Taxonomy & Classification

The Problem

• It is currently estimated that there are between 10 and 30 million species on Earth (only 1 million have been named)

• Furthermore, only 1% of the species that have ever existed are currently alive (the remaining 99% are extinct)

Taxonomy

• Field of biology devoted to the naming and classification of organisms

• Naming and classifying aids in the storage and transfer of information between scientists, and should facilitate understanding of general relationships between organisms

Carl LinnaeusFather of Taxonomy

• Swedish botanist living in the 1700’s wrote the book Systema Naturae

• Developed the hierarchical system of naming categories

• Developed the Bionomial system for naming species

• Goal to determine the underlying rules used by God in the Creation (like Newton’s Laws)

Plant Classification

• For the classification of plants he focused on the differences that existed between the numbers of male and female reproductive parts.

• It was supposedly scandalous in his day to refer to the sex lives of plants let alone to suggest that some females plant parts had more than one possible mate.

Insect Classification

• Besides being a botanist, Linnaeus was important in the development of the foundation of insect classification

• His scheme focused on the number and characteristics of their wings

Hierarchical Naming System

• Kingdom• Phylum• Class• Order• Family • Genus• Species

• Animalia• Chordata• Mammalia• Primates• Hominidae• Homo• Homo sapiens

Five Kingdom System

• Kingdom Monera(Bacteria)

• Kingdom Protista• Kingdom Fungi• Kingdom Plantae• Kingdom Animalia

Insects Classification

• The term “insect” refers to a Class in the Kingdom Animalia

• The groups that Linnaeus and others developed are the Orders in the Class Insecta

Coleoptera (Beetles)

• “sheathed wing”• They have 4 wings,

the elytra (covering) and flight wings

Beetle Flight

Diptera (True Flies)

• “Two wings”• They have 2 wings,

flight wings. The other ancestral wings have become halteres for stabilization during flight

• Common flies, mosquitoes, and craneflies

Lepidoptera

• “Scaled wing”• Butterflies and

Moths

Hemiptera (True Bugs)

• “Half wing”• Insects having

overlapping wings forming a triangular shape in front of the wings

• Stink bugs, assassin bugs, water striders, water boatman, etc…

Homoptera

• “Same wing”• Cicadas,

leafhoppers, and treehoppers

Hymenoptera

• “Membrane wing”• Ants, Bees, and

Wasps

Orthoptera

• “Straight wing”• Grasshoppers,

Crickets, and Katydids

Odonata

• “Toothed”• Dragonflies and

Damselflies

Neuroptera

• “Nerve wing”• Lacewings

Scientific or Species Names

• Latin – Universal Language• Underlined or Italicized• Binomial (Two names or words)

1) Genus (1st) – general term2) Species Epithet (2nd) – descriptive

term (physical descriptive, location, or in honor of scientist)

Descriptive Name

• Melanoplus femurrubrum (DeGeer)

Location Name

• Okanagana canadensis

Named to Honor

• Lycaeides idas nabokovi

Other Examples

• Homo sapiens (Modern Humans)

“man” “thinking”• Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy)

“southern ape” “Afar region”• Haliaeetus leucocephalus

“sea eagle” “white head”