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Insects and Spiders · entry 52 of 52
Cockroaches breathe through small openings along their body rather than through a mouth.
The longer version
Breathing happens through small openings along the sides of the body, each leading into branching tubes that carry air straight to tissues. No transport through blood is needed, since oxygen travels in air rather than in fluid, and the simple design works well at this scale.
Valves can close the openings to slow water loss, which helps in dry air or during long spells of inactivity. Body movement assists flow by gently squeezing the tubes. Because each segment receives its own supply, damage in one place does not leave the rest starved, suiting a flattened, fast-moving animal.
Where this entry sits
This collection gathers small wonders from the world of ants, bees, butterflies, beetles, and spiders. Expect surprising details about swarms, silk, and metamorphosis, plus the strange everyday abilities of creatures small enough to fit on a fingertip. The full list sits on the Insects and Spiders page, where every entry is listed in order.
More From Insects and Spiders
Eight more entriesAnts can carry loads many times heavier than their own body weight.
Read 2A single honeybee may visit hundreds of flowers during one foraging trip.
Read 3Butterflies taste with sensors on their feet rather than with a mouth.
Read 4A caterpillar sheds its skin several times before it becomes a chrysalis.
Read 5Spiders spin silk from glands in their abdomen, not from their mouth.
Read 6Most spiders have eight eyes, though some species have six or fewer.
Read 7Beetles make up the largest insect order, with hundreds of thousands of named species.
Read 8The wings of a housefly beat hundreds of times each second during flight.
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