Intro to Insects- Test 1 (Mississippi State University)

Phylum Arthropoda

Subphylum I - Trilobitomorpha (trilobita- extinct)
Subphylum II- Chelicerata (arachnida- spides, scorpions, ticks mites; merostomata- horseshoe crabs; pycynogonida- sea spiders)
Subphylum III- Myriapoda (chilopida- centipedes; diplopoda- millipedes; pauropoda; symphyla)
Subphylum IV-Crustacea (Branhipoda- brine shimp; Remipedia- blind crusteceans; Cephlocarida- horseshoe shrimp; Maxillopoda- barnacles; Ostrocoda- seed shrimps; malacostroca- lobsters, crabs, shrimp)
Subphylum V- Hexapoda (insecta- insects (winged insects); entognatha- insects (wingless insects)

Phylum Arthropoda

•All have jointed appendages
•Segmented body
•Bilaterally symmetrical
•Have a cuticle made mostly of chitin
•Have tubular digestive system
•Have a dorsal circulatory system
•Have ventral nervous system
•Grow by molting
•Some stop molting at adulthood—determinate
•Some molt all their lives—
indeterminate

branches of entomology

1. Taxonomy and Systematics
2. Anatomy and Physiology
3. Ecology and Behavior
4. Biochemistry and Toxicology
5. Genetics and Evolution
6. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Insects are the largest group of known organisms

True (there are an estimated 10-18 million species of insects)

There are more described species of beetles than there are plants

True

Where are insects found?

Terrestrial Biomes: (Tundra, Rainforest, Savanna, Taiga, Temperate Forest, Grasslands, Alpine, Chaparral, Desert)
Aquatic Biomes: (Lakes, Rivers, Marine, Coral Reef, Estuaries)

Insect feeding habits

•The price of fruits an vegetables are influence by
insects.
•More money is lost during the post
harvest period
of grain production.
•Many insects are vectors of pathogens that infect
people and livestock.

Kingdom to Species

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

entomology

the branch of zoology that deals with insects

Greek word Entomon means?

Insect

Subphylum Chelicerata, Class Arachnida

spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestman (•2 body segments(cephalothorax and an abdomen)
•4 pairs of legs
•2 pairs mouthpart of appendages
•Simple eyes

Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda

- 2 pairs of jointed legs on each body
segment (Di=two)
- Millipedes
•Milli=1,000
•Multi-segmented cylindrical bodies
•Each segment is really two single segments fused
together
•1 pair of short antennae
•Compound eyes
•Detritivores and herbivores

Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda

•Centipedes
•Centi= 100
•Multi-segmented body
•One pair of legs per segment
•Dorsoventrally flattened body
•Longer antennae
•Compound eyes
•Most are venomous
•Predatory

Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malascostroca

•Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimp, Woodlice, etc.
•Biramous appendages
•Two pair of antennae
•5+ pairs of legs
•One pair of mandibles
•Two pair maxillae
•Compound eyes

Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Entognatha

- Springtails, Proturans, and Diplurans
•Mouthparts are retracted
into the head
•Lack wings
•Ametabolous

Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Entognatha
Subclass: Collembola

- Springtails
•Minute; 0.25 - 6mm
•Some of the most abundant macroscopic animals (up to 100,000 individuals per m^2)
•Furcula: a folded tail-
like appendage that is used for jumping
•Collophore: used in water uptake
•Soil and leaf litter dwelling, also on snow
•Eat mainly fungi, but also plants and carrion
•Some may be pests

Subphylum:Hexapoda
Class: Insecta

•Three body segments
•Three pairs of legs
•Compound eyes
•One pair of antennae
•0-2 pairs of wings

Mouthparts: chewing

•Why? Solid foods
•Types of food: Leaves, insects
carrion
•Common in?
Grasshoppers and
beetles

Mouthparts: Piercing and Sucking

•Why ? Liquid diet

•Types of food:
Nectar, Plant juices, Blood

•Mouthparts called a
beak

•Same mouthparts, but Shaped differently

•One or more channels suck in food; salivary channel for
secretions

Mouthparts: Madibulate Lapping

•Insects that lap up
liquids, but still have mandibles
•Uses mandibles to perform
other tasks
•Ex. Leafcutter bees. Use mandibles to cut and carry leaves

Mouthparts: Lapping and Sponging

•Why? Non invasive lapping of liquids
•Types of meals? Exposed food or liquid blood, sap
•Common in the flies

Mouthparts: Siphoning

• Why? Get food from
deep within flowers
• Types of food? Nectar, water, minerals in liquid
•Butterflies and moths

Wings

•Most insects have two pairs of
functional wings
•The most basic form are two pair of membranous wings
•However; in many cases the
forewings are modified

Direct flight muscles

major flight muscles directly attached to the bases of the wings; elevator muscles pull wings up; depressor muscles pull wings down.

Indirect flight muscles

not attached to wing, cause movement by altering shape of thorax; Vertical muscles pull on the roof of the thorax causing the wings to rise. The thorax widens and lengthens, and stretches the longtitudinal muscles. Longtitudinal muscles pull on the anterior and posterior ends of the thorax, causing the wings to lower. The thorax narrows and shortens and stretches the vertical muscles.

metamorphosis

- Ametabolous: no metamorphosis
- Hemimetabolous: partial metamorphosis
(Egg-nymph-adult)
- Holometabolous:
Whole or complete
metamorphosis
(Egg-larvae-
pupa-adult)

Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata

(dragonflies and damselflies)
•Incomplete
metamorphosis
•2 pairs of membranous
wings
•Direct flight
•Chewing mouthparts
•Large eyes

Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata (nymphs and adults)

•Nymphs are aquatic
•Both nymphs and adults are
predaceous
•Nymphs eat just about any animal it
can handle: mosquito larvae, tadpoles, fish, other insect larvae
•Adults eat just about anything they
can capture: butterflies, mosquitos
(30 to hundreds per day)
•About 3,000 extant species

Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata (Migration)

•The green darner migrates from the northern US to Texas and Mexico.
•Globe skimmer has the longest migration of any insect (multigenerational)

Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata ( history)

•Fossil dragonflies from the Carboniferous
period (325 million years ago)
•Had wingspans up to 30 inches.
•Suspected that higher oxygen levels during this period allowed them to grow so large

Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera

(Grasshoppers, crickets, and
Katydids)
•Incomplete metamorphosis
•2 pairs of wings-
-- 1st pair slightly thickened and leathery (tegmina)
-- 2nd pair membranous
•Direct flight
•Chewing mouthparts
• Enlarged hind legs for jumping

Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera (characteristics)

•Mostly herbivorous
•A few are predators
•Major pests of rangelands
•Over 20,000 species globally
•Sub order: Caelifera-
--Short antenna and ovipositors
--tympana on thorax
•Sub Order: Ensifera-
--Long antenna and ovipositors
--Tympana on forelegs

Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera (grasshopper vs. locust)

•Locust is a swarming phase of certain species of grasshoppers
•Crowded environmental conditions trigger normal solitary individuals to
become gregarious, start to reproduce rapidly, and begin to
migrate.
•Plague locusts of Africa
•Rocky mountain locust

Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea

(Roaches and Termites)
•Incomplete metamorphosis
•2 pairs of wings
--1st pair slightly thickened and
leathery (tegmina)
--2nd pair membranous
•Direct flight
•Chewing mouthparts
•Used to be in separate orders,
but genetic evidence suggest
that they are closely related to wood
eating roaches.

Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea (roaches)

•Omnivorous
•Carry eggs in an
ootheaca
at the end of the abdomen
•About 4,600 species globally
-30 of which are associated with
human dwellings
-Some species such as the German
cockroach are gregarious

Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea (termites)

• Over 3,000 species globally
• Social with labor divided up
among several castes
• Queens of some species may live 30 -
50 years
•Have a symbiotic gut bacteria that allow them to digest cellulose

Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera

• True bugs: stink bugs, aphids, cicadas,
assasin bugs, leafhoppers
• Incomplete
metamorphosis
• Piercing and sucking
mouthparts

Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera (characteristics)

• Homoptera: 2 pairs of membranous
wings
•Aphids, scale insects, leaf hoppers, spittle bugs, cicadas
•Hemiptera: 2 pair of wings: 1st modified (Hemielytron); 2nd
pair membranous
•Stink bugs, Assasin
bugs

Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera (beneficial uses)

•50,000-
80,000 species globally
• Beneficial-
Assasin bugs feed on other insects
•Medically important
-Kissing bug
-Bed bugs
•Many crop pests-
Southern green stink bug

Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera (cicadas)

Annual vs Periodical cicadas
•Annual: emerge every year
•Periodical: emerge every 13 or
17 years — broods

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera

Beetles- Complete metamorphosis
•2 pairs of wings
1. 1st pair hardened (elytra) for protection
2. 2nd pair membranous
•Indirect flight
•Chewing mouthparts
•Extremely diverse: less than
400,000 species and can vary wildly in size.

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae (scarabs)

Scarabs
•Clubbed
antennae composed of plates called
lamellae that can be
compressed into a ball or fanned
out like leaves to sense odors.
•C -shaped larvae called grubs
•30,000 species globally

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae (dung beetles)

Dung Beetles
• Important in nutrient cycling and soil building
•Three different types
1.Dwellers
2.Tunnellers
3. Rollers

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae (may beetles)

•Genus
Phyllaphaga
(leaf eaters)
•Grubs feed on roots
•Can be a pest of turf
grasses and sweet potatoes
•Adults feed on leaves
•Over 70 species in Mississippi

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Coccinellidae (lady beetles)

•Predators of aphids and scale insects
•Important agents in biological
control programs
•Reflexive bleeding

Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Curculionidae (weevils)

•One of the largest animal families with over 83,000 known species
• Recognized by their
snouts and clubbed
antennae
•Exclusively plant feeders and most are host specific

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera (Butterflies, moths, and skippers)

• Complete metamorphosis
• 2 pairs of membranous
wings partially or entirely covered in scales
• Siphoning mouthparts (coiled)

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera (caterpillars)

Caterpillars
•Larval stage
•Chewing mouthparts
•6 legs
•Most economically
damaging stage
•Some have urticating
hairs
•Some are toxic
•Silk

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Erebidae

• One of the largest
families of moths
(25,000 species)
•Underwings
•Tiger moths

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae

Hawk moths
•Narrow wings
•Rapid sustained flight
•Hovering behavior
•Catalpa worm
•Tomotao hornworm

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae

Brush-footed butterflies
•Some stand on only four legs while the other two are
curled up; in some species, these forelegs have a brush-like set of hairs
•One of the most diverse families of butterflies (6,000 species)

Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae

Skippers
• Hook like antennal tips
• Stocky body
• Quick darting flight habits
• Wings usually folded at an angle
• About 3,500 species globally

Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera

True flies, mosquitoes,
horseflies, houseflies
• 1 pair of membranous wings, hindwings
evolved into
halteres
• Halteres act as high speed sensors and
provide information on body rotation
and orientation during flight
•Complete metamorphosis
• Variable mouthparts
•Indirect flight
•Lapping and sponging (housefly)
•Piercing and sucking (mosquito
•Some don't have any

Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Tipulidae

Crane flies
• One of the largest groups of
flies (15,000 species)
• Larvae may be aquatic or
terrestrial
• Feed on algae or decaying
plant material
•Adults have short life spans and may not feed at all

Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Culicidae

Mosquitos
•The most deadly animal!
•WHO estimates 1 million people die annually from
mosquito vectored diseases
•Malaria, yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Zika
• About 3,500 species globally
• Larvae are aquatic
• Adult females feed on blood
• Males feed on nectar

Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Calliphoridae

• Blow flies
• About 1,200 species globally
• Often shiny or metallic colored
• Mechanical disease
transmission
• Myiasis
• New world primary screw worm
• Secondary screw worm -post
mortem intervals

Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera

Ants, bees, sawflies, and wasps
• 2 pairs of membranous wings
• 1st pair always larger than the second
• Chewing mouthparts
• Complete metamorphosis
• Some exhibit social behavior
• Ovipositor modified into a sting

Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae

Bees
•About 5,700 species globally
• Valuable pollinators in natural
and agricultural settings
•Utilize a variety of nesting
situations
(Carpenter bees, Honey bee, Sweat bees, Bumble bees)

Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae

Ants
•About 12,500 species globally
•All are social and live in colonies ranging in size from a
few dozen to millions
• Caste system
•Ecologically important
• Not all ants sting
•Invasive species
--Imported red fire ant
-- Tawny crazy ant

Pollinators

Animals that assist in the cross-pollination and eventual reproduction of flowering species.
- less than 200,000 animal pollinator species globally (99.5% invertebrates)
- Ex. of native insect pollinators in US include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and flies

pollinators (bees)

bumble bee
honey bee
mason bee
sweat bee
carpenter bee
- some have pollen baskets

Pollinator conservation

Limited Protection, habitat loss, chemical use, parasites and pathogens, climate change, combination of stressors--- pollinator declines

Why should we care about pollinators?

food
biodiversity
indicator species

What actions can we take to help preserve pollinators?

Governmental & Non- Governmental Organizational Efforts
- Efforts on public lands (US Forest Service & US Fish and Wildlife Service; Community center projects; town beautification programs)
- Efforts of private lands (Natural Resource Conservation Service and other Extension Agents; Pollinator Partnership and The Xerces Society; Researchers; private landowners)

Human Dimensions

elements directly related to action/choice (attitudes, values, motivations, awareness, behaviors, knowledge, beliefs, perceptions, and values)

How are human dimensions utilized?

applicable in a variety of fields

Human Dimensions foundation

foundation in social sciences (one component, many considerations) (Humans- (sociological, psychological, economic, demographic)---- habitat----wildlife)

How are human dimensions used in research?

Typical Study Design
Focus on topic of interest
-- Species, conservation practice, habitat?
Decide on study group
-- Landowners, recreationists, general public?
Decide on survey approach
-- In- person, telephone, mail, web
Develop or use established questionnaire
-- Q's: attitudes, behaviors, satisfaction, quantity of catch, etc.
Conduct survey & analyze results
Practical advances
-- anything to be
generalized, novel insights, new
recommendations for natural resource
agents