
- The insect has two antennae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x5)
- A caterpillar changes into a butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x6)
- Use insect repellent when camping. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x7)
- Count the legs: if there are eight, it is not an insect. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x8)
- "Away with you, vile insect!" said a Lion angrily to a Gnat that was buzzing around his head. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/#x9)

### note

Countable; «an insect» (vowel sound). Common trap: spiders, scorpions, woodlice and worms are not insects. «Bug» is used for any insect in everyday speech, though scientists use «bug» for one group. In maths problems, each insect has 6 legs: 5 insects have 5 × 6 = 30 legs.

### In the corpora

- [A dragonfly has 6 legs and 4 wings, like many insects.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/10-rivers-lakes-and-ponds/17/)
- [In Kenya, hornbills and dwarf mongooses team up: the birds catch insects the mongooses disturb and call out warnings of hawks.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/126-the-lion-king-hyenas-rafiki-and-zazu/15/)
- [A spider has eight legs; an insect, such as a fly, has six.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/147-spider-man-real-spider-silk-and-webs/13/)
- [Web spiders feel vibrations so well they can tell a trapped insect from a leaf or a raindrop.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/148-spider-man-real-spider-senses-climbing-and-bites/7/)
- [A tiny pipistrelle, lighter than a coin, can eat around 3,000 small insects in one night.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/153-are-bats-blind/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «insect» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insect/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.