221 Facts Tell Me What

Lice are blood-sucking creatures. A louse (Singular of lice) is a tiny wingless, parasitic insect with six legs that lives on the human scalp. Its food is human blood. There are over 1000 insects that are known as ‘Lice’, but in general the one that attacks humans is called a louse. A louse spends its […]

Vultures are very large birds of prey. They belong to the same order of birds as hawks, eagles and falcons. There are around 22 different species of vultures across the world. They are found in the tropics and subtropics. Vultures feed on dead animals. They fly gracefully and glide in the air. They have very

A goldfish is one of the oldest fish to be domesticated. It is also the most commonly kept fish in an aquarium. It is found in eastern Asia and is a small member of the ‘carp’ family. Around 960-1279 AD, during the reign of the Sung dynasty in China, the Chinese started breeding, ‘carp’. The

Sardines are small yellowish-green fish that belong to the herring family. These fish were first caught in huge quantities in Sardinia, hence the name ‘sardine’. Sardines are small, silvery, elongated fishes with a single short dorsal fin, no lateral line, and no scales on the head. They live in dense schools, migrating along the coast

A seahorse is a fish. But neither does it look like a fish nor does it behave like a fish. Distinguishing it from other fish, it has a distinct neck and a horse-like head which it can move around. Its tail resembles a snake’s tail and it can grasp objects with its help. It has

The mammoth was a large, ‘now extinct’ hairy elephant-like animal that lived millions of years ago. It had long curved tusks and a sloping back. Its ears were small and its body was covered with long woolly hair. Changes in the environment, climate and migration led to its evolution. The largest known species of mammoth

Termites are insects that look like ants but are, in fact, very different. They have existed for millions of years. There are more than 2,000 kinds of termites. Termites live in colonies inside wood. A typical colony has a king, queen, soldiers and workers. Soldiers are blind and wingless but protect the colony. The workers’

A praying mantis is a fascinating insect. It is long and slender. Praying mantis gets its name as it seems to be praying when it is standing still. It holds up its large front legs in a prayer position. But it is ‘preying’ and not praying. In fact, it is the most bloodthirsty creature. It

There are more than 3,500 different types of ants found across the world. They live in groups called colonies. Out of these, perhaps the most interesting is the ‘army ant’. It eats living things. The ‘driver ants’ move in armies of thousands of ants. They do not spare any living thing and kill all in

Dogs go mad because of rabies, a viral infection. This virus infects the brain and the spinal cord. Rabies does infect not only dogs. It infects many other warm-blooded animals as well, but it’s only dogs that can infect man with this deadly disease by biting him. A bite causes the virus in the dog’s

A guinea pig is neither a pig, nor is it from Guinea. It is a rodent. Long ago, in parts of South America, guinea pigs were a food delicacy. After the discovery of America, they were eaten in Europe, too. The only people who still eat guinea pigs are the natives of Peru. Guinea pigs

A unicorn is an imaginary animal popular in legends. Long ago, the travellers who made voyages to distant lands brought back strange and fascinating tales. Many such tales were about unicorns. This mythical animal was believed to have the head and body of a horse, hind legs of an antelope; tail of a lion, and

More than 2,000 kinds of bats exist in the world today. Some bats eat insects, some eat fruits or pollen and others eat fish or smaller bats. Some bats also feed upon blood. These blood-eating bats are called vampire bats. Vampire bats are found in South and Central America. They hunt in the darkest of

The largest of all birds is the African ostrich that is up to 2.5 metres in height and weighs more than 135 kilograms but it cannot fly. The wingspread of a bird is also considered as an indicator of its size. The flying bird which has the largest wingspread is the albatross, with a wingspread

Wasps are part of bees’ and ants’ families. Wasps can be divided into two groups: social and solitary. Wasps use different materials to build their nests. The nests of social wasps are made of a kind of paper which they make by chewing wood and fibre. They attach these nests to the branches of trees,