---
title: "Incredible insects: record-breakers"
description: "Incredible insects — record-breakers and superpowers. Dung beetles are the strongest animals relative to body weight. Dragonflies are among the fastest flying insects. Fleas can jump over 150 times th"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/incredible-insects-record-breakers-mt_M7YrfAZk8u
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/incredible-insects-record-breakers-mt_M7YrfAZk8u.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

> **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants.
> When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md
> API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md
> Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt
> Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json
> Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`.

# Incredible insects: record-breakers

Incredible insects — record-breakers and superpowers. Dung beetles are the strongest animals relative to body weight. Dragonflies are among the fastest flying insects. Fleas can jump over 150 times their own body length. Bombardier beetles spray boiling chemicals. The 'wow factor' of the insect world.

Subject: Science · Area: Insects & Minibeasts · Ages 7 to 9
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/incredible-insects-record-breakers-mt_M7YrfAZk8u

## Ready when they can

- Name at least three insect record-breakers and their extreme abilities such as dung beetle strength or flea jumping
- Compare an insect's ability to a human scale, for example a flea's jump would be like a person leaping over a skyscraper
- Explain why being very small helps insects achieve extreme feats of strength or speed relative to their size

## Lesson: Incredible insects: record-breakers

Most insects are tiny, but tiny does not mean weak. Some insects hold record-breaking powers, from super strength to super speed to super jumps. Get ready to meet nature's smallest champions!

**Example.** The dung beetle is the strongest animal for its size on Earth. It can pull more than 1,000 times its own weight. That is like you pulling six loaded school buses behind you.

Dragonflies are some of the fastest flying insects. They can zoom through the air at over 30 miles an hour, faster than many birds. Each of their four wings moves on its own, so they can dart, hover, and turn in a blink.

*(drawing: A flea jumps over 150 times its own body length. If you could jump like a flea, you would leap clear over a skyscraper.)*

**Tip.** The bombardier beetle mixes chemicals inside its body to shoot a boiling hot spray at attackers. Being tiny is actually the secret: a small body's muscles are strong compared to its tiny weight, so it can lift, jump, and move in ways bigger animals never could.

**Recap.** Insects may be tiny, but their strength, speed, jumps, and sprays make them some of nature's biggest record-breakers.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [The insect body plan](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/the-insect-body-plan-mt_oNWXXAn3cn)

## Opens up

- [Insect communication and behaviour](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/insect-communication-and-behaviour-mt_a9VnPBhoYs)