Q: I include 'worms' as a subset of the larger category of 'bugs.' Others disagree. What's the proper classification scheme? Are Worms bugs?
A: Donovan points out that worms are "annelids", but that doesn't cover the question, I think, since the term "bug" is more a value judgment than a true category. "Germ" is another of those imprecise terms that is used frequently when we are young, but doesn't correspond well to true taxonomy. A "bug", as referred to by children (who use it most often), usually means "any creepy thing I can catch and scare little girls with". Worms fit very comfortably in that group, along with beetles, spiders, and roly-polies (aka "pill bugs" and "wood lice").
Therefore, if it:
1. is small
2. is alive
3. is squishy, or chitinous and many-legged (but not four-legged)
4. would make your sister scream if she found it on her arm or in her sandwich
5. is best left out of doors
...then I'd say it's a bug.
3 comments:
Good answer...made me laugh.
Does this mean Matt is a bug? He bugs me somethin' fierce...
No, Matt is not a bug. He is alive, but not small, squishy, leggy or chitinous. However, he might make your sister scream if she found him on her arm or in her sandwich.
I would, too, for that matter.
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