Insects Need Their Sleep Just As Much As Humans

We know how important it is to get an adequate night’s sleep, but how often do insects sleep? Researchers have noticed that many insects sleep in a manner similar to humans. If an insect is sleep deprived, then its performance will suffer, similar to humans.

Fruit flies count as one example of an insect that is similar to humans in how they sleep. For example, fruit flies respond to the same sleep inducing chemicals that are present in the human body. Also, fruit flies respond to caffeine in a way that is similar to how humans respond to caffeine.

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine when a bug is truly sleeping. It can be hard to differentiate between a sleeping bug, and a resting bug. If a bug is sleeping its body will droop in the direction of gravity, with relaxed muscles and zero movement. When a bug is sleep deprived it may lay its eggs in the wrong places, or fail to properly feed their young and a host of other performance issues. If an insect is sleep deprived it will most likely need even more sleep to compensate for all the hours of sleep lost, just like humans. Of course all bugs are different, but it can be assumed that all living creatures need some form of rest.

Are there any insects that do not sleep at all or very little?