What makes an insect different from a bug?

Answer 1

There are two answers to this question. Slightly confusing!

1. Formally, a true bug (Hemiptera) is a kind of insect. It is distinguished because it has a beak for piercing and sucking. Usually the bug sucks sap from a plant (aphids, scale insects), but some bugs suck blood etc from other insects, animals and even humans (fleas, bedbugs, mosquitoes). (Strictly, all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs!)
2. Informally, an insect is a kind of bug. The word bug is used to refer to arthropods, the rank above insects. Arthropods include all insects as well as arachnidsand crustaceans (Spiders, scorpions, centipedes, prawns and crabs, and the now extinct trilobite). (Informally, all insects are bugs, but not all bugs are insects!)

A:Actually bugs are considered a type of insect. They are classified under the order name hemiptera and in the Insecta class.

True bugs are identified by the shape of their mouth which is like a needle or straw which is called a stylet or rostrum. They also have very specific membranous wings where it is think and dark where it connects to the body but goes transparent nearer the ends. Insects such as ants, termites and butterflies only have one of these qualities therefore are not true bugs.

A:The big thing that defines bugs is they have a hypodermic needle like mouth, so that they can extract food from the inside of a flower, or from the inside of a living or once living victim.

Answer 2

"insects are the same as bugs dufus =)"

Actually, all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. As taken from ANOTHER answer:

The following questions were answered by zoo biologist Ellen Dierenfeld and entomologists John VanDyk and Steve Kutcher.

Q: Is there a difference between an insect and a bug?

A: Yes, there is a difference.

• A bug is a certain type of insect. Some examples you might be familiar with are the boxelder bug, milkweed bug, assassin bug, and stink bug.
• True bugs have a stylet (a mouth shaped like a straw) that they use to suck plant juices from plants. The assassin bugs use their stylets to suck blood from other insects.
• The front wings of true bugs are thickened and colored near where they are attached to the insect's body, and are clearer and thinner towards the hind end of the wing. The hind wings are usually clear and tucked underneath the front wings.

Answer 3

Insects are a type of arthropod characterized by having three body segments, six legs, and typically two pairs of wings. Bugs, on the other hand, are a colloquial term often used to refer to a subset of insects known as true bugs, which belong to the order Hemiptera and have specialized mouthparts for piercing and sucking.

Answer 4

What? I don't understand. What makes trees differ from trees?

Answer 5

They have four legs