Note antennae…this is a hummingbird hawk moth
A moth who pretends to be a wasp
Great Lep Impersonations… Not only leafshaped, but a dead leaf on the ground with damage…
Order Thysanura – Silverfish and Firebrats Relatively primitive insects…soft bodied characterized by no wings, three filaments at the tip of the abdomen and long slender antennae.
Aquatic…adults emerge synchronously and are around for only 2 days (ephemeral = short time) Long slender bodies. Front wings are large, and triangular, hind wings much smaller. Held vertically over the body. Three caudal filaments on abdomen. Mouthparts are vestigial since they do not feed.
Order Emphemeroptera Mayflies
Also aquatic…2 pairs of wings roughly equal in size held flat on the body. Long, slender antennae. A pair of caudal filaments (mayflies 3). They also emerge in large hatches…fish are unlikely to be able to catch them all as rise up through the water column to emerge…good population insurance
Order Plecoptera Stoneflies
Another aquatic…trichoptera = hairy wing. Wings held in an “A-frame” position across abdomen. Long, thin antennae.
Order Trichoptera Caddisflies
1 mm
Order Thysanoptera - Thrips Small….key characteristic here are the fringed wings. Chewing mouthparts but asymmetrical…one functional mandible, the other vestigial
Order Siphonaptera - Fleas Presence of a genal comb on the head (above)…Strongly flattened body (top right)…allows efficient movement through hairs, almost like a person running through a forest. Large segments on hind legs for jumping (right). Flea trivia…an adult flea can sit motionless for a year waiting for a host like your dog or cat to come along…
Body is highly flattened…legs have prominent claws (right) the claws are perfect for grasping hair on your head, or other parts of your body…ok, the photo below are pubic lice…there is beauty in form as well as function…Two kinds…chewing and sucking lice. Interesting in that this group is highly specialized on birds and mammals…and, very host specific.
Order Phthiraptera Lice
Order Mecoptera – Scorpionflies Characterized by mouthparts giving it the look of a “long face”. The male genetalia make them look like a scorpion…
Order Odonata – Dragonflies & Damselflies
Large Eyes…good vision, since they can take prey on-the-wing. Spindle shaped antennae. Well developed mandibles (see above…very impressive). These are damselflies.
Two pairs of semitransparent wings. Long slender abdomen. One of the earliest flying insects. Fossil records show early dragonflies with wingspans of 24 inches…they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Another cool feature of dragonflies…they have legs, but how important are they?...ever see one walk? Check out this site… http://blog.insectmuseum.org/? p=4020
Dragonfly wings are held out against the body (top left)…damselfly wings are held back along the body (above). The folding of wings was an important evolutionary development…this allowed insects to exploit smaller spaces… One interesting aspect is that the wings have independent musculature…while one pair of wings is up the other pair is down (left). A number of insects solved flight differently later on to gain efficiency…
A large economically important group. Two pairs of membranous wings that are joined together…hymenoptera = married wing. Often, the abdomen is highly constricted where it joins the abdomen, “wasp waist”
Sawflies are the exception… Many wasps like this paper wasp are predacious, but MOST are parasitic… A number of members in this order are social insects, predominantly female with complex behaviors…
Order Hymenoptera - Wasps
See The Insect Societies…E.O. Wilson
Asian Giant Hornet…aka Yak-Killer
2“
Hymenopterans have a very large size range like this giant hornet (note to self, do not personally pose with this creature cause it can hurt you) down to very small, like this fairy wasp. How small is a fairy wasp???
Fairy Wasp…
100 microns
Like ameoba and other single cell organism-sized….this is remarkable.
Order Hymenoptera Wasps Many wasps have developed a lifestyle of parasitism. The ichneumon on the left has an ovipositor allowing her to lay eggs on a host from a long distance, like 2 inches away…this one is looking for a wood boring beetle larva. The girl on the right has an abdomen that let’s her go underground to find scarab larvae…June bugs. The Wolbachia Project Nasonia controls are parasitic wasps.
A lot of parasitic wasps are quite small. On the left is a Trichogramma wasp. They typically parasitize caterpillar eggs…in fact, she measures the size of the egg to determine how many eggs she will insert. Trichogramma is widely utilized in agriculture as a biological control agent. You can purchase trichogramma pupae “glued” to cards…a card that measures about 6 by 8 inches may contain 100,000 Trichogramma pupae.
This is a braconid wasp showing general hymenopteran characteristics. This particular one parasitized a tomato hornworm larva. Note the numerous pupae that resulted from larva completing their meals. All of these pupae were derived from a single egg, a biological phenomenon known as polyembryony. The egg divides, then splits repeatedly. This conserves the energy investment in egg-laying by the wasp…
Order Hymenoptera Bees Bees are incredibly important…the honey bee (top left) has been domesticated and pollinates over 80 crops worldwide…they evolved in Old World Persia, present day Iran. The bumblebee (above) is native to N. America…read Bumblebee Economics by Bern Heinrich, incredible, one of my favorite natural history books. Bumblebees and mason bees (left) are important as well. There are about 800 species of bees in North America…much to be learned…
For whatever reason, knowledge of bees and pheromones has created a very different platform for artistic expression…
Order Hymenoptera Ants Clubbed antennae (left) and the constricted “waist” between the thorax and abdomen. Ants below are collecting (farming) honeydew from a planthopper. Ants are incredibly diverse and like springtails and termites could be at the top of the biomass pyramid.
Termites – sometimes confused with ants…Hymenoptera Note: Ant (clubbed antennae, pinched waist) Termite (filiform antennae, abdomen as wide as thorax)
Some creatures evolved to look like ants and avoid predators – crab spider (below), treehopper (right, Order Homoptera)
Order Dermaptera - Earwigs
Cerci are forceps-like. In general, cerci are sensory organs.
Order Hemiptera - Bugs Front wing usally thickened at base, membranous at tip. Antennae (if present) long. Beaklike mouthparts. Center of thorax triangular.
This is why Hemipterans make great models for the people that make movies about predatory space aliens…Hymenops are not far behind. May Berenbaum, Professor of Entomology and Deptartment Head at the University of Illinois, has organized an insect film fear festival for a number of years…she rocks
Some are beneficial predators. Others feed on plants and can be significant agricultural pests.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug was introduced in 1998 (Pennsylvania), an invasive species that is just spreading into New England. It causes significant plant damage, and can enter homes in the fall (in BIG numbers) to spend the winter…
Order Homoptera – planthoppers, treehoppers, cicadas & aphids Hoppers – Bristle-like antennae, beak mouthparts. Some have a segment on the thorax very pronounced like this treehopper (above right).
Cicada – Note membranous wings and bristle-like antennae. Some cicadas spend 7, 13 or 17 years as nymphs in the soil and emerge synchronously, and are VERY Loud…too cool Bristle-like antennae, large membranous wings
Aphids – Softbodied. Long antennae and cornicles on the abdomen…cornicles secrete defensive chemicals like waxes. Aphids with wings lay eggs. Wingless females (below right) reproduce without mating. They can give live birth to aphids that are already pregnant, so populations can grow very quickly.
5 mm or less
Order Psocoptera – Bark Lice Wings (if present) four in number and held rooflike. Antennae long and slender. 2 or 3 tarsal segments at end of leg.
Order Isoptera – Termites (aka “social cockroaches”) Adults have 2 pairs of wings. Workers and soldiers are not sexually mature and should not be used for this project. Adults typically emerge as a swarm. Slide 47 showed the differences between adult termites and ants.
Soldier caste
Adults
Worker caste
Order Dictyoptera – Cockroaches and Mantids
Cockroaches – Flattened body with head concealed from above. Wings usually present, 2 pairs, long antennae. Wood roaches (not a household pest) are quite common and fly to outdoor lights in May, during mating season.
Mantids – Very distinctive. Adults have 2 pair of wings. Front legs are raptorial, for grabbing prey. Tropical species mimic leaves or flowers, very clever for an ambush predator…
Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets) vs Dictyoptera, similar in a number of respects. Cockroaches and mantids used to be classified as Orthoptera…splitters win again
Orthoptera have a robust cylindrical body. Cockroaches are flattened.
Order Coleoptera Beetles
Front wings typcally hard or leathery. Hind wings membranous. Chewing mouthparts.
Ladybird Beetle – Massachusetts State Insect. Named in 1974. The campaign was led by a class of second graders in Franklin
Beetles are the most diverse insect order…they account for about 25% of total animal species on the planet!!!
Order Neuroptera: lacewings, antlions, owlflies
Neuropterans in a number of cases look like they were constructed out of leftover parts of other orders. They have 2 pairs of membranous wings. Five tarsal segments. Antennae can be long and thin or clubbed.
Not a stonefly….fishfly, Order Neuroptera …Aquatic, like a stonefly but no cerci…
Not a paper wasp….mantisfly, Order Neuroptera …note front legs, raptorial
Not a dragonfly….owlfly, Order Neuroptera …note long antennae
OK team Wolbachia…start your PCR engines…
Note, this is not the last slide…but we are done with the basic orders that you will find…
I lifted pictures for this deck from a number of sources. But I recommend you check out this site in particular: www.alexanderwild.com Alex is a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois. He is an awesome insect photographer…definitely check this site out… www.flickr.com also has a lot of very cool material acquired from many sources
Insect Collecting Tips
Habitats like open meadows are very rich in species composition Rip apart logs, look under bark…good source of psocids Flowering plants attract many insects…you may find ambush bugs (Order Hemiptera) that have the same coloration as the flower Hang a white sheet and place a black light to illuminate it….you can find some really cool insects this way, especially if you are next to a pond or a stream Piles of dead leaves with some soil can be put into a Berlese funnel (easy to make). Great way to collect springtails, ground Inbeetles and creatures like whip scorpions (they do not sting) Window sills and light fixtures…better than you think Farms or gardens…growers will gladly let you take away their bugs like Colorado potato beetle, striped cucumber beetle, mexican bean beetle, flea beetles, etc. Put out a saucer with cider vinegar and a drop of dish detergent…fruit fly party Inspect spider webs
Spending time outside learning about ecological habitats is great. Deer ticks and their ability to vector three very significant diseases is a real thing. The bright spot in this is that tick-borne illnesses are entirely preventable
See www.capecodextension.org Natural Resources page (it’s moving to Hort soon) Check out the tab on education, A Guide to the Prevention of Tick-borne Diseases…it’s not just about Lyme anymore. …Do not let one bite Change your life, cause it can…
The End I am always available for insect ID/collecting help 508-375-6642
[email protected]
This is a bumble bee, one of my favorites from a number of reasons (see Bumblebee Economics B. Heinrich) Also, these are workers, so not part of your project…just consider them a wicked cool, native North American pollinator…
