Most insect species are able to use their legs to walk, but some species, such as ants, rely exclusively on walking to move around. Speed varies according to temperature and species. Some species of cockroaches can walk at the speed of 27 to 50 inches per second, in temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit. As most insects pass through a larval stage during their metamorphosis, crawling is also a way of moving around.
Flying is a common way of moving for many insect species, including flies, moths, mosquitoes and wasps. Insects can have one or two pair of wings. The frequency of wing beats vary with the insect. In most butterfly species, it is about 5 to 20 beats per second, in bees 190 beats per second and in midges of the genus Forcipomyia it can be as fast as 1,000 beats per second.
Jumping insects, such as grasshoppers and crickets, have adapted hind legs with strong muscles. However, not all species rely on adapted legs to jump. Click beetles contract the thorax muscles to propel themselves into the air, when placed on their backs. Other insects that can jump include fleas and larvae of the fruit fly Bactrocera.
Some insects can also swim, including larval and adult individuals of the group Heteroptera, as well as some species of flies, mosquitoes and water beetles, such as those in the genus Gyrinus. Midges of the subfamily Ceratopogoninae use undulating movements when swimming in their larval stages. Although they seem to be swimming, members of the Gerridae family, such as water skaters, only walk on the surface of water, but are not free-swimming insects.