WHAT IS a INIBEAST? Minibeasts Are Small Animals Such As Spiders, Exoskeleton Snails, Beetles, Bugs, Millipedes and Moths

WHAT IS A INIBEAST? Minibeasts are small animals such as spiders, Exoskeleton snails, beetles, bugs, millipedes and moths. Scientists place all the minibeasts in a gigantic group o r of animals called invertebrates, w .. o . which means animals without o s d e l n a backbone. In fact minibeasts o .. ic to r w . e h r s have no bones at all. a er id de tch ow ing i r un ed a bee on a f n cracks o Some minibeasts have their skeleton on the outside. It is KIT LIST called an exoskeleton. Have a COLLECT A FEW THINGS TO HELP . b e w look at an insect or a spider to see s YOU LOOK AT MINIBEASTS: it r in ide • how the hard exoskeleton protects sp A MAGNIFYING GLASS (HAND LENS) asp the soft bits of the body. A w • A BUG VIEWER • CLEAR GLASS JARS OR PLASTIC POTS WITH LIDS WHERE ARE MINIBEASTS? • A PAINTBRUSH Minibeasts live in your house or under a flower ? • SPOTTER SHEETS OR A FIELD GUIDE s s pot, on mountains and meadows, in forests and o a • NOTEBOOK, PENS AND PENCILS r r fields and in parks and ponds. Some of them sp g • A RULER ot gh are shy or only come out at night. They are all te ou d a thr • A CAMERA o t beetle nning fascinating. ke t he ru ta air … You have probably already met a lot of minibeasts. seen a la u dyb MEETING MINIBEASTS o ir y d e Use your eyes and ears to spot minibeasts. You can learn a lot about v a them by just looking at them as they go about their lives. Be gentle H Ants as it is easy to crush minibeasts. Take care around certain insects and spiders as they may sting or bite you. And always return a minibeast to where you found it. 4 5 Spiders, harvestmen and mites are INIBEAST GROUPS ARACHNIDS. They all have eight Minibeasts come in all shapes and sizes. They can be jointed legs. Most arachnids are quite separated into different groups. small. You will need a magnifying glass to look at mites properly. Snail Slugs and snails are MOLLUSCS. Mill ipe . Molluscs have a soft body and d g e n o l A m some have a hard shell. The r c af 7 t s to mollusc group includes some pid w er gro eat an ing a er c much bigger animals that are not small f sh. The spid minibeasts, such as the octopus. MYRIAPODS include centipedes and millipedes. These minibeasts have long bodies ANNELIDS are worms. They have a long Earthworm and lots of legs. body divided into segments. Earthworms live in soil and other worms live in water se ou or inside other animals. dl oo W Three body parts: Thorax Abdomen Woodlice belong to the CRUSTACEAN Many of the minibeasts you will read Head group, along with some much bigger about in this book are INSECTS. Insects animals that are not minibeasts, such as all have six jointed legs, a body in three lobsters and crabs. Crustaceans have a parts and a hard exoskeleton. Some of hard shell or a plated body and most of them have wings. Ant them live in water. St D B ick am utt i s er ns el f y e f y ct MINIBEAST FACT Insects, arachnids, myriapods and crustaceans all belong to a big group of animals called arthropods. All arthropods have jointed legs. 6 Butterflies r lla rpi cate Cabbage white BUTTERFLY AND CATERPILLAR A butterfly looks different from the caterpillar it once was. A caterpillar is a munching machine, eating C a plants so that it can grow. Once it has changed into bb ag e w hi a butterfly, this same animal is on a mission to find a te b utterf y mate and lay eggs. BUTTERFLY OR MOTH? Butterflies and moths can be quite hard to tell apart but most butterflies are active during the day, while most moths are active at night. The antennae, or feelers, of a butterfly have blobs on the end but moths do not. ar. Finally, look at the wings. Usually, a butterfly rests with ect ip n to s Notice the blobs on the butterfy’s antennae ue its wings folded together, while a moth rests with its ong ts t and the way it has folded its wings. lls i nro wings flat over its body. f y u tter ia bu A Jul Yes, it is aIS f IT AN INSECT? ying insect! Count the six MEET THE MINIBEAST legs of the cabbage BUTTERFLIES To attract butterflies, plant These beautiful flying minibeasts feed on nectar. A butterfly flowering plants, such as buddleia, white butter sucks up nectar using its long tongue like a drinking straw. As it which give off a strong scent in flies from flower to flower, pollen sticks to the butterfly’s legs your garden or window box. In fy. and body and then brushes off onto the next flower. This helps autumn, some types of butterfly to pollinate plants, allowing them to make fruit and seeds. feed on apples or pears lying under trees. 8 9 Butterflies 4 4. The body of the caterpillar breaks FRO EGG TO ADULT down inside the pupa and turns into Some types of butterfly live for days, others for a few a butterfly. The butterfly pushes itself weeks or months. Here are the stages in the life cycle of out of the pupa, dries off its wings and a monarch butterfly. Like all butterflies, it goes through flies away to begin the life cycle again. complete metamorphosis, where its young look very different from the adult it will become. spend the winter h erf ies ibern butt the USA, before atin ch th of retu g ar sou rnin in on the g in tre M or th es o e xic sp e ri 2 M ng 1 HOW DO BUTTERFLIES in . SURVIVE WINTER? In areas where it is cold in the winter, butterflies survive by hibernating. They find a dry place, such as under a leaf or inside a shed, close up their wings and go to sleep. The warmth of spring wakes them up. Butterflies also survive winter 1. A butterfly laid this as eggs or pupae. tiny egg on a leaf. 2. The egg hatches and out A few types of butterfly migrate, flying to pops a caterpillar, also warmer places to survive cold weather. The known as a larva. It munches most famous migration is the 4,800-km and munches, shedding journey from Canada to Mexico made by its skin several times for a some monarch butterflies. bigger one as it grows. 3 MEET THE MINIBEAST MINIBEAST FACT Have you ever spotted any of the A lot of caterpillars become stages of a butterfly’s life cycle? food for birds or other animals. If you see a butterfly twist her 3. When it is ready, the caterpillar changes They are part of many body under a leaf, check to see if into a pupa (also called a chrysalis). food chains. she has laid some eggs once she flies away. 10 11 Moths moth is us hawk ing its bird lon ing ck up f ower ne g m m o su ctar. ou m is, t It i th hu sc s a , s bo ct or hi ro ive T p d ur in g th e OTHS d a y Look for moths in the evening or . when it is dark. Most moths rest during the day and fly at night. They search for their favourite flower nectar to drink using their antennae to follow the flower’s scent. There are around ten times more species of moth than butterfly worldwide. WONDERFUL WINGS Butterflies and moths have wings covered in tiny scales that create colours and patterns. These work in different ways. They can help them find a mate, warn birds that they taste horrible or hide them from other animals. Moths usually rest with their wings folded flat, rather than closed together like most butterflies. The patterns on the wings of the garden tiger moth warn birds not to eat them – they are poisonous. MEET THE MINIBEAST On a summer evening, take a torch into your garden to look en twe for moths. To attract them to your garden or yard, paint s be s. ure ing eas ts w h m ss i sugar syrup onto sections of tree trunk or fence. mot cro awk a er h 2 cm leand d 1 12 The o 8 an 13.

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