Complete Metamorphosis Part 1

Order Neuroptera: Net-Winged Insects

• Predators

• Wings with lots of veins

• Complete metamorphosis

Neuroptera: Lacewings

• Larvae and adults eat aphids

• Can be ordered online for gardens

Trashbugs

Some lacewings larvae cover themselves with debris and skins of prey

Neuroptera: Antlions

• Have sharp teeth

• Burrow in sand and catch insects who fall in

Mantispid

Larvae live in spider egg sac and feed on the eggs

Order Coleoptera: Beetles

• 7,400,000 species

  • More than any other order

• Only order with elytra

• Thick forewings that protect hindwings

• Complete metamorphosis

Beetle Larvae

• Some are called grubs

• May or may not have legs

Ladybugs

• Predators

• Adults and larvae are aphid killers

• Can also order online

Firefly

• Predators

• Flash=mating call

• Signals gender & species

Dung Beetle

• Scavengers

• Female makes dung ball and lays eggs in it so larvae can feed on it

Hercules Beetle

• Scavengers

• Males have horns to fight for females

• Feed on decaying plant matter

Stag Beetles

Scavengers

Japanese Beetle

• Feeds on 300 urban landscape plant species

• Herbivores

Weevil

• Herbivores

• Long snouts

• Eat seeds, fruits, nuts

Aquatic Beetles

Carry air bubble underwater

Whirligig Beetles

• Swim around on surface of water

• Eyes divided to see above and below water

Order Hymenoptera: Ants, Bees, Wasps

• Herbivores, predators, parasitoids

  • About 50% of species are parasitoid wasps

• Most have 2 pairs of membranous wings

• Complete metamorphosis

Fungus Farmers: Leaf-Cutting Ants

• Workers take pieces of leaves to the nest

• Use leaves to grow a fungus which is their food

Aphid Herders

• Aphids excrete honeydew which ants eat

• Ants may “milk” them

• Strike aphids with antennae

• Ants protect and move them to favorable plants

• May take them to their colony for winter

Kidnapper Ants

• Kidnap young ants from other species’ colonies

• Groom them with chemicals to trick them into working for them

Fire Ants

• Aggressively defend mound

• Will bite you so it can sting you better

• Fierce predators

• 1.2 rating on Schmidt Sting Pain Index

Schmidt Pain Index

• Scale and rating for pain of insect stings

• Rates 1-4

Bullet Ants

• Central and South America

• Most painful sting of any arthropod

• Schmidt Sting Pain Index Rating: 4

Honey Bees

• Feed on nectar and pollen

• Considered the most important pollinator

  • Nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables

  • Almonds entirely depend on pollination by them

Colony Collapse Disorder

• Started around 2006

• Lost 30-90% of hives

• No or few adults but a live queen and no dead honeybees in the hive

• Honey and larvae in hive

• Research of causes

  • Not cell phones

  • Not pathogens

  • Not parasites

• May be mixture of high fructose corn syrups, transportation stress, pollen/nectar scarcity, water availability, and pesticides

Bumble Bees

Pollinators

Parasitoids

• Insect that feeds on a host during immature stages but not as adults

• May be:

  • Leech-like and feed on outside

  • Alien-like and feed on inside

• Feeding will kill host after a while

Cicada Killer Wasps

• Female paralyzes cicada

• Puts it in an underground burrow and lays an egg on it

• Wasp larvae feed on it for 4-10 days

• Large wasp but generally won’t sting humans

Mud Dauber

• Female hunts and paralyzes spider

• Puts them in mud cells she built

• Wasp larvae feed on them for 3 weeks

Velvet Ant

• Actually a wingless wasp that’s a parasitoid of bees and other wasps

• Cow-Killer in Kentucky

  • It’s said that the female’s sting is so painful it could kill a cow

  • Likely false

Social Wasps

Predators feeding on insects