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Invertebrates Trivia Questions and Answers

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1. The site of a human botfly infection is called a what?


Answer: warble

Interesting Information:
It's a tumor under the skin where a larva grows. After the grub matures it bursts through the skin and falls off. The human botfly is also called a torsalo. It lives in Mexico and Central America. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
wobble, weeble, wheal

2. What is another name for a stinkbug?


Answer: shieldbug

Interesting Information:
Stinkbugs are also called shieldbugs because of the shape of their bodies. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
smellbug, greenbug, swordbug

3. We'll begin with our wriggly friend, the worm. How long was the longest earthworm ever found?


Answer: 6,7 metres

Interesting Information:
That's right. The longest earthworm ever to be discovered was a whopping 6,7 metres! It was found in 1937 in Transvaal, South Africa. As Charles Darwin once said: "Earthworms have played a most important part in the history of the world." Why? Because by digging the soil they bring important minerals to the surface that are needed by plants. Moreover, they drag rotting material into their burrows which can be also used by plants. So it shouldn't be strange that many farmers worldwide buy earthworms and place them on their fields to grow better crops! Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Our Small Neighbours
 
Some incorrect choices:
1,2 metres, 88 centimetres, 4,5 metres

4. So what exactly is a "bug"?


Answer: Any member of the insect group "Heteroptera"

Interesting Information:
Although the majority of bugs have wings, some can be wingless. All true bugs have straw-like mouth parts designed for sucking plants, insects or blood. Their mouths are constructed with two pairs of needle-like tubes, one of which pierces and the other sucks. You can usually tell if something is a true bug if "bug" is part of its common name, and a separate word, like chinch bug. But there are exceptions where the common name of a true bug is one word, like bedbug and stinkbug. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
An insect without wings, Something annoying, An insect with wings

5. Although I am called medusa, I have no snakes for hair, nor will my glare turn you to stone. Instead, I am what some may call a jellyfish. What is the name of this jelly-like substance of which I am made?


Answer: Mesoglea

Interesting Information:
Medusae are part of the phylum, cnidaria, which, although containing over 9,000 species, can be split into just two groups/body forms - one of which is the medusa.

Medusae are comprised of the jelly-like substance, mesoglea, and possess tentacles, which protrude from the central body which is typically disc/bell-shaped.

The distinct shape of the medusae is well known by many and is thought to have been popularised by the German scientist, Ernst Haeckel. Haeckel is also accredited with coining the term, "phylum". Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: I'm Not a Myth
 
Some incorrect choices:
Cytoplasm, Jellifram, Spongifris

6. Why do cuttlefish change colors?


Answer: Their mood changes.

Interesting Information:
Their flat, internal shells are often used for birds to chew on. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
No one knows., The temperature of the water., To attract mates.

7. What is the heaviest insect in the world?


Answer: Goliath Beetle

Interesting Information:
It comes from Africa, can weigh up to 115g, and can also fly at over 20 km/h (it sounds like a helicopter). Because of this it sometimes knocks unsuspecting cyclists off their bikes. The longest species are the Goliathus goliatus and the Goliathus cacicus at 128mm. Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Atlas Beetle, Colossus Beetle, Chubachub Beetle

8. Although valuable in controlling household insects, they are often viewed as pests due to the painful sting that the claws on the first pair of legs inflicts.


Answer: Centipede

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
 
Some incorrect choices:
Millipede, Scorpion, Tarantula

9. Upon hearing our name, you may think that we are the dryads, nereids, oreads and naiads of Greek mythology. However, in this instance we are actually young crickets. What are we?


Answer: Nymphs

Interesting Information:
Nymphs are not larvae, but are immature insects - similar in form to the adults of the species, but much smaller. Nymphs never enter a larval stage.

Insects which begin life as nymphs include crickets, mayflies, cockroaches and termites.

In mythology, this term encompasses a group of women made up of dryads (wood nymphs) nereids (sea nymphs), oreads (mountain nymphs) and naiads (fountain/river nymphs). Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: I'm Not a Myth
 
Some incorrect choices:
Furies, Muses, Graces

10. Into the rockpools you go, and already you see a small green crustacean scuttle across the bottom of the pool and navigate itself into a rock crevice. What have you just disturbed?


Answer: Green shore crab

Interesting Information:
The green shore crab is a well-known crab species in Britain. The crab's colouring can vary, with red, brown and grey variants also found. The crab's colour variation is a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The crab is often found on the upper and middle shore, and feeds on many bivalve organisms such as mussels. Difficulty: Average.

From Quiz: A Rockpooling Tour of the British Coastline
 
Some incorrect choices:
Flat periwinkle, Sand eel, Green sea urchin

11. What do mother giant Pacific octopi do after they lay eggs?


Answer: Watch over them.

Interesting Information:
Giant Pacific octopi can lay many thousands of eggs that take 5-8 months to hatch. The mother stays with them the whole time. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
Leave them alone., Eat some of them., Decorate them.

12. What is the strongest known beetle?


Answer: Horned Dung Beetle

Interesting Information:
This species of scarab, or dung beetle, can support up to 200 times its own weight. That's the equivalent of 36 quarter pound hamburgers! Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Hercules Beetle, Magnus Beetle, Stag Beetle

13. Although called the Hercules beetle, you won't find me battling mythological beasts or ascending to the top of Mount Olympus in Greece. Instead, where will you find me?


Answer: Central and South America

Interesting Information:
The Hercules beetle is one of the largest insects in the world, mainly due to their enormous horns. The beetles use these horns to battle for a mate. Discounting the length due to horns, females of the species have larger bodies. Males of the species can reach 6.75 inches (with horns included).

The reason for the name, "Hercules", is that it is believed to be the strongest animal on Earth for its size. It is said to be able to carry a weight 850 times heavier than itself. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: I'm Not a Myth
 
Some incorrect choices:
South Africa, Eastern Asia, Australia

14. Red Amazon ants are constantly fighting black ants. When the red ants manage to capture the grubs of the black ants, what do they do with them?


Answer: they turn them into slaves

Interesting Information:
Amazingly, yes. When the red ants attack a black ants' nest, they grab their grubs and take them back to their own nest. The black ant grubs then pick up the scent of the red ants and so grow up to believe that they are red ants too. As a result, they spend the rest of their lives serving their masters, the red ants! Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Our Small Neighbours
 
Some incorrect choices:
they eat them, they drown them in the river, they let them out in the sun to shrivel and die

15. What invertebrates are sometimes used as medicine?


Answer: Ants

Interesting Information:
The aborigines used to use army ants when they cut themselves. They would let the ants bite the sides of the wound and then twist and pull off their bodies- leaving their jaws clamped onto the cut. The ants would also release juices over time that helped heal the wound faster. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Bite Me Beetle, Millipede, Ladybirds (or Ladybugs)

16. The so-called 24 hour ant is also known by what dangerous-sounding name?


Answer: bullet ant

Interesting Information:
The bullet ant's sting, though not usually deadly, is said to be the most debilitatingly painful insect sting known to man. Both names derive from the pain endured from a sting. The pain will be most severe during the first 5 hours and lessen throughout the day following a sting, hence the name 24 hour ant. It is called a bullet ant because the intense pain is often likened to being shot. The pain is sometimes accompanied by shaking, sweating, nausea and temporary uselessness of an affected limb. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
sabre ant, insurge ant, lion ant

17. What type of insect are velvet ants?


Answer: wasps

Interesting Information:
Velvet ants get their name because of the velvety hairs that cover the females. These females are wingless and look like ants. They have powerful stings. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
ants, flies, hornets

18. What shrimp can punch holes in glass panes?


Answer: Mantis Shrimp

Interesting Information:
If a mantis shrimp is left in a glass tank for a few weeks it will mistake its reflection for an opponent and vigorously attack it until it causes damage. Apparently a punch from a mantis shrimp is as hard as a boxer's. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Tyson Shrimp, Knuckled Shrimp, Axle Shrimp

19. If an arm is severed, these invertebrates can grow another one in its place.


Answer: Sea Star

Interesting Information:
More commonly known as a starfish, they eat sea urchins, clams, carrion, or even other sea stars. Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
 
Some incorrect choices:
Sponge, Horseshoe Crab, Coral

20. Animals known by this name could either be a spider or not be one.


Answer: daddy long legs

Interesting Information:
There are several different animals called "daddy long legs." The brightly colored daddy long legs are more precicely called harvestmen or opilionids. They have only one body segment, don't produce silk and are not venomous though I believe they are poisonous if eaten. They also emit an acrid odor when handled or threatened. The daddy long legs spider is usually dull colored with two body segments. The Serrasalmus may feel a little out of place here because it's a fish. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
opilionid, harvestman, serrasalmus

21. What kind of invertebrate is a pill millipede commonly confused with?


Answer: pillbug

Interesting Information:
Pill millipedes are a shinier black and have more legs than a pillbug, or pill woodlouse. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
centipede, worm, cylinder millipede

22. Butterflies smell through their...


Answer: feet

Interesting Information:
They smell through their feet. This way they can understand what type of plant they have landed on and so choose the appropriate one to lay their eggs on. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Our Small Neighbours
 
Some incorrect choices:
wings, feelers, they do not have the sense of smell

23. Dung beetles can push dung balls with force equivalent to a man pushing a small car up a hill at..?


Answer: 60 km. per hour

Interesting Information:
They mold dung into balls and push them backwards with their two hind legs. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
20 km. per hour, 40 km. per hour, 20 miles an hour

24. This attractive relative of the sea urchin is often sold in gift shops.


Answer: Sand Dollar

Interesting Information:
They have many interesting legends about them too. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
 
Some incorrect choices:
Sea Anemone, Jellyfish, Star Coral

25. As scorpions and spiders, we are often associated with a woman of Greek myth who angered Athena - her name was Arachne. To what does Arachne lend her name?


Answer: Our class

Interesting Information:
The class, Arachnida, contains over 100,000 species - all are invertebrates and all possess 8 legs. Most, when hearing the term, "arachnid", will immediately think of spiders, but the class also contains scorpions, mites, ticks, and other creatures.

Scorpions, as well as their 8 walking legs, possess pincers towards the front of their body. This is one of their two main weapons (the other being the sting). It is said that the significance of the scorpion's sting (i.e. how dangerous it is) can be determined by looking at its pincers. Generally, small pincers suggest a deadlier sting and large pincers suggest that it is less harmful. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: I'm Not a Myth
 
Some incorrect choices:
Our phylum, Our genus, Our kingdom

26. Underneath the same rock, your eyes are drawn to an echinoderm with five-part radial symmetry. It is yellow/orange in colour and is about 6cm across. What have you just found?


Answer: Common starfish

Interesting Information:
The common starfish, as the name suggests, is the most common starfish found on British coasts. It is frequently found on all areas of the shore, although larger specimens are more frequently found on the lower shore and out to sea. Interestingly, common starfish can suffer from genetic mutations that result in them having more or less than the usual five arms (in most cases this mutation results in the starfish having four or six arms). Difficulty: Average.

From Quiz: A Rockpooling Tour of the British Coastline
 
Some incorrect choices:
Seven-armed starfish, Edible Crab, Green sea urchin

27. An insect resembling a mosquito but much larger is most likely what?


Answer: A cranefly

Interesting Information:
The "giant mosquito" you see hanging around is probably a completely harmless cranefly. According to my dictionary they are yet another insect that is sometimes called a daddy long legs. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
A giant mosquito, A deer fly, A botfly

28. How many eyes do spiders have usually?


Answer: 8

Interesting Information:
Spiders have eight eyes and four pairs of legs. They produce poison with which they paralyze their prey and drink their juices. However, many spiders have six. The number of eyes is often used to distinguish one species from another. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Our Small Neighbours
 
Some incorrect choices:
12, 4, 2

29. Some spider webs can be used efficiently as..?


Answer: A net to catch fish

Interesting Information:
It belongs to the Golden Orb Spider and is so thick that expert fishermen can catch fish weighing up to 500g. Glow worms in Waitomo, New Zealand are also known to make webs. (They are not technically glow worms but larvae of gnats). They spin luminous webs- like candy floss- in caves to trap flying insects. Insects belonging to the order Embioptera also spin silken threads- from their front legs. They spin silken tunnels under stones through which they can move safely. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Trip wire, A muzzle, A gas mask

30. Is a sponge a plant or an animal?


Answer: animal

Interesting Information:
Sponges feed by taking in water and filtering out small organisms and debris. Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates

31. Killer bees are more accurately called by what more innocuous-sounding name?


Answer: Africanized honey bee

Interesting Information:
The sting of the Africanized honey or 'killer' bee is no more potent than that of the 'regular' or European honey bee. It's the number of stings sustained that makes them killers. Carpenter bees resemble large bumblebees and like to bore holes in your house. They are surprisingly docile and disinclined to sting. I wouldn't recommend handling them but chance encounters are not likely to result in a sting.
Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
fifth grade spelling bee, European honey bee, carpenter bee

32. What do cellar spiders do when you touch them in their web?


Answer: vibrate the web

Interesting Information:
Cellar spiders are also called daddy-long-legs. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
bite you, retreat, nothing

33. How long do adult mayflies live?


Answer: 1-2 days

Interesting Information:
Mayflies hatch on May and June and live for only a couple of days during which they mate and lay their eggs. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Our Small Neighbours
 
Some incorrect choices:
1 week, 2-3 weeks, 1 month

34. Which insect is a pest to many crops in America?


Answer: Colorado Beetle

Interesting Information:
They are officially wanted by the police. Homeowners have to rotate the use of insecticides on their gardens because they become resistant to the chemicals very quickly. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Spudulike Beetle, Montecarlo Beetle, Georgia Beetle

35. This 'living fossil' has remained essentially unchanged for several hundred million years.


Answer: Horseshoe Crab

Interesting Information:
They are actually more closely related to the spider than the crab. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
 
Some incorrect choices:
Jellyfish, Portuguese Man-of-War, Sea Star

36. A tabanid is an amazing little creature most commonly called what?


Answer: horsefly

Interesting Information:
The horsefly is one tough little bug. Often a swatted horsefly gets up and flies away. Tabanids aren't really meant to feed on humans, though they sometimes try. Their bite is too powerful to be discreet enough not to be noticed. It has to be powerful to get through the tough skins of the larger mammals like horses and deer that they normaly feed on. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Fearsome Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
deer tick, rhinoceros beetle, owl butterfly

37. What do brown recluse spider bites cause?


Answer: tissue degeneration

Interesting Information:
Six-eyed crab spiders, or brown recluse spiders, are easily identified by a violin-shaped mark on their carapace, behind their eyes and fangs. They are found in warm parts of the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Australia in shady areas with rock or bark. Brown spiders though, are very shy and tend to keep to themselves, hence the name brown recluse spiders. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Invertebrate Inquiries
 
Some incorrect choices:
death, paralysis, hot flashes

38. What is the furthest a human could reach by jumping, with the proportionate strength of a flea?


Answer: Skyscrapers

Interesting Information:
And you'd shoot upwards at 300 km. per hour. A hungry flea can do 600 jumps an hour in search of food. A full flea probably could, but could it be bothered? One species of flea can jump 150 times its own body length. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Minibeasts- Insects and Arthropods
 
Some incorrect choices:
Church spires, Treetops, 10 story buildings

39. What crustacean is shaped like a volcano?


Answer: Barnacle

Interesting Information:
People often forget they are actually crustaceans. Difficulty: Hard.

From Quiz: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
 
Some incorrect choices:
Crab, Sea Anemone, Sand Dollar

40. When you hear my name, you may expect me to be able to hold up the heavens on my shoulders. However, I'm actually a horned beetle common to Malaysia which rarely exceeds 130 mm. What is my name?


Answer: Atlas beetle

Interesting Information:
Although 130 mm is clearly not remarkable in mythological circles, it is in the insect world. The horns possessed by the Atlas beetle are used in fights with other beetles.

The larvae of the Atlas beetle are known for their aggression towards other grubs if rivalled for resources and will often fight each other to the death.

Once grown, the Atlas beetle can carry up to 4 kg. This is the same as a human being carrying an elephant and a zebra together (from http://www.gedcasserley.saddleworth.net/html/atlas_beetle.html).

It is unclear as to whether the beetle was named after the mythological Greek titan or the North African mountain range. Difficulty: Easy.

From Quiz: I'm Not a Myth
 
Some incorrect choices:
Gorgon beetle, Minos beetle, Argus beetle
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