Why study insects?

Number of Species:• 1.7-1.9 million described/named– estimates as high as 5-500 million

• ~900,000 described insects • e.g., >50% of everything ON this planet IS an

insect…• why study anythingother than entomology? ;)

2009 NY Times

domination of biomass:• North Carolina study: soil samples to a depth of 5

inches 124 million insects per acre– classic George Salt papers in 30’s and 40’s; 250 mill springtails/1 acre topsoil

• one South American termite nest, N = 3 million• locust swarms up to 30 billion individuals (at 2.5

gms each, that’s about 75,000 tons of locust…)• for each human on Earth

there are 200 mill individual insects and 300 pounds of insect biomass

7 bill x 200 mill = 1.4 x 1018

7 bill x 300 lbs = 2.1 x 1012 lbs

biomass con’t:• supercolonies of ants– Japan, >1 mill queens, >300 mill workers, queens,

45,000 interconnected nests, 670 acres– 33 interconnected ant populations over 3700 mile

stretch along Mediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean, billions and billions of individuals

• ants comprise ~30% of biomass in Amazon, 10% of Earth’s biomass; termites comprise an additional 10%

essential, un-replaceable Ecosystem roles• KEY component of terrestrial food webs• nutrient cycling (dung, wood, carrion)– without insects, Earth would pile up… dead

• soil aeration and turnover• plant community structure (through herbivory)

Insects as Pollinators:

• (Lecture 5)• 90% of angios rely on animal pollinators • 200,000 spp of animals act as pollinators; of those,

1,000 are mammals/birds – the rest are INSECTS– apples, bananas, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, melons,

peaches, potatoes, pumpkins, vanilla, almonds, tequila…– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees

• produce $40 bill worth of products annually (USA)• 2008 (bee crisis), did “math”, dollar estimate on crops

pollinated by bees $217 billion (global/annual)

Oregon’s Pollinators• bumble bees– 19 spp, most berries (blue, cran, brambles), tomatoes

• sweat bees– ground nesters, solitary

• mining (or digger) bees– also solitary ground nesters

• European honey bees (non-native)– carrots: ¾ acreage, 90% income

• syrphid flies• butterflies

– 170 spp found in Oregon

Insects as Pests

• http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/dept/entfacts.asp

• http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/IPPM/pest_lists.shtml

Insects & Medicine/Disease• example = malaria– 200-400 mill cases/year– ~750,000 deaths per year

~1.5 million people diagnosed with a form of cancer each year…

Insects & Products

Insects & Science

Course Outline:

• Insect Form & Diversity • A&P series• Insects & Plants• Development, Life History, Evolution• Insects and Disease, Products, Science