Scouting/BSA/Insect Study Merit Badge

Requirement 1

 * Do the following:
 * a. Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards associated with exposure to ants and bees and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
 * b. Discuss the prevention of and treatment for health concerns that could occur while working with ants and bees, including insect bites and anaphylactic shock.

Requirement 2

 * Tell how insects are different from all other animals. Show the differences between insects, centipedes, and spiders.

Insects
 * Segmented bodies (head/thorax/abdomen)
 * Antennae
 * Compound eyes [[Image:Hymenoptere2.jpg|100px]]
 * Excretory and Reproductive systems are on the abdomen; excretion directly effects osmoregulation
 * An exoskeleton made of chitin
 * Six segmented legs

Centipedes
 * 15-173 segments
 * Mostly nocturnal [[image:centipede.jpg|100px]]

Spiders
 * Eight-legged
 * Produce silk
 * No wings [[Image:Long-jawed orb weaver spider.jpg|100px]]
 * Two body segments (cephalothorax/abdomen)

Requirement 3

 * Point out and name the main parts of an insect.

Requirement 4
Describe the characteristics that distinguish the principal families and orders of insects.

Requirement 5
a.Observe 20 different live species of insects in their habitat. In your observations, include at least four orders of insects.

b.Make a scrapbook of the 20 insects you observe in 5a. Include photographs, sketches, illustrations, and articles. Label each insect with its common and scientific names, where possible. Share your scrapbook with your merit badge counselor.

Requirement 6

 * Compare the life histories of a butterfly and a grasshopper. Tell how they are different.

Requirement 7

 * Raise an insect through complete metamorphosis from its larval stage to its adult stage (eg, raise a butterfly or moth from a caterpillar).

Requirement 8

 * Observe an ant colony or a beehive. Tell that you saw.

Requirement 9

 * Tell the things that make social insects different from solitary insects.

Requirement 10

 * Do ONE of the following:
 * a. Observe an ant colony in a formicarium (ant farm). Find the queen and worker ants. Explain to your counselor the different chambers found within an ant colony.
 * b. Study a hive of bees. Remove the combs and find the queen. Estimate the amount of brood and count the number of queen cells. Explain how to determine the amount of honey in the hive.

Requirement 11

 * From your collection, identify four species of insects helpful to humans and six species of insects harmful to humans.
 * Describe some general methods of insect control.

Requirement 12

 * Tell how insects fit in the food chains of other insects, fish, birds, and mammals.