Do insects need to sleep/rest?
It’s not quite as easy for us to tell whether insects sleep the way we do. They don’t have eyelids, for one thing, so you’ll never see a bug close its eyes for a quick nap. Scientists haven’t found a way to study insect brain activity, as they have in other animals, to see if typical rest patterns occur. Still, by most accounts, the answer is yes, insects do sleep. Insects clearly rest at times, and are aroused only by strong stimuli – the heat of day, the darkness of night, or perhaps a sudden attack by a predator. This state of deep rest is called torpor, and is the closest behavior to true sleep that bugs exhibit. Migrating monarchs fly by day, and gather for large butterfly slumber parties as night falls. These sleep aggregations keep individual butterflies safe from predators while resting from the long day’s travels. Some bees have peculiar sleep habits. Certain members of the family Apiadae will spend the night suspended by only the grip of their jaws on a favorite plant. Torpor
