I N D I V I D U A L B I O L O GY P R O J E C T W O R K
LIFE CYCLE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSECTS
An Investigation of the Grain Weevil, Butterfly, Housefly, and Honeybee
STUDENT NAME: Abia Franklyn Makafui
CLASS: 2 Science 17
SUBMISSION WEEK: Week 20
SUBJECT: Biology (Diversity of Living Things)
"Submitted in partial fulfillment of the individual project work requirements for Form 2 Biology."
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Introduction: Insect Biology
Insects are one of the most successful and diverse groups of living things on our planet. They belong to the class
Insecta and are part of the larger group called arthropods. Scientists have already described more than a million
different kinds of insects, and there are probably many more still waiting to be discovered. They have been around
for over 400 million years and can be found almost everywhere—from deserts to forests and even in our homes.
What makes insects special is their unique body structure. Their bodies are divided into three main parts: the head,
the thorax, and the abdomen. They possess six jointed legs, a pair of antennae, and usually two pairs of wings.
Their bodies are covered by a hard outer skeleton called an exoskeleton, which they shed periodically as they
grow.
One of the most interesting things about insects is their life cycle, known as metamorphosis. Most of the insects
studied in this project go through complete metamorphosis (holometabolism), which has four distinct
developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In this process, the young insect (larva) looks totally different
from the adult and lives in a completely different way. This developmental separation helps them survive better
because the young and adults do not compete for the same food sources or physical space.
Ecological Importance:
Insects play vital roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Some help by pollinating flowering plants, breaking down dead
plants and animals as decomposers, or serving as critical food sources for birds, reptiles, and mammals. However,
others can act as major agricultural pests or vectors of disease. In this project, we will examine four common insects:
the grain weevil, butterfly, housefly, and honeybee.
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1. The Grain Weevil (Sitophilus granarius)
The grain weevil is a small but highly destructive agricultural pest that primarily attacks stored cereal grains such as
wheat, rice, maize, and barley. It is a tiny beetle belonging to the order Coleoptera. Because both the larvae and
adult beetles feed inside grain kernels, they can cause heavy damage to stored food supplies worldwide.
Taxonomic Classification
Taxonomic Rank Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Curculionidae
Genus Sitophilus
Species S. granarius
Distinctive Features
• Elongated Rostrum (Snout): The head terminates in a noticeably long snout with small chewing mouthparts at
the end. The female uses this snout to bore tiny holes deep into grain kernels to lay her eggs.
• Hard Exoskeleton & Texture: Adults measure about 3 to 5 mm in length. Their hard body is reddish-brown to
dark brown, with a deeply pitted thorax and longitudinal ridges along the wing covers (elytra).
• Elbowed Antennae: Segmented antennae are bent or elbowed, rising directly from the base of the snout.
• Flight Capability: The granary weevil (Sitophilus granarius) has fused wing covers and is entirely flightless,
relying on walking. (This distinguishes it from the closely related rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae, which is capable
of flight).
Life Cycle (Complete Metamorphosis)
The grain weevil undergoes complete metamorphosis consisting of four major stages:
1. Egg Stage: The female bores a cavity into a grain kernel, deposits a single egg, and seals the opening with a
gelatinous fluid to protect it.
2. Larva Stage: The hatched larva is a legless, creamy-white, plump grub. It feeds exclusively on the internal
endosperm of the grain kernel, remaining completely hidden inside.
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3. Pupa Stage: After several instars, the larva pupates within the hollowed shell of the grain, transforming its larval
structures into the adult body.
4. Adult Stage: The fully formed adult beetle chews a circular exit hole through the grain coat to emerge, mate,
and continue the cycle. The entire process takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks under warm conditions.
Ecological & Economic Role:
Grain weevils lower grain weight, reduce seed viability, and promote mold growth due to the moisture released
during feeding. This leads to massive economic losses in agricultural storage systems.
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2. The Butterfly (Order Lepidoptera)
Butterflies are beautifully colored, day-flying insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera. They are widely recognized
for their delicate wings covered in tiny microscopic scales, which produce vibrant color patterns. They serve as
essential ecosystem indicators and valuable pollinators.
Taxonomic Classification
Taxonomic Rank Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Lepidoptera
Family Nymphalidae (e.g., Brush-footed butterflies)
Distinctive Features
• Scale-Covered Wings: Possess two pairs of wings (forewings and hindwings) covered in overlapping scales.
These scales create the complex patterns utilized for camouflage, warning, and mate attraction.
• Siphoning Mouthparts (Proboscis): Adults do not have mandibles; instead, they possess a long, hollow tube
called a proboscis that they coil beneath their head when not in use. They uncoil it to sip liquid nectar from
flowers.
• Club-Shaped Antennae: Long, slender antennae that terminate in distinctive bulbous tips or clubs.
• Brush-like Forelegs: In the family Nymphalidae, the front legs are reduced in size and covered in sensory hair-
like structures (setae), resembling little brushes, used to taste chemical compounds on host plants.
Life Cycle (Complete Metamorphosis)
1. Egg Stage: The female butterfly deposits eggs on the underside of specific host-plant leaves (such as milkweed
for Monarchs).
2. Larva Stage (Caterpillar): The egg hatches into a voracious caterpillar. It possesses chewing mandibles and
prolegs, and its primary role is to eat foliage and grow rapidly, shedding its skin through multiple instars.
3. Pupa Stage (Chrysalis): The mature caterpillar spins a silk button, attaches itself upside down to a stem, and
molts to form a hard, protective pupal shell called a chrysalis.
4. Adult Stage: The adult butterfly emerges, pumps fluid into its soft wings, lets them dry and harden, and takes
flight to seek mates and feed.
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Ecological Contribution:
Adult butterflies are active day pollinators that help flowering plants reproduce. They are also sensitive indicator
species; their population health directly reflects wider ecological and climate stability.
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3. The Housefly (Musca domestica)
The housefly is a cosmopolitan pest that lives in close association with human dwellings, animal stables, and
decaying organic waste. It is a highly active, fast-moving insect that is both a vital natural decomposer and a serious
vector of human pathogens.
Taxonomic Classification
Taxonomic Rank Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Diptera
Family Muscidae
Genus Musca
Species M. domestica
Distinctive Features
• Single Pair of Wings: As true Dipterans, they have only two functional wings. Their hindwings are modified into
tiny, clubbed gyroscopic balancing organs called halteres.
• Thoracic Stripes: The gray thorax features four distinct, dark longitudinal stripes.
• Sponging Mouthparts: Houseflies cannot chew. They liquefy food by regurgitating saliva or digestive fluids
onto it and then absorb the liquid using spongy lobes (labella) at the end of their proboscis.
• Adhesive Pulvilli: Their feet possess claws and tiny sticky pads (pulvilli), allowing them to walk easily on slick
vertical surfaces, walls, and ceilings.
Life Cycle (Complete Metamorphosis)
The housefly has an accelerated lifecycle, developing from egg to adult in 7 to 10 days in warm conditions:
1. Egg Stage: The female lays small, white eggs in clusters of 100 to 150 on moist decaying matter like manure or
garbage.
2. Larva Stage (Maggot): The eggs hatch into legless, tapered, white grubs called maggots. They possess mouth
hooks to feed on rotting organic matter.
3. Pupa Stage: The mature maggot migrates to a dry area and contracts its skin to form a hard, brown, barrel-
shaped casing called a puparium.
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4. Adult Stage: The adult fly breaks out of the puparium using an inflatable head sac (ptilinum), dries its wings,
and takes flight.
Ecological & Public Health Role:
Houseflies are crucial decomposers, helping recycle nutrients. However, because they frequent filthy feeding sites,
they mechanically transmit pathogens causing cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery to human food.
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4. The Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
The Western honeybee is a eusocial insect of extraordinary agricultural and ecological value. Operating as a
superorganism, a single hive coordinates thousands of sterile female workers, a few male drones, and a single
reproductive queen.
Taxonomic Classification
Taxonomic Rank Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Hymenoptera
Family Apidae
Genus Apis
Species A. mellifera
Distinctive Features
• Pollen Baskets (Corbicula): Smooth, slightly concave structures fringed with long hairs on the outer tibia of the
worker's hind legs, used to carry packed pollen back to the hive.
• Plumose Body Hairs: Their bodies are covered with branched (feather-like) hairs that easily accumulate
electrostatic pollen grains when visiting flowers.
• Chewing-Lapping Mouthparts: Possess strong mandibles for chewing wax and a long, flexible tongue
(glossa) for lapping up sweet flower nectar.
• Barbed Sting: The female worker's ovipositor is modified into a defense sting. Due to its backward-pointing
barbs, it tears from the bee's abdomen after deployment, causing the bee to die but delivering a potent alarm
pheromone.
Life Cycle (Complete Metamorphosis)
1. Egg Stage: The queen lays a single egg inside a hexagonal wax cell. It hatches in about 3 days.
2. Larva Stage: Legless white grubs fed intensely by nurse workers. Larvae destined for workers receive nutrient-
rich royal jelly for 3 days and are then switched to bee bread (pollen and honey). Selected queen larvae are fed
royal jelly exclusively. This stage lasts 5 to 6 days before the cell is capped with wax.
3. Pupa Stage: The larva spins a silken cocoon inside the capped cell and pupates, developing compound eyes,
legs, and wings.
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4. Adult Stage: The adult bee chews through the wax cap. Development times vary by caste: 16 days for a queen,
21 days for a worker, and 24 days for a male drone.
Ecosystem and Agricultural Stability:
Honeybees are premier pollinators, responsible for pollinating approximately one-third of the global crops consumed
by humans. They maintain biodiversity and stabilize terrestrial food webs.
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Comparative Analysis of the Four Insect Species
An analytical comparison of these four representative species reveals how the basic insect body plan (three
tagmata, six jointed legs, exoskeleton, and antennae) can adapt to highly specialized ecological functions and
habitats through variations in flight apparatus, mouthparts, development, and social structures.
Anatomical / Life
Grain Weevil Butterfly Housefly Honeybee
Cycle Feature
Chewing mandibles Siphoning (coiled Chewing-lapping
Adult Mouthparts Sponging (labella)
on snout proboscis) complex
Flightless (elytra 4 large scale-covered 2 flight wings + 2
Wings & Flight 4 membranous wings
fused) wings halteres
Legless, white curved Eruciform (Caterpillar) Legless tapered Legless white grub in
Larval Morphology
grub with prolegs maggot comb
Metamorphosis Complete Complete Complete Complete
Type (Holometabolous) (Holometabolous) (Holometabolous) (Holometabolous)
Developmental 16 to 24 days (by
4 to 6 weeks 3 to 5 weeks 7 to 10 days
Timeline caste)
Solitary (Storage Eusocial
Social Organization Solitary / Migratory Solitary scavenger
pest) (Superorganism)
Primary Human Destroys stored Aesthetic, cross- Spreads enteric Produces honey,
Impact agricultural grain pollination pathogens crop pollination
Synthesis of Adaptive Mechanics
All four species exhibit complete metamorphosis (holometabolism), which is a major evolutionary advantage. By
having a larval phase (such as a caterpillar or maggot) that focuses exclusively on growth and feeding, and an adult
phase focused on dispersal and reproduction, these insects avoid intraspecific competition for resources.
However, their morphological adaptations diverge dramatically based on their nutritional needs. The grain weevil
has adapted to feed on hard seed grains by developing chewing mandibles at the tip of an elongated rostrum,
sacrificing flight. In contrast, the housefly relies on rapid flight and sponging liquid food to exploit decaying
materials. The butterfly utilizes delicate, scale-covered wings and a long, siphoning proboscis to access nectar in
deep flowers, while the eusocial honeybee exhibits specialized pollen-carrying structures (corbiculae), plumose
body hairs, and cooperative behavior to harvest nectar and pollen on a massive scale.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, this project highlights the remarkable diversity and adaptation of Class Insecta. By investigating the
life cycles, anatomy, and behaviors of the grain weevil, butterfly, housefly, and honeybee, we observe how a
common biological blueprint can diverge to fill varied ecological roles. Whether acting as beneficial pollinators,
crucial decomposers, or destructive agricultural and public health pests, insects are deeply integrated into
ecological balance and human agriculture. Understanding their biology and lifecycles is essential for pest
management, biodiversity conservation, and global food security.
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