What's the difference between bugs and insects?

Funny, I was going to say the opposite of Annie’s answer. Insects are bugs, but so are arachnids (including spiders) and other creepy-crawlies. Insects are distinguished by their three-part body structure (head-thorax-abdomen) and six legs, whereas arachnids have two body parts and 8 legs - and then there are things like centipedes and millipedes with looong bodies and a bazillion legs.

P.S. @Annie: What’s interesting to me in your answer is that you treat “bugs” as a technical zoological term with specific features, a usage I’ve never heard before. I think of it as an informal, cultural catch-all for all sorts of creepy-crawlies.

To be honest, I use the word “bug” for anything that crawls, too. But according to my professor, the only true bugs were from the order Hemiptera. Here’s some more reading, if you’re interested: http://funadvice.com/r/3mi58cmn9f

I think insects have more legs than bugs.

Thanks for the link, Annie, which seems (from some brief googling) to accurately represent the scientific consensus. In my opinion, that consensus is wrong. Scientists (in this case, entymologists) get to determine the technical scientific names for things in their field of study (like the insect order “Hemiptera”), but the meaning of everyday words in our common vocabulary is not up to them; it can only be gauged by popular usage.

Bugs is a name that we call all difrent types of tiny creatures. Spiders, ants, and millipedes r all bugs but only ants out of all of them is an insect. Insects have 6 legs while spiders have 8 and millipedes have over 100 legs! :D Hope I helped! :D Hope u don’t still dislike me so much. :D

theyre the same thing

Yes all insects r bugs! But not all bugs r insects. :D

I think they are the same thing