Insects

Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Uniramia Class Insecta

Characteristics

 Largest arthropod group

 Found in freshwater & terrestrial habitats, especially tropical areas
 Legs, mouthparts, & antenna jointed
 Body segmented into three sections --- head, thorax, & abdomen
 Six legs & up to two pairs of wings located on thorax
 Have compound & simple eyes
 One pair of antennae on head
 Abdomen has 11 segments
 Exoskeleton, covering & protecting body, is made of chitin & must be molted to grow
 Elaborate mouthparts include:
* Mandibles - jaws
* Maxillae - paired sensory structures that move food to mouth
* Labium - lower lip
* Labrum - upper lip
* Palpi - used for tasting
 Known as mandibulates
 Spiracles on abdomen open into tracheal tubes for oxygen & carbon dioxide exchange
 Tympanic membranes on 1st abdominal segment aid in hearing
 Thorax divided into 3 sections --- prothorax, mesothorax, & metathorax
 One pair of legs on each thoracic segment
 Wings located on mesothorax & metathorax
 Ovipositor located on the end of the abdomen in female insects & used to dig hole & lay eggs

Common Insect Orders

 Orthoptera - grasshoppers, crickets, & cockroaches 2 pairs of straight wings & chewing mouthparts)
 Isoptera - termites (feed on wood)
 Dermaptera - earwigs (pincers on end of abdomen)
 Anoplura - sucking lice (wingless parasites)
 Hemiptera - true bugs (have triangular-shaped scutellum & last 1/3 of wings membranous)
 Homoptera - aphids & cicadas (membranous wings held roof-like over body
 Ephemeroptera - mayflies (have 2 cerci on tail, membranous wings, & nonfunctional mouthparts in adults)
 Odonata - dragonflies & damselflies (2 pairs of equal size, membranous wings, strong fliers, feed on other insects)
 Neuroptera - Dobson flies & lacewings (2 pairs of membranous wings)
 Coleoptera - beetles (hard forewings or elytra, membranous hindwings)
 Lepidoptera - butterflies & moths (powdery scales covered wings
 Diptera - flies & mosquitoes (one pair of wings, 2nd pair modified into balancing structure called halteres)
 Siphonaptera - fleas (parasites on birds & mammals, wingless as adults)
 Hymenoptera - bees, ants, & wasps (stinger on abdomen for protection, may live together in groups, pollinators)

Success of Insects

 Found everywhere except in deep part of ocean

 Very short life span & rapidly adapt to new environments
 Small size helps minimize competition in habitats
 Flight helps escape predators & move into other environments

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Environmental Impact

 Pollinate almost 2/3's of all plants

 Serve as food for fish, birds, & mammals
 Help recycle materials (termites recycle wood)
 Make useful byproducts such as silk & honey
 Some spread disease
 Agricultural pests

Grasshoppers

External Structure

 Head with antenna, compound eyes, & chewing mouthparts

 Walking legs on prothorax & mesothorax; jumping legs on metathorax
 Tarsus are lower leg segments with spines, hooks, & pads
 Leathery, protective forewings on mesothorax & membranous hindwings for flight on metathorax
 Covering over thorax called pronotum

Internal Structure
Digestive & Excretory Systems

 Cutting & chewing mouthparts (labium, labrum, mandibles, & maxillae)

 Saliva added to food in mouth
 Esophagus carries food to crop for temporary storage
 Gizzard has chitinous plates to grind food
 Midgut (insect's stomach) has gastric caeca (pouches) to secrete digestive enzymes to break down food
 Food is absorbed into the body cavity or coelom in the hindgut (composed of the colon & rectum)
 Malpighian tubules filter chemical wastes from the blood & deposit them in the rectum where they leave through the
anus

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Circulatory System

 Open circulation of blood

 Aorta is the largest blood vessel carrying blood to the body cells
 Hearts are muscular regions of the aorta in the posterior end of the abdomen that pump blood toward head
 Blood flows back toward abdomen carrying digested food & re-enters the aorta through openings called ostia

Respiratory System

 Air enters through openings called spiracles along the sides of the abdomen & enters into tracheal tubes that branch
into smaller tracheoles where gas exchange with body cells occurs
 Tracheal tubes carry oxygen to body cells & return carbon dioxide to leave the body though spiracles

Nervous System

 Simple brain, nerve cords, & ganglia

 Three simple eyes or ocelli (detect light) & a pair of compound eyes (can detect movement but not images)
 Tympanic membrane on 1st abdominal segment
 Pair of antenna contains sense organs for touch, taste, & smell detects sound
 Sensory hairs found on parts of the body
 Palpi for taste

Reproductive System

 Reproductive organs (ovaries & testes) located in abdomen

 Male deposits sperm into female's seminal receptacle
 Stored sperm fertilizes eggs as they are released by female
 Ovipositor on tip of female's abdomen is used to lay eggs
 Separate sexes
 Lay large number of eggs to ensure survival

Development

 Most insects go through changes in form & size called metamorphosis

 Some insects such as silverfish don't go through metamorphosis
 Incomplete metamorphosis goes from egg to nymph (immature form that looks like adult but without fully developed
wings) to adult (3 stages)

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  Instars are growth periods between molts of nymphs & larva
 Grasshoppers, termites, & true bugs go through incomplete metamorphosis

HEMIPTERAN (TRUE BUG) NYMPH

 Complete metamorphosis goes from egg to larva (segmented & wormlike) to pupa to adult (4 stages)

BUTTERFLY LARVA (CATERPILLAR)

 Butterflies, beetles, & flies go through complete metamorphosis

 In pupal stage, larval tissues break down & cells called imaginal disk develops into tissues of the adult
 Cocoon or chrysalis is a protective case formed around the pupa

BUTTERFLY COCOON

 Metamorphosis controlled by hormones

* Brain hormone stimulates the release of molting hormone (ecdysone)
* When juvenile hormone level high, larva molts
* When juvenile hormone level low, larva pupates
* When juvenile hormone absent, adult emerges from pupal case
 Different stages of metamorphosis eliminates competition between larva & adults for food & space
 Multi-stage life cycle helps insects withstand harsh weather
 Different stages have different functions (caterpillar/growth & adult/reproduction)

Defense Mechanisms

 Bombardier beetle sprays noxious chemical

BOMBARDIER BEETLE

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  Wasps & bees can sting
 Some insects use camouflage to blend into their environments
 Some insects taste bad & have warning colorations

PAPER WASP

 Mullerian mimicry - poisonous or dangerous species have similar patterns of warning coloration so predators avoid all the
species (black & yellow stripes on bees & wasps)
 Batesian mimicry - species that are nonpoisonous or not bad tasting have colorations that mimic other poisonous or bad
tasting species (Viceroy butterfly mimics bad tasting Monarch)

Insect Communication

 Insects may communicate with each other using sound (cricket chirps), light (firefly), or "dances" (honeybee)
 Pheromones are chemicals released by some insects to attract mates or mark trails

Insect Behavior

 Insects may be solitary or social

 Social insects (bees, ants, & some wasps) live together in groups & share work (division of labor)
 Social insects have a caste system with different individuals doing different jobs
 Honeybee caste system:
* Workers
- sterile females
- care for queen & feed her honey and pollen
- make beeswax for hive
- fan wings to cool hive
- eat honey
- collect nectar, pollen, & royal jelly
- live about 6 weeks
- nurse bees care for larva
- secrete royal jelly to feed new queen
* Drones
- males
- mate with queen
- feed by workers
- driven out of hive to conserve food during winter
* Queen
- reproductive female
- mate only once but store sperm for up to 5 years in seminal receptacles
- feed by workers
- secretes chemical called queen factor that prevents other females from sexually maturing
- leaves hive with 1/2 the workers if there is overcrowding

HONEYBEE HIVE
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