Insects and People: Insect Classification

Insects outnumber everything else
  • Almost 2/3 of all identified living species are Arthropods
    • Phylum Arthropoda: segmented appendages, exoskeleton, molting, bilateral symmetry
  • More than 1/2 of all identified living species are insects
  • About 1,000,000 insect species identified so far, but there are believed to be millions more to go
  • About 200,000,000 individual insects for every 1 human
The Family Tree
  1. Kingdom Animalia - Phylum Arthropoda (jointed foot)

   

  1. Exoskeleton, segmented body, jointed appendages
  2. Bilateral symmetry
    1. Classes

   

  1. Crustacea (crabs, lobsters, etc)

       1. Many with 2 body regions, 10 legs, 4 antennae, aquatic

          1. Rolly pollys (isopods) are land crustaceans)

  1. Chilopoda (centipedes)

       1. Many body segments, 2 legs per segment, 2 antennae, fangs, dorso-ventrally flattened for sneaking up on prey

  1. Diplopoda (millipedes)

       1. Many body segments, 4 legs per segment, 2 antennae, round-shaped

  1. Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites)

       1. Many with 2 body regions, 8 legs, no antennae, pedipalps

  1. Adult Insecta

   

  1. 3 body regions, 6 legs, 2 antennae
  2. 0, 2, or 4 wings
The Binomial System of Nomenclature

The binomial system of nomenclature is a system of naming species of living organisms using two Latin words, developed by Carolus Linnaeus in the 18th century.

According to this system, each organism is given a unique two-part scientific name consisting of the genus name (a group of closely related species) followed by the species name. Both names are italicized, and the genus name is capitalized, while the species name is in lowercase.

  1. Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) - Systema Naturae 10th ed (1758)

   

  1. created the binomial system
    1. King Phillip cried “Oh for goodness sakes”

   

  1. Kingdom
  2. Phylum
  3. Class
  4. Order
  5. Family
  6. Genus
  7. Species
  • Humans: Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Primate > Homindae > Homo > sapien
    • Homo sapien
  1. All organisms are given a genus and species scientific name in Latin

The binomial system of nomenclature is widely used in biology and other sciences to ensure that each species has a unique and standardized name, making communication between researchers and across different languages easier.