Do bugs poop?

Insect poop is called "frass," and it can actually be a useful source of information for entomologists and biologists. New species have even been found in frass. And insects themselves use their poop for some pretty strange things, from inoculating their babies with symbiotic organisms to signaling others in their species to come hang out.

So first, the frass basics. Insect guts are roughly similar to human guts, inasmuch as they usually start with a mouth and end with an anus. The insect digestive system is divided into the foregut, the midgut and the hindgut, said Joe Ballenger, an entomologist who co-runs the website Ask an Entomologist. The foregut stores and grinds food, not unlike a bird's crop, Ballenger told Live Science. Most digestion takes place in the midgut, where nutrients are absorbed into the insect body. The hindgut is not unlike the large intestine, where water is taken back up before waste is excreted.