Rainforest Insects
Know that rainforests are home to millions of insects — leaf-cutter ants that farm fungus, giant beetles, jewel-coloured butterflies, enormous spiders, and stick insects — and that insects are the most numerous animals in the rainforest
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least three types of insect or minibeast found in the rainforest, such as leaf-cutter ants, morpho butterflies, and giant beetles
- Explain that insects are the most numerous animals in the rainforest
- Describe one interesting behaviour, such as leaf-cutter ants carrying leaf pieces back to grow fungus
The lesson
The rainforest is full of insects. There are more insects than any other animal there.
Leaf-cutter ants snip small pieces of leaf. They carry the pieces home in a long line. The ants use the leaves to grow fungus. Then the ants eat the fungus.
Rainforest minibeasts come in wild shapes. Giant beetles wear shiny, hard armour. Morpho butterflies flash bright blue wings. Stick insects hide by looking like twigs.
Next time you see a bug, remember this. The rainforest has millions more, in every shape and size.
Insects are the rainforest's biggest crowd. From ants to beetles, they are everywhere.
Watch it
Where it sits
This opens up
Nothing builds on it yet.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.