40 Maggots, Grubs, and Nymphs-Mid

Maggots, Grubs, and Nymphs FOCUS Question What are some different ways that insects begin their lives?

Yuck! It's your job to bring in the trash can after the garbage truck comes The can smells. There's still some garbage stuck to the bottom. Movement in the can catches your eye. It's a bunch of white wriggly critters! Yuck! But what are they? The wriggly white things are young insects called larvae (LAR-vee). Larvae are an early stage in the life cycle of many insects.

Larvae Insects are animals with six legs and three body parts. Roaches, ants, and butterflies are all insects. Some insects hatch from eggs as larvae. They look very different from their parents. The larvae often look like worms, with long bodies and no wings. Larvae are eating machines. Some grow ten thousand times their original weight! They shed their skin as they grow. When a larva reaches full size, it grows a tough case called a pupa (PYOO-puh). Inside the pupa, the larva transforms into an adult. This change from larva to adult is called metamorphosis (met-uh-MOR-fuh-sus).

Maggots The white critters you might see in a garbage can are called maggots. They are the larvae of flies. Female flies lay eggs on rotting animals and plants, or on animal waste. Maggots hatch from the eggs in as little as one day. Then the maggots feed on the rotting material. A maggot grows very quickly. It is fully grown in about one week. Once grown, the maggot crawls away from the food and turns into a pupa. After several days, the fly crawls out of its pupal case. It is now an adult with six legs, two wings, and three body parts.

Maggots may seem gross but they are important. They're decomposers—living things that eat dead plants, animals, and waste. By eating decaying matter, maggots recycle nutrients and help keep Earth clean. People even use maggots in medicine. Sometimes an injury, such as frostbite, kills body tissue. Dead tissue can cause a dangerous infection. Maggots eat the dead tissue but not the living tissue. By cleaning the injured area, they help prevent infections.

Grubs Grubs are another kind of insect larvae. They are the larvae of beetles. Some moth larvae are also called grubs. A grub looks like a large maggot, but it has a head and legs. You can find grubs in rotting logs or under soil. Adult beetles dig into soil or rotten wood to lay eggs. After the grubs hatch, they munch on dead wood or plant roots. Grubs may spend months or even years as larvae. Once they reach full size, the grubs become pupae. After metamorphosis, the adult beetles crawl to the surface to find mates.