Which of the following does not belong to insects: thrips, mites, bedbugs, or butterflies? - briefly
Mites are not insects; they belong to the arachnid class. All other listed organisms—thrips, bedbugs, and butterflies—are true insects.
Which of the following does not belong to insects: thrips, mites, bedbugs, or butterflies? - in detail
Among thrips, mites, bedbugs, and butterflies, the organism that does not belong to the class Insecta is the mite.
Thrips are small, slender insects belonging to the order Thysanoptera. They possess three pairs of legs, a segmented body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, and undergo incomplete metamorphosis (egg‑larva‑pupa‑adult). Their mouthparts are adapted for piercing and sucking plant fluids.
Bedbugs are true insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Cimicomorpha. They have the typical insect morphology: six legs, a distinct thorax, and undergo hemimetabolous development. Their feeding apparatus is a proboscis used to pierce skin and ingest blood.
Butterflies are members of the order Lepidoptera. They display the classic insect body plan, with four wings covered in scales, six legs, and a complete metamorphic cycle (egg‑larva‑pupa‑adult).
Mites belong to the subclass Acari within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs as adults, lack antennae, and possess a fused body region called the idiosoma. Their development follows an arachnid pattern, not the insect hemimetabolous or holometabolous routes. Consequently, mites are arachnids, not insects.
Therefore, the correct answer is mites.