Nancy Gastel, age 10, of Rochester, New York, for her question:

Why do insects attack people?

The little pests attack us for different reasons. For example, the mosquito pounces on people because she is hungry. So do fleas and a lot of other insects that feed on liquid blood. The mosquito has a remarkable beak to do her beastly job. She pierces the skin with the finest of stabbers. Then she injects some stuff that keeps the blood in liquid form. She cannot sip it if it becomes thick and clotted. The stuff that stops the clotting causes the itchy bump after her deed is done.

Bees, wasps and hornets attack us with stingers in their tails. They don't want to hurt us by taking our blood. But they don't want us to hurt them either. Actually their stingers are weapons to protect themselves and their nests. The fierce hornets often attack without waiting to be threatened. Honeybees usually sting a person only when they are scared that we mean to harm them or their hives.