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It is not hard to differentiate between an insect and a mammal. I wanted to find out the main differences between them.

Insects are invertebrates with an exoskeleton, whereas mammals are vertebrates with a backbone. Mammals give birth to live young, whereas the life cycle of an insect is very different. Insects are excellent pollinators and are light enough to fly.

Please read on if you want to find out the differences between mammals and insects,

If you or someone you know loves insects, check out these great insect gifts on Amazon by clicking here.

It is hard to see similarities with mammals when you watch insects flying around on a summer’s day or a beautiful butterfly on a flower.

We know that they are looking back at us and must have similar bodily functions – to a degree. We also know they are driven by a similar, primal desire to find food and reproduce.

Are there any similarities between insects and mammals? Or are the differences so extreme that they don’t share any traits?

Have you ever wondered how insects eat?  Find out in this article I wrote.

Exoskeleton

The most crucial difference between mammals and insects is their skeletal system.

The most crucial distinction is that mammals are vertebrates, while insects are invertebrates. This means that mammals have a familiar skeletal structure and central nervous system. The name comes from the presence of a backbone with vertebrae in the spinal column. 

Insects don’t have a backbone. Instead, many have different body parts, such as the thorax and the abdomen. These features are apparent in creatures like ants and some beetles.

Many insects will also develop a more formidable exoskeleton as protection. But this isn’t the case with all insects. Bees, for example, have soft bodies. Arthropods will have this exoskeleton, much like arachnids and crustaceans. 

The exoskeleton prevents damage to their soft organs and stops them from drying out. Some will shed this when entering a new phase of development.

We can’t look at the difference between these exoskeletons and soft-bodied mammals without looking at a couple of mammalian oddities. 

There are some significant differences between birds and reptiles.  Find out more here.

The armadillo and pangolin both use protective plating to shield themselves from harm. They can roll up, tucking in their bodies’ soft, vulnerable parts to avoid damage. To a lesser extent, we see a similar defense mechanism with hedgehogs.

Have you ever wondered how insects fly?  The answer might surprise you.  Find out more here.

Life Cycle

Another important distinction is the insect’s life cycle versus that of mammals.

The vast majority of mammals’ reproductive traits rely on fertilization, gestation, and the birth of live young. It is the same for rodents and canine species as for primates and ourselves. 

A mammal embryo develops in the womb with nutrients from the mother until they are ready to be born. It doesn’t matter if it’s one elephant, twin calves, a litter of eight pups, or the ongoing cycle of rabbits and rats.

Insects do things differently. Typically, adults will lay eggs, which develop into a larval stage. These larvae will grow bigger and stronger, feeding on plants or other insects. Eventually, they will undergo metamorphosis into their adult form. 

Want to know what insect comes out of an oak gall?  Find out in this article I wrote.

The differences between the adolescent and adult stages can be remarkable. One of the most well-known is the process from caterpillar to butterfly via delicate cocoons. Dragonfly larvae can spend years at the bottom of a pond before crawling out on the reeds and emerging as winged adults. 

You may know that insects have six legs and spiders have eight, but do you know all the other differences?  Find out more here.

Mayflies only get to be adults for one day, where they end in columns of frantic activity trying to mate before they die.

Another difference is that you don’t get the same parental care with insects as you do with mammals. 

Some wasp and bee species are fantastic parents in making a safe nest for their young. Mason wasps will build little chambers to lay each egg within to keep it secure. Some parasitic wasps will create nests with paralyzed prey, so the young have something to eat when they emerge. But, once they leave the nest, they are on their own. 

This reason is why so many insects have so many young at once. Masses of new insects emerging at once mean too many birds and bats to eat. This is known as predator satiation. This gives them an increased chance to survive. Fish do something similar when they lay masses of eggs.

There are many differences between amphibians and mammals.  Find out what they are here.

Number Of Offspring

Mammals don’t have anywhere near the same amount of young as insects.

Large mammals and predator species will have a few cubs or pups and put their energy into raising as many as possible. Mammals generally don’t have the resources, energy, or access to milk for too many hungry mouths. 

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Primates and larger mammals tend to put their efforts into raising one baby at a time, often with the rest of the family group. This is partly because the young take a while to mature and learn all the necessary skills. Orangutans, for example, will stay with their mothers for around 6 to 8 years.

But, there are prey species that reproduce in quick succession with large numbers of babies. This is due to the idea of predator satiation similar to that of insects and fish. It is known that high infant mortality rates increase the chances of some successful offspring. One of the more significant litter numbers in mammals is the tenrec which can have up to 32 at a time.

Insects find their mates in some unique ways.  Please find out more in this article I wrote.

Colonies, Family Groups, And Packs

This idea of insects and mammals’ numbers leads to differences in colonies, family groups, and packs. 

Mammals typically live in small family groups or as solitary individuals. For the former, this could be a pack of wolves or prairie dogs that live and hunt together. It could be an extended family group of meerkats with their hierarchy. 

Prey animals like deer will stick together in herds where there is safety in numbers. Rabbits and meerkats will have strong colonies with their roles and secure underground homes. 

Solitary animals will hunt and find shelter on their own within their territories. They will discover females when it comes to mates, but that is usually the only time.

Many species of insects rely on the order and security of the colony. One of the best examples is the ants’ society, where large colonies work together to find food and create the best possible home. 

Termite mounds take this to a more obvious extreme. Beehives are similar, with worker bees collecting pollen and bringing it back to the hive to make honey.

If you want to know how insects lay eggs, I have written this article.

Pollinators

This factor with the bees leads to another critical point about insects. We rely on insects of all kinds, not just bees, to act as pollinators. They transfer the pollen from flower to flower to fertilize them and help with their reproductive cycle. 

Pollination is something that we tend to associate with insects alone. It is one of the driving forces behind campaigns to plant wildflowers that bees and other insects like to visit. However, mammals also play their part in the life cycle of plants and trees.

The insects may have pollinated the flower to produce seeds and fruit. Something needs to disperse all those seeds into the wider environment, so there isn’t too much competition for light and nutrients. This is where many mammals come in. 

All species will enjoy the taste of fruit and nuts and get energy from them. Monkeys will take fruits high in the canopy. Squirrels will take nuts and bury them in caches elsewhere. Those forgotten or left behind can germinate into new trees. 

All sorts of opportunists will take a tasty treat from a hedgerow. When the seeds pass through their digestive system, they are deposited in a new location.

There are many differences between birds and mammals.  Find out what they are here.

Flight

There are lots of insects that take to the skies. Bees, butterflies, and dragonflies are among the most well-known. There are also countless species of flies in the world. Then some bugs have wings tucked under wing cases. This can come as a surprise to some kids as they watch ladybugs.

The ability to fly is a crucial distinction between the larval stage of insects and their adult forms. Flying makes a lot of sense when you are the size of an insect. It helps them travel between home and their source of food. It also means they can migrate easily, as is the case with many butterfly species.

I was wondering how insects fly.  Find out in this article I wrote.

For mammals, flying isn’t a necessity. There is no need to fly between locations because there is no advantage to being up in the air. All the food is at ground level – unless you hunt birds and can leap in the air like a caracal. 

Their home range isn’t always big enough to need wings to travel long distances. Many are also so heavy that they wouldn’t get off the ground.

However, some squirrel species have developed flaps to glide, and bats have wings to hunt moths and insects at night. There are slight similarities, but not many.

Insects play an essential role in their habitat, and our forests, grasslands, and garden depend on them similarly to mammals. We can also see similar traits as they use predator satiation and complex colonies to survive and reproduce. But, so much about the physiology and behavior of these invertebrates are vastly different.

If you want to know the differences between mammals and amphibians, I have written an article you can find here.

Sources:

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/PAT/cat1/complife.htm

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/insect-colonies

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/insect-flight