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Ask Dr. Universe entomology
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How do bugs cling onto things without falling off? – Carmen, 7, Washington state

Dear Carmen,

Right now, there’s a fly walking on the window in my office. I asked my friend Rich Zack how it does that. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University.

It turns out my window isn’t as smooth as it looks. If we zoomed in on the glass, we’d see bumps and dips. It’s kind of like a rock face or a climbing wall.

“Surfaces look pretty smooth,” Zack said. “But if you get really, really close, you see there are all kinds of little indentations and crevasses. Even a pane of glass is not perfectly smooth. It’s got little nicks and … » More …

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How are the insides of an insect different from a human? – Landon, 11, California

Dear Landon,

I love taking selfies with my insect friends. They’re so tiny and look so different from a big cat like me.

But my friend Rich Zack told me that insects and humans have lots in common. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University.

“There are body systems that every animal needs,” Zack said. “Insects are relatively advanced animals, so they do a lot of things like humans do.”

That means many of an insect’s body systems are like yours. But there are three body systems that are super different for insects. Those are the skeletal, circulatory and respiratory systems.

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