INSECT TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY

BY: EMILY DOWNING

INSECT ORDER• EPHEMEROPTERA

• ODONATA

• BLATTARIA

• ISOPTERA

• DERMATPTERA

• ORTHOPTERA

• PHASMIDA

• HEMIPTERA

• COLEOPTERA

• LEPIDOPTERA

• DIPTERA

• SIPHONOPTERA

• HYMENOPTERA

• MANTODEA

• PLECOPTERA

EPHEMEROPTERA

• THE MAYFLY IS MEDIUM-SIZED INSECT

THAT IS FOUND IN A VARIETY OF HABITATS ALL AROUND THE WORLD

• THERE ARE 2,500 KNOWN SPECIES OF MAYFLY GENERALLY FOUND CLOSE TO WATER, ALL AROUND THE WORLD WITH OVER 600 SPECIES OF MAYFLY NATIVELY FOUND IN NORTH AMERICA

• THE FEMALE MAYFLY CAN LAYS THOUSANDS OF EGGS AT TIME WHICH SHE DOES SO INTO THE WATER

• THE ADULT MAYFLIES HAVE A NUMBER OF PREDATORS OUT OF THE WATER INCLUDING AMPHIBIANS SUCH AS FROGS, TOADS AND NEWTS, SMALL REPTILES, BIRDS AND EVEN RODENTS AND MAMMALS

ODONATA• DRAGONFLIES HATCH FROM EGGS IN FRESHWATER, AND

SPENT AT LEAST A FEW MONTHS (SOMETIMES SEVERAL YEARS) AS AQUATIC PREDATORS.

• DRAGONFLIES IN THEIR AQUATIC STAGE EAT MANY KINDS OF SMALL ANIMALS

• DRAGONFLIES HELP CONTROL POPULATIONS OF BITING FLIES LIKE MOSQUITOS.

• MOST DRAGONFLY SPECIES ARE ABUNDANT AND COMMON, BUT A FEW USE SPECIAL HABITATS AS IMMATURES, AND THEY ARE AT RISK BECAUSE THEIR HABITATS ARE IN DANGER.

• DAMSELFLIES CAN FOLD OR CLOSE THEIR WINGS OVER THEIR BACK AND PARALLEL TO THEIR BODY.

• DAMSELFLY NYMPHS ARE HATCHED IN SHALLOW WATER AND TEND TO STAY IN THE SHALLOWS AMONG WEED BEDS WHERE FOOD IS PLENTIFUL

• THE NYMPH IS USUALLY STATIONARY CLINGING TO BOTTOM VEGETATION AND DEBRIS. WHEN IT DOES MOVE, IT CRAWLS OR SWIMS MUCH LIKE A FISH BY SWEEPING THE TAIL BACK AND FORTH.

BLATTARIA

• COCKROACHES HAVE SIX LEGS, TWO ANTENNAE AND SOME HAVE WINGS. HOWEVER, MOST WINGED COCKROACHES ARE NOT PARTICULARLY ADEPT AT FLYING.

• COCKROACHES EMIT UNPLEASANT ODORS AND MAY ALSO PRODUCE SOUND

• A COCKROACH CAN LIVE FOR A WEEK WITHOUT ITS HEAD

• A COCKROACH CAN HOLD ITS BREATH FOR 40 MINUTES

ISOPTERA

• TERMITES ARE SOCIABLE INSECTS, FOUND IN THEIR MILLIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD

• TERMITES FEED ON DEAD PLANT MATTER, ROTTEN WOOD AND SOIL AND OFTEN CREATE MOUNDS OUT OF DIRT TO SUPPORT THE TERMITE COLONY.

• TERMITE COLONIES CAN VARY IN SIZE FROM JUST HUNDREDS OF TERMITES TO SEVERAL MILLION TERMITE INDIVIDUALS

• THE TERMITE WORKERS BUILD AND MAINTAIN ELABORATE NESTS TO HOUSE THEIR TERMITE COLONY

• TERMITES ARE KNOWN TO POSE A MAJOR PROBLEM TO WOODEN HOUSES AS THEY EAT THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WOOD, OFTEN CAUSING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.

DERMATPTERA

• PREFER DARK, MOIST ENVIRONMENTS AND YOU CAN FIND ME UNDER LOGS, BARK, LEAVES OR HIBERNATING DURING THE WINTER IN YOUR HOME.

• EAT BOTH LIVE AND DEAD PLANT MATERIAL AND INSECTS

• LAY FROM 30 TO 50 EGGS IN A BATCH

• AND IT TAKES UP TO THREE MONTHS FOR THE EGGS TO BECOME ADULT EARWIGS.

ORTHOPTERA• INCOMPLETE DEVELOPMENT (EGG, NYMPH,

ADULT)

• CLOSELY RELATED TO BLATTODEA AND DERMAPTERA

• ANTENNAE FILIFORM

• MOUTHPARTS MANDIBULATE, HYPOGNATHOUS

• PRONOTUM SHIELD LIKE, COVERING MUCH OF THORAX

• FRONT WINGS NARROW, LEATHERY (TEGMINA); HIND WINGS FAN-LIKE

• HIND LEGS USUALLY ADAPTED FOR JUMPING (HIND FEMUR ENLARGED)

• TARSI 3- OR 4-SEGMENTED

• CERCI SHORT, UNSEGMENTED

PHASMIDA

• USUALLY FOUND ON TREES OR SHRUBS

• HERBIVOROUS

• BODY AND LEGS VERY LONG AND SLENDER

• ONE SPECIES IN FLORIDA HAS VERY SHORT WINGS, MANY EXOTIC FORMS ARE FULLY WINGED

• STICK INSECTS ARE PART OF THE PHASMIDA ORDER, THE NAME OF WHICH IS DERIVED FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING “APPARITION”

HEMIPTERA

• HEMIPTERA MEANS HALF WINGS

• THE FRONT WINGS OF THESE INSECTS ARE DIVIDED BETWEEN A THICKENED BASAL REGION AND A MEMBRANOUS TIP.

• MANDIBLULARY AND MAXILLARY STYLETS COADAPTED, CONTAINING ALIMENTARY AND SALIVARY CANALS, ENCLOSED IN SEGMENTED LABIUM

COLEOPTERA• COLOR: BROWN, BLACK, RED, YELLOW,

GREEN, BLUE

• SKIN TYPE: SHELL

• FAVORITE FOOD: INSECTS

• HABITAT: MOST LAND AND FRESHWATER HABITATS

• MAIN PREY: INSECTS, DUST, DUNG

• PREDATORS: BATS, FROGS, REPTILES

• SPECIAL FEATURES: HARD OUTER SHELL AND TWO PAIRS OF WINGS

LEPIDOPTERA

• BUTTERFLIES FLY BY DAY AND MOST MOTHS BY NIGHT

• AT REST BUTTERFLIES HOLD THEIR WINGS CLOSED TOGETHER OVER THEIR BACKS WHILST MOTHS REST WITH THEIR WINGS SPREAD OUT SIDEWAYS

• BUTTERFLY ANTENNAE ARE LONG, THIN AND CLUBBED AT THE END, MOST MOTH ANTENNAE ARE SHORTER AND FEATHERY

DIPTERA

• COLOR: BLACK, BROWN, BLUE

• SKIN TYPE: HAIR

• FAVORITE FOOD: NECTAR

• HABITAT: CLOSE TO ORGANIC WASTE

• MAIN PREY: NECTAR, SAP, BLOOD

• PREDATORS: FROGS, FISH, LIZARDS

• SPECIAL FEATURES: ROUNDED BODY SHAPE AND LACK OF EYELIDS

SIPHONOPTERA

• ADULTS ARE PARASITES THAT DRAW BLOOD FROM A HOST

• LARVAE FEED ON ORGANIC DEBRIS, PARTICULARLY THE FECES OF ADULT FLEAS, WHICH CONTAIN UNDIGESTED BLOOD

• EGGS ARE NOT ATTACHED TO THE HOST. EGGS WILL HATCH ON THE GROUND, IN RUGS, CARPET, BEDDING, UPHOLSTERY OR CRACKS IN THE FLOOR. MOST HATCH WITHIN TWO DAYS.

HYMENOPTERA

• BEES, ANTS AND WASPS HAVE CHEMORECEPTORS FOR TASTE AND SMELL ON THEIR ANTENNAE AS WELL AS ON THEIR MOUTHPARTS

• "KILLER BEES" ARE A HYBRID OF TWO HONEYBEE SPECIES - ONE FROM AFRICA AND THE OTHER FROM SOUTH AMERICA.

• ONE THIRD OF THE FOOD EATEN BY HUMANS COMES DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM CROPS POLLINATED BY BEES

MANTODEA

• MANTIDS ARE THE ONLY INSECTS THAT CAN TURN THEIR HEAD FROM SIDE TO SIDE WITHOUT MOVING ANY OTHER PART OF THE BODY. MANY HUMANS MISTAKENLY INTERPRET THIS BEHAVIOR AS A SIGN OF INTELLIGENCE.

• A FEMALE MANTID MAY EAT HER MATE WHILE HE IS STILL LINKED WITH HER IN COPULO

• MOST MANTIDS ARE CRYPTICALLY COLORED TO BLEND WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT

PLECOPTERA

• IN SOME SPECIES, A MALE ATTRACTS A FEMALE BY DRUMMING HIS ABDOMEN AGAINST THE SUBSTRATE.

• STONEFLY EGGS ARE COATED WITH A STICKY SLIME THAT ADHERES TO ROCKS AND KEEPS THE EGGS FROM WASHING AWAY IN FAST MOVING WATER.

• A SECONDARILY WINGLESS SPECIES (FAMILY CAPNIIDAE) PASSES ITS ENTIRE LIFE CYCLE IN THE DEPTHS OF LAKE TAHOE, U.S.A.

The End