Biodiversity – An introduction to the world, largely represented by insects…
Larry Dapsis Cape Cod Cooperative Extension www.capecodextension.org
Insects are the predominant multi-cellular life form on Earth…successfully occupying numerous niches in terrestrial ecosystems. There are about a million named species…collections, particularly in rain forests suggest that the true number could be 10 million or more.
Insect Orders 31 classified “buckets” This deck will cover most of these buckets…I left out the embioptera and zoraptora mostly because they are not found in the northern U.S., as well as the protura…since they are rarely collected…and strepsiptera, insect endoparasites rarely seen. Qualifier: should any of your students find any of these in Massachusetts, tell them that they will be propelled into entomological history…my contacts at the Smithsonian will be the final judge, so nobody should have a friend down south mail some…
Systematics…how we classify organisms…developing and understanding relationships
Systematists evaluate groups of organisms and look for common as well as divergent characteristics. The “junk” project is a good way to learn this…what traits are ancestral or derived. I did this in grad school with 8 colleagues…we came up with 9 similar, but different keys (hotly debated…the norm in science and sports…)
Classify based on common characteristics…Judgement calls as some systematists tend to be ”lumpers or splitters”…and things change based on new evidence. Cockroaches and Mantids used to be part of the Orthoptera, grasshoppers and such. Lice now are in one order but used to be in two, Mallophaga and Anoplura…
Arthropod Systematics…work in progress Insects are very diverse and dominate terrestrial ecosystems…their counterparts, the Crustacea dominate saltwater systems. That said, there are still about 1,000 insects species in saltwater habitats. This may seem like a lot, but considering that there are about 5,500 species of mammals (25% of which are represented by bats)
Wolbachia Project has a morphospecies key…to aid in the accurate classification of samples to insect orders
…find out what universities maintain an insect collection and visit one…it will blow you away…
Insect morphology Use of the morphospecies key requires knowledge of some basic morphology. Insects are comprised of three major areas…head, thorax where wings and legs attach, and an abdomen. Characteristics such as antennae, wings and mouthparts show tremendous variations on this basic theme.
Wolbachia Project
This deck is an overall guide to the id of insect orders…I hope that you find it useful and at the same time interesting… The research that you are engaging has one small requirement, adult stage insects So arthropod creatures like worker ants and grasshoppers without fully developed wings will not work out If you have any questions about what works and what does not just contact me at
[email protected] I strongly recommend that you check out www.capecodextension.org the natural resources page…I put together a guide for the prevention of tick-borne diseases. These are very serious but, entirely preventable…get your gameplan together and enjoy your expeditions. Understand your environment, do not fear it…ld
A visual tour of insect diversity begins with a look at this very primitive group. Small…and can be seen in the winter jumping on snow…very cool to observe. These to the right have the common name of snow fleas…
Order Collembola Springtails
A furcula is a distinguishing characteristic. This “springloaded” appendage allows them to jump 7 or 8 inches. Ecologically important as “recyclers”. Very numerous in soil and leaf litter. Considered by some the have the greatest collective biomass on the planet!
6 mm or less…i.e. little creatures
The 7 inch jump of a springtail would be the equivalent of a person doing a backflip over the Eiffel Tower…pretty impressive biomechanics going on…do not try this
1,063 feet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwOL-MHcQ1w Check out this way cool BBC piece on springtails…
Order Diptera - Flies Characterized by one pair of wings. Note a second pair of appendages behind the wings, halteres.
You can observe that these vibrate like wings. This is an inertial guidance system that stabilizes the creature during flight.
If Halteres are in front…not a fly…Strepsiptera. Internal parasites of insects…not very common
Order Diptera Flies Mouthparts can be spongy (left) or modified into a tube (above) as on a mosquito. Note mosquito antennae are feathery while many flies have them highly reduced (left). Eyes tend to be large.
Not Wasps or Bees….Order Diptera – Flies…one pair of wings…Mimicry is reflected in a number of insect orders. In this case it can be helpful to look like something you just do not want to interact with…
Eyes can be the dominant part of the head, as below….
Eyes can also make you look a little mean like this horsefly…and, they have the attitude to back it up…
Eye diversity to the max! This is a stalkeyed fly. They are predominantly found in Old World tropical habitats but there are two North American species. Recent research has found that this is a sexual selection characteristic…males with wider eyes seem to be more successful at finding a mate, really!
Order Lepidoptera – Butterflies, Moths and Skippers
Large winged with respect to body size. Antennae can be feathered as in this cecropia moth (above) or thin with a club as in this monarch (upper right), our National Insect. Mouthparts are usually long and coiled. NOTE: June 25 – July 1, 2012 is National Insect Week
Lep mouthpart bonus slide…it has a coiled mouthpart but, it has really hard hairs at the end. Instead of collecting nectar and such, it will abrade your skin to blister capillaries for a blood meal…meet the vampire moth, southeast Asia…another example of adaptation and exploitation of a niche. Looks like this line evolved from a group that specialized in feeding on secretions around eyes…they just kicked it up a notch…very cool.
Wing Scales
Wings are covered with scales…an individual scale is to the right…it’s a diffraction grating. Color is produced by an effect known as Quantified Interference and Diffraction. This effect can produce nearly metallic coloration. Metallic looking beetles use the same optical physics trick (in addition to hummingbirds and peacocks…)
Say no more…very striking…
Many moths appear relatively drab. They are largely nocturnal and rest during the day…this type of cryptic appearance make them less likely to be seen by predators like birds. But birds have excellent vision so looking drab is not the total solution for survival…
This is an underwing moth, a member of the family Noctuidae. If they are alerted to a predator the front wings open quickly revealing highly colored hind wings, which may even look like eyespots. This “flash” can momentarily startle a potential predator giving the moth time to get away…this is way incredible.
