Kids ask: How many kinds of bugs are there?

"How many different species of bugs are there?" asked Katelyn Schreck, 10, a fifth-grader at West Oak Middle School in Mundelein.

Counting bugs could drive you buggy. Bugs live almost everywhere on Earth - even on the ocean - and account for about 75 percent of the animal kingdom. Experts believe there are more than 900,000 species of insects, and the bountiful bug kingdom continues to expand.

"Bugs don't have a formal scientific definition," said Doug Taron, curator of biology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago. "Insects are in the order of Hemiptera, which excludes spiders," Taron said. Hemiptera area insects with sucking mouth parts, like aphids, cicadas and plant hoppers.

"In Illinois, there's an estimate of 35,000 species of insects. About 11 percent of the butterfly species are in Illinois," he said.

Don't let bugs bug you; they play an important role in the cycle of life. They are predators and prey. Bugs spread pollen and disburse seeds. Insects are food to more organisms than any other species on Earth.

Some of the more striking bugs, butterflies, can be found at the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven, a large exhibit within the museum.

"There are 40 to 50 species of butterflies on display," Taron said. Some are emerging from their cocoons and others are flitting around the colorful plants and sipping water from ponds. Another two dozen insect species are featured in other exhibits at the museum.

For information about bug classes or summer camps at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, check out the museum Web site at naturemuseum.org.

Check these out

The Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling suggests these titles on insects:

•"Discover Bugs," by Monalisa Sengupta

•"Bugs That Live On Us," by John Perritano

•"Insects," by Robert Snedden

•"Goliath Bird-Eating Spiders and Other Extreme Bugs," by Deirdre A. Prischmann

•"Do Bed Bugs Bite? A Book About Insects," by Pamela Dell