UCR Entomology 010 Midterm #2

Family Acrididae

Grasshoppers and Locusts

Order: Orthoptera

Suborder: Caelifera

Adenotrophic Viviparity

"Gland Fed, Live Birth"

1. Fertilize one egg at a time and retain each egg within their uterus to have to offspring develop internally

2. Female feeds the larva from modified uterine gland

3. As third instar, larva leaves the uterus and crawls into the ground to pupate

4. Emerges as an adult and must feed on its own for the first time

(Each female can produce only 8 - 10 offspring in her lifetime)

Family Miridae

Plant Bugs

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Largest family in terms of species (~10,000 species)

Mostly phytophagous (Plant Feeding)

Contains serious pests (e.g. Lygus bugs)

Family Cimicidae

Bed Bugs

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Wingless

Haematophagous (Feeds on blood)

Parasitic

Anoplura

Sucking Lice

Order Psocodea

Typically the head is narrower than the prothorax

Sometimes found on specific body parts of mammalian hosts

Crab Louse: Mostly found in the pubic region

Head Louse: Mostly found on head hair

Family Pentatomidae

Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Distinct angular shape

Brightly colored

Noxious odors

Some are agricultural pests

Ant-decapitating phorid flies

Parasitoids of ants

Typically Species specific and often caste specific

Antlion

Family: Myrmeleontidae

Order: Neuroptera

Known for the fiercely predatory habits of the larva

Larva digs pits to trap passing ants

Family Aphididae

Aphids

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha

Usually wingless during the cloning phases

Alates are winged reproductives during the sexual reproduction phase

Transmit plant diseases

Ant-Aphid Mutualism: Aphids get protection, while Ants get a carbohydrate-rich resource.

Beetles vectoring plant diseases

Beetles assaults on American Chestnut trees

Chestnut blight was caused by a fungus transmitted by bark beetles. Massive destruction of one of America's largest forest trees.

Dutch Elm Disease was also caused by a fungus transmitted by bark beetles. There are less than 20% of American elms left in the US.

Beetle larva also causes damage to trees by burrowing into the tree and disrupting the flow of nutrients and water.

Biting Midges vs. Non-biting Midges

Biting Midges (Family Ceratopogonidae)

Known as "No-See-Ums"

Male and females feed on nectar, but females also feed from some kind of host animal for egg development

Diverse feeding habit: Vertebrate blood, insect hemolymph, etc.

Some are significant vectors of animal diseases (e.g. Bluetongue Virus)

Non-biting Midges (Family Chironomidae)

Common nuisance around bodies of water, and are frequently mistaken for mosquitoes

Bombardier beetle

Family: Carabidae

Order: Coleoptera

Secretes hot, noxious gas and liquids to deter predators

Composed of Hydroquinones and Hydrogen Peroxide

Pushed into a mixing chamber

Reaction is highly exothermic, vaporizes the chemical products

Family Buprestidae

Jewel Beetles

Order: Coleoptera

Shiny and Metallic: Textured cuticle, thin film intereference

Feeds on the wood of trees: Prefers dying or weakened trees, Bores tunnels into wood as larva

Some are pyrophilous (Growing or thriving on burned or fired substrata)

Canine heartworm

The Anopheles Mosquito is a vector for this disease.

Capitulum

Swollen, fatty extension of the stick insect egg

Carrion beetles

Family: Silphidae

Order: Coleoptera

Colonize carrion during all stages of decomposition

Has great forensic importance

Can colonize a corpse during later decay stages when many maggots have already left the corpse

Some have warning colors (Aposematic Coloration)

Chemical defense provides excellent deterrent

Plays a major ecological role by recycling nutrients

Chagas disease

Transmited by the Kissing Bug (Family: Reduviidae, Subfamily: Triatominae)

Disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi

The most recognized marker is called Romana's sign, which includes swelling of the eyelids on the side of the face near the bite wound or where the bug feces were deposited or accidentally rubbed into the eye.

Chewing Lice vs. Sucking Lice

Chewing Lice (Suborder Mallophaga)

Feeds on dead skin cells, hair, and feathers

Typically the head is wider than the prothorax

Over 90% feed on birds, the remainder feed on mammals

Sucking Lice (Suborder Anoplura)

Feeds on blood

Human disease vectors

Typically the head is narrower than the prothorax

Sometimes found on specific body parts of mammalian host

Family Cicadellidae

Leafhoppers and Sharpshooters

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha

Feed on plant sap

Often Colorful

Can be very damaging through feeding and disease transmission (e.g. Pierce's Disease)

Excessive Honeydew production

Some have an extraordinary jumping mechanism. A gear-like structure on the base of the hind legs that keeps the legs synchronized when the insect jumps.

Family Cicadidae

Cicadas

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha

Produces very loud sounds (tymbals)

Fossorial front legs in nymphs

Synchronous emergence

Suborder Auchenorrhyncha

Cicadas, Leafhoppers, Treehoppers, Planthoppers, Froghoppers

Order: Hemiptera

Piercing sucking mouthparts

Short Antennae

Two pairs of wings, usually held roof-like

Completely phytophagous (Plant Feeding)

Over 30 Families

Family Aleyrodidae

Whitefly

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha

Small (less than 2mm)

Covered in white, waxy powder

Several serious agricultural pest

Family Gerridae

Water Strider

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Tarsal modifications allow walking on water

Can be found in marine habitats

Long raptorial front legs

Predators

Family Coccinellidae

Lady Bird Beetles

Order: Coleoptera

Larvae are spotted or banded with minute spines

Adults have oval body shapes with bright coloration

Beneficial insects

Colors are used to signal to predators

Perform "Reflexive bleeding" when threatened

Some engage in migration to overwintering spots

Superfamily Coccoidea

Scale Insects and Mealybugs

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha

Less mobile as mature

Nymphs and females covered in waxy scale cover

Pests

Ant-Scale/Mealy Bug Mutualism

Subclass Collembola

Springtails

Primitive compound eyes

Live in moist soil, under bark, and in freshwater ponds

Occurs in dense populations

Unique mating behavior

Indirect sperm transfer, builds small stems for spermatophores to hover above the ground

Reproduction without courtship

Common cockroach pests

Types: Brown-banded, German, American, Oriental

Various products and services available from pest control companies

Potential vector of human pathogens (mechanical transmission)

A source of allergens and asthma triggers

Order Blattodea

Roaches

"Blatta" is the Greek word for cockroach

Flattened body

Long antennae

Tegmina

Cursorial Legs

~4500 species, but only ~30 are associated with humans

Primarily herbivores or scavengers

Convergent evolution

Independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineages

Family Corixidae

Water Boatmen

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Freshwater Aquatic

Lacks gills, thus it carries an air bubble down into the water to take oxygen from the water

Natatorial legs

Mostly herbivorous, eats algae

Family Belostomatidae

Giant Water Bugs

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Aquatic, breathes through two spiracles

Large raptorial from legs

Large sit-and-wait predator: preys on insects, snails, tadpoles, and fish

Courtship behaviors in hexapods

Behaviors and scents are important when signaling to a potential mate

The Queen Butterfly uses in-flight seduction called hair pencilling

Some species use mate guarding

Some compete over territories or fight each other to earn a mate

Family Dactylopiidae

Cochineals

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha

Sessile parasites on plants

Lives on cacti in the genus Opuntia

Natural dye carmine is derived

Darkling beetle

Family: Tenebrionidae

Order: Coleoptera

Tribolium species (Flour Beetles)

Pest of Cereal and Flour

Tenebrio molitor (Mealworm Beetle)

Larval form is common pet food for reptiles

Dengue

The Aedes Mosquito is a vector for this disease

Order Dermaptera

Earwigs

"Derma" (skin) and "Ptera" (wing)

Chewing mouthparts

Short leathery forewings

Large cerci on abdomen

Subsocial Insects: Maternal care of brood, non-cooperative

Females cleans and re-piles the eggs (Tending increases survival rate)

They DO NOT crawl into ears

Nocturnal

Diet: other insects, fruits and plants, and scavenge

Defense: Use their cerci to pinch and excrete harmful chemicals

Order Diplura

Forked Tails

Narrow, elongated body, usually colorless

Lacks eyes

2 abdominal cerci

Greek words "dipl" (two) and "ura" (tail)

Similar to collembolans, they reproduce without courtship.

Dipteran larvae

Eggs are laid in or near larval habitats (typically moist environments)

The larvae stay in or around their food source and are relatively sedentary

Lack legs, but occasionally there are spines

Primitive flies have culiciform-type larvae that have a presence of a distinctive head capsule

Advanced flies have vermiform-type larvae generally called maggots. They do not have head capsules and mouthparts are reduced to hooks

Diving beetle

Family: Dytiscidae

Order: Coleoptera

"Dytikos" is Greek for "able to dive"

Predaceous (Predator)

Pupates in mud

Adapted to aquatic living: Air Bubble, Natatorial Legs

Dobsonflies

Family: Corydalidae

Order: Neuroptera

Larvae are aquatic (Hellgrammites)

Voracious predator

Huge male mandibles

Dragonflies vs. damselflies

Dragonfly

Wings broad at base and held horizontally at rest

Nymph has no external gills

Damselfly

Wings narrow at base and held over back at rest

Nymph has external gills

Drywood termites vs. subterranean termites

Drywood: Live in colonies above ground directly in wood. They produce holes where fecal pellets are pushed out from the wood - so you see small piles on floor.

Subterranean: Live in colonies in soil and feed on wood in contact with soil. They sometimes construct tubes for shelter as they travel between their underground colonies and the structure.

Dung beetles

Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea

Order: Coleoptera

Rollers, Dwellers, and Tunnelers

Ball serves as a mass provision for the developing larvae

Have long held a place in human history and culture

Ecological advantages of dipteran insects

Adults and larvae live in seperate niches

Adults are excellent dispersers (Some black flies travel several hundred km)

Larvae are adapted to rotting organic materials

Short generation times for many species (7-10 days)

Family Elateridae

Click Beetles

Order: Coleoptera

Adults have the ability to flip through the air using their spine and notch on the thoracic segments

This can be used to scare away predators and to flip itself upright

Some species are bioluminescent

Elytra

A modified hardened forewing

Functions: Armor, Water Retention, Wing Protection, and Stabilization during Flight

Class Entognatha

Group of ametabolous hexapods

Their mouthparts are entognathous

Wingless

Various methods of indirect sperm transfer

Three Groups

1. Collembola (springtails)

2. Diplura (forked tails)

3. Protura (cone heads)

Order Ephemeroptera

Mayflies

"Ephemera" (exist for a short time) and "pteron" (winged)

Adults do not feed. They only disperse, mate, and die.

Large triangular front wings

One median caudal filament and two long cerci

Adults are terrestrial, while nymphs are aquatic

Nymphs respire through abdominal gills

Relatively long life cycles (live as nymphs for months to years)

Subimago stage: The final molting stage before becoming an adult

Engage in emergence swarms

Very important in food webs

Epidemic typhus fever

Feeding habit of neuropterans

Known for being voracious predators of other insects that are helpful in controlling other insect populations

Filter chamber

A specialized organ ththat separates excess fluid from plant sap for rapid excretion (Honeydew)

Furcula

It is a forked, tail-like appendage. It is present in most species of springtails, and in them it is attached ventrally to the fourth abdominal segment. The organ most often is present in species of Collembola that lives in the upper soil layers where it is used for jumping to avoid predators. When at rest the tail hides under the third abdominal segment.

Gregarious vs. solitary phases in locusts

Gregarious Phase

High Density, High reproductive rate, Flies far, Darker in color

Solitary Phase

Low Density, Low reproductive rate, Short flights, Lighter green in color

Family Gryllidae

Crickets

Order: Orthoptera

Suborder: Ensifera

Head lice vs. body lice

Head Lice (Pediculus humanus capitis)

Prefer to feed on the scalp

Share a common ancestor with chimp-based louse

Body Lice (Pediculus humanus humanus)

Prefer to feed off the human body

Share a common ancestor to gorilla-based louse

Hemimetabolous development

Incomplete metamorphosis

Distinct Stages: Egg > Nymph > Adult

Gradual changes

Nymph often resembles the adult but lack wings and functional reproductive organs

Order Hemiptera

"True" Bugs

~50,000 - 80,000 species

Common feature: sucking mouthparts

Mandibles and maxillae are sheathed within a modified labium to form a proboscis

Pierce tissues and sucks out the liquids

Some have a modified gut. They have a "filter chamber" that separates excess fluid from plant sap for rapid excretion (Honeydew)

Four suborders:

Auchenorrhyncha (Cicadas, Leafhoppers)

Sternorrhyncha (Aphids, Whiteflies, Scale Insects)

Coleorrhyncha (Moss Bugs or Beetle Bugs)

Heteroptera (Large Bugs, Bed Bugs)

Suborder Sternorrhyncha

Aphids, Whiteflies, Scale Insects

Order: Hemiptera

Piercing-sucking mouthparts

Wings variable: held rooflike or flat or absent

Some are serious crop pests

Extreme honeydew production and sooty molds

Suborder Heteroptera

Large bugs, Shield bugs, Seed bugs, Assassin bugs, Flower bugs, Bed Bugs, Water bugs

Order: Hemiptera

Piercing-sucking mouthparts

Labium folds

Long antennae

Wings folded flat

Hemelytra (Membranous Half)

Have diverse feeding habits: Herbivores, Predators, and Blood Feeders

Proboscis: indicates they take liquid diets

Have diverse habitats: Aquatic and Terrestrial

Holometabolous development

Complete metamorphosis

Distinct stages: Egg > Larva > Pupa > Adult

Extensive reorganization of body structures during the pupal stage

Larva bares no resemblance to adult

Horsefly

Family Tabanidae

Order: Diptera

Adults: Stout bodied powerful fliers with large eyes and excellent vision. Both sexes feed on nectars

Females use knife-like mandibles and maxillae to make an incision and then lap up the blood from the pool

Pests that have a painful bite that causes blood loss

Some are known vectors for diseases in mammals

Honeydew

A sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is excreted by the aphid.

Hydrogen peroxide

One of the two primary reagents in the defensive glands of bombardier beetles

In its pure form, it is a pale blue, clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water

Hydroquinone

One of the two primary reagents in the defensive glands of bombardier beetles

An aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene

Infraorder Isoptera

Termites

Order: Bla

"Iso" (equal) and "ptera" (wing)

Two pairs of similarly sized wings (winged reproductive only)

Abdomen broadly joined to thorax

Differential caste morphology

Form huge social colonies: Kings and Queens, Workers, and Soldiers

Very important in natural systems as recyclers and food

Consume dead plant material that contain cellulose such as leaves, twigs, wood, lumber, and feces

Some have mutualistic relationship with microbial symbionts in their gut

Some maintain fungi gardens and feed on the fungi

Japanese beetle

Popillia japonica

Order: Coleoptera

Serious agricultural pests in U.S.

Kissing bug

Subfamily Triatominae

Family: Reduviidae

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Haematophagous (Feeds on blood)

Nocturnal

Uses heat and odor to locate hosts

Transmits Chagas disease (Caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi)

Lacewings

Family: Chrysopidae

Order: Neuroptera

Reared for sale as biological control agents of insect and mite pests in agriculture and gardens

Have ears near the bases of forewings

When it hears a predator coming, it closes it wings and freefalls to avoid capture

Family Lampyridae

Fireflies or Lighting Bugs

Order: Coleoptera

Have a luminescent organ on their abdomen

Involves specialized cells called photocytes

Luciferin, luciferase, energy, and oxygen

Highly efficient

Used to attract mates

Leishmaniasis

Disease that is vectored by sand flies and other organisms

40 different sand flies species and 20 protozoan parasite species

Very specific vector and parasite combination

Can manifest as Cutaneous, Visceral, and Mucocutaneous

Risk factors: Malnutrition, Hygiene, Poverty, Urbanization, Deforestation

Prevention: Sleep under mosquito nets treated with insecticide

Treatment: Depends on the species parasite and where contracted

No vaccine currently available

Luminescent mechanism in fireflies

Involves specialized cells called photocytes

Luciferin, luciferase, energy, and oxygen

Highly efficient

Used to attract mates

Maggot therapy

The use of maggots to treat wounds

Debridement: Medical removal of dead, damaged or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue

Disinfection: Fly maggots secrete different compound that have broad spectrum antimicrobial activity (Uric Acid, Allantoin, and Ammonia)

Suborder Mallophaga

Chewing Lice

Order Psocodea

Typically the head is wider than the prothorax

90% of the species feeds on birds, while the remainder feed on mammals

Order Mantodea

Mantids (Praying Mantis)

Large raptorial front legs

Triangular head

Large compound eyes

Chewing mouthparts

Masters of camouflage

Ambush Predators

Egg case (Ootheca)

Unusual mating

Maternal care of eggs

Increases chance of survival for eggs

Common behavior for earwigs

Order Mecoptera

Scorpionflies and Hanging Flies

Mosquito and diseases

Culex Mosquito: Disease Vector for West Nile Virus (WNV)

Aedes Mosquito: Disease Vector for Dengue, Yellow Fever, WNV, and Zika

Anopheles Mosquito: Vector for Mammalian Malaria and Canine Heartworm

Family Membracidae

Treehoppers

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha

Feed on plant sap

Enlarged pronotum (crypsis)

Gregarious

Order Neuroptera

Lacewings, Mantidflies, Antlions

"Neuron" (Nerve) and "Ptera" (Wing)

Wing venation with numerous cross veins

Order Odonata

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Large many-veined, membranous wings

Chewing mouthparts in adult and nymph stages

Adult male cerci function as claspers while mating

Adults terrestrial, whiles nymphs are aquatic with rectal gill pads

Immature forms have extensible modified labium for prey capture

Excellent predators; "Mosquito" killers

Males defend territories: Ovipostion sites

Pheromone

Used to send chemical signals between individuals of the same species

Many Bark Beetles use aggregation signals

Sex signals allow the identification of potential mates

Suborder Phthiraptera

True Lice

Order: Psocodea

Chewing Lice and Sucking Lice

Ectoparasites of mammals and bird

Wingless

Order Plecoptera

Stoneflies

"Plekein" (to fold) and "pteron" (wing)

Nymphs are aquatic and prefer clean, cold water

Can be grazers or predators

Nymphs are sensitive to water pollution.

The presence of stoneflies can be used to indicate water quality

Potato beetle

Leaf Beetle

Family: Chrysomelidae

Order: Coleoptera

Major crop pest

Quickly develops resistance to insecticides

Order Protura

Cone Heads

Very small (about 1 mm long)

"Pro" (first) and "ura" (tail) implies they have very primitive features

Lacks antennae (unique among hexopods)

First pair of legs are sensory

Eyes are absent

Live in moist soil

Dentritivores

Puparium

The hardened last larval skin or exoskeleton that encloses the pupa in some insects.

Especially common in higher Diptera which have maggot-like immature.

The larvae pupate within the last larval skin

Order Psocodea

Bark Lice, Book Lice, and True Lice

Suborder Pscoptera: Book Lice and Bark Lice

"Psokhos" means Gnawed or Rubbed

Primarily feeds on fungi, algae, lichen, and organic debris in nature but also feed on starch based household items like grains, wallpaper glue, and book bindings.

Generally prefer humid conditions

Suborder Phthiraptera: True Lice

Chewing Lice and Sucking Lice

Ectoparasites of mammals and bird

Wingless

Pyrophilous

The ability to grow or thrive on burned or fired substrata

Some Jewel Beetles have an infrared organ, located near the base of the middle legs that can detect heat radiation from a distance

River blindness

Caused by the parasitic nematode

Symptoms include skin inflammation, severe itching, bumps under the skin, skin depigmentation, and blindness

Treat is Ivermectin

Robber flies

Family Asilidae

Order Diptera

Predacious, some bumblebee mimics

Stylate mouthparts surrounded by a hairy beard

Concave depression on the top of the head between compound eyes

Robber fly larvae live in the soil or in various other decaying organic materials that occur in their environment

Larvae are also predatory, feeding on eggs, larvae, or other soft-bodied insects

Sandflies

Subfamily: Phlebotominae

Family: Psychodidae

Order: Diptera

Both male and female sand flies feed on plant juices and sugary secretions

Females feed on blood to produce eggs

Can vector human diseases

Scansorial leg

Legs that are adapted or specialized for climbing

Superfamily Scarabaeoidea

Scarab Beetles

Order: Coleoptera

Brightly colored and metallic

Mostly scavengers (as immatures)

Distinctive antennae (Lamellate or layered)

Scorpionflies

Order Mecoptera

Males have an enlarged tail, which functions as its genitalia

Sexual selection

Mode of natural selection in which some individuals out reproduce others of a population because they are better at securing mates

Family Simuliidae

Black Flies

Order: Diptera

Larvae are aquatic and reside in flowing water

Larvae have "Fan-Like" structures that surround the mouth and help the uptake of organic debris carried in the water

Adults are long distance flyers that will fly several hundred kilometers in search of a blood meal

Adults are major nuisance pests in the upper Midwest, New England, and Canada

In North America about six species are known to bite humans

Vector for River Blindness

Sleeping sickness

Also known as African Trypanosomiasis

Parasitic disease of humans and animals that is caused by a protozoa of the species Trypanosoma brucei.

Timeline:

1-3 weeks after the bite: fever, headache, and joint pain

1-3 months after the bite: confusion, loss of coordination, and numbness

Fatal if not treated

(Nagana is the animal form of this disease)

Sound perception and production

Insects use the tympanal organ to detect sound

In crickets and katydids the tympanal organ is located on the front tibia

In grasshoppers the tympanal organ is located in the first abdominal segment

Order Orthoptera

Grasshopper, Katydids, and Crickets

"Ortho" (Straight) and "Ptera" (wing)

Front wings: tegmina

Short or long antennae

Saltatorial rear legs

Frequently cryptic, sometimes aposematic

Two suborders based on antennae length

Ensifera (Elongated, thread-like antennae) Caelifera (Short antennae)

Common Families

Acrididae (Grasshoppers and Locusts)

Tettigoniidae (Katydids)

Gryllidae (Crickets)

Gryllotalpidae (Mole Crickets)

Stridulation

Make sounds by rubbing body parts together

Common in Orthopterans

Grasshoppers rub hind legs against the edge of the closed wings

Katydids and crickets only use their wings. A sharp edge pr "scraper" on the lower wing is rubbed against a "file" on the underside of the other wing