The Importance of Insects. What is an insect? Definition an air-breathing invertebrate animal with a body that has segments, including a head, thorax,

The Importance of InsectsThe Importance of Insects

What is an insect?What is an insect?

• Definition

an air-breathing invertebrate animal with a body that has segments, including a head, thorax, abdomen, two antennae, three pairs of legs, and usually two sets of wings.

How do we classify?How do we classify?• Animals and plants are grouped into several categories which

indicate their degree of relationship to one another.

• King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup

KingdomPhylum

Class Order Family

Genus Species

How do we classify?How do we classify?• Insects are classified as:

Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: Insecta

• Any animal that falls under the class Insecta is considered an insect. Their family, genus and species names are what identify them all as being unique.

• The genus and species names together are what make up the scientific name.

• This is referred to as binomial nomenclature. – The prefix “bi-” meaning two and “-nomial” meaning name = two names

How do we classify?How do we classify?

Example:Two species of beetles– Cylindera celeripes = swift tiger beetle

– Cylindera lemniscata = white striped tiger beetle

Both have same genus names showing that they are related.

Their varying species name is what identifies them as being unique from each other.

Funny Insect NamesFunny Insect Names

• Eubetia bigaulae Brown (tortricid moth)

• Heerz lukenatcha Marsh (braconid wasp)

• Pieza rhea Evenhuis (mythicomyiid fly)

• Verae peculya Marsh (braconid wasp)

What do they look like?What do they look like?What do insects look like?

- Name some characteristics

• Body plan:– Adult insects are known for having three major body

regions, six legs, one pair of antennae and usually two pair of wings as adults .

Which of these is NOT an insect?Which of these is NOT an insect?

Butterfly Locust

Centipede Horsefly

SpiderCaterpillar

Beetle

Are spiders insects? … NOAre spiders insects? … NO• Spiders are within the Class: Arachnida. Not Class Insecta

• We said earlier that insects are defined as having 3 pair of legs… Spiders have 8 legs!

• Spiders do not have antennas like insects.

• Spiders do not have wings at all. This is also true for some insects, but there are plenty of insects out there with either two or four wings.

• Unlike the abdomen of insects, the abdomen of spiders isn't segmented.

Where did they come from?Where did they come from?

• Some of the earliest arthropods to walk on land and breathe air were the scorpions, centipedes, and millipedes.

• These found themselves on land as much as 400 million years ago.

Where did they come from?Where did they come from?

• It has been theorized that over hundreds of millions of years, insects have evolved from worm-like creatures.

• They developed legs, wings and antennae.

How many are there?How many are there?

• More than one million different species of insects have been identified.

• Some experts believe that there may be as

many as 30 million insect species in the world that have yet to be discovered and identified.

Why should I care about bugs?!Why should I care about bugs?!

Pollinators


Pollinators• There are many important pollinating insect species in the orders:

Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants)Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)Diptera (flies)Coleoptera (beetles)

• As adults these insects feed on pollen and/or nectar from flowers. They forage from plant to plant and may initiate pollination by transferring pollen from plant to plant

• Pollinators aid in the reproduction and maintenance of genetic diversity of the plant community.

http://diagnostics.montana.edu/Insect/Pollinators/NativeBees.html

http://diagnostics.montana.edu/Insect/Pollinators/Wasps.html

http://diagnostics.montana.edu/Insect/Pollinators/Wasps.html

http://diagnostics.montana.edu/Insect/Pollinators/Butterflies.html

http://diagnostics.montana.edu/Insect/Pollinators/Moths.html

Why should I care about bugs?!Why should I care about bugs?!Indicator species

• An indicator species is any biological species that defines a trait or characteristic of the environment.

• For example, a species may indicate an environmental condition such as a disease outbreak, pollution, species competition or climate change. – GLOBAL WARMING ?

• Indicator species can be among the most sensitive species in a region, and sometimes act as an early warning to monitoring biologists.


EXAMPLE:• Some beetle species feed on only one type of

plant. If that plant disappears so do those beetles. This can give us a good idea of what is happening in a particular ecosystem.


EXAMPLE:• Many insects are sensitive to extreme weather

events (droughts, heat waves, cold spells).

• As a result of climate change and deforestation, tropical environments that contain the bulk of Earth’s biodiversity could become too hot or dry for many insect species to survive.


Medicine• Larvae of the blow fly:– Military surgeons noticed in World War II that

wounds, untreated for several days and infested with maggots, healed better than wounds not infested with the blow fly larvae.

– Later they discovered that the larvae (maggots) secreted an excretion called "allontoin," which had a curative effect. Allontoin now is used to treat osteomyelitis, an infectious inflammatory disease.

• In other examples, bee venom has been used to treat arthritis.

Why should I care about bugs?!Why should I care about bugs?!Pest control

• Some species of insects, such as ladybugs, are beneficial to gardeners and farmers.

• They are used as a form of pest control because they eat insects that damage crops.

It’s a bug eat bug world out there! Uh oh!!!

I’m in trouble..

Your ProjectYour Project

You will be creating your own Insect Collection.

You will be taking pictures of insects that you find outside and around your home.

You will identify these insects and describe where you found them and what habitats they live in.

Using the internet, you will create a photo book. You can then have it printed and it will be mailed to you.

Information to Help You Get Started:Information to Help You Get Started:Insects Native to PennsylvaniaInsects Native to Pennsylvania

• INDIAN MEAL MOTH • SAW-TOOTHED GRAIN

BEETLE • LARDER BEETLE• AMERICAN COCKROACH • GERMAN COCKROACH • BROWN-BANDED

COCKROACH • ORIENTAL COCKROACH • BLACK CARPET BEETLE • MOSQUITO• HOUSE FLY

• PAPER WASP• ASIAN LADY BEETLE • WESTERN ONIFER SEEDBUG • VINEGAR FLY • EUROPEAN EARWIG • HOUSE CENTIPEDE • SILVERFISH • BROWN MARMORATED

STINK BUGS • CARPENTER ANT• TERMITE• CARPENTER BEE

Information to Help You Get Started:Information to Help You Get Started:Websites You May Want to UseWebsites You May Want to Use

www.science-store.com/life/animal-info/insects/insect_identification.htm

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uf021.pdf

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740www.pawild.net

go to the main gallery/scroll down to insects

Where to Create Your Photo BookWhere to Create Your Photo Book

www.snapfish.com

www.kodakgallery.com

www.shutterfly.com

For Mac users: iBook

Ticket Out the Door!Ticket Out the Door!Before the bell rings, on a piece of paper, you are to

create a simple concept map explaining why insects are important.

Think about things you already know and what we

discussed today. Be creative!

You will hand it in before you leave .

This will be your ticket out the door.This will be your ticket out the door.

Do not copy this exampleCreate Your Own

Documents

The Importance of Insects. What is an insect? Definition an air-breathing invertebrate animal with a body that has segments, including a head, thorax,