Insects Project

Insects Project

1. Orders
Lepidoptera-
Examples of this order found in Australia would be Abantiades Barcas, Barbifrontia and Callionyma sarcodes. The members of this order have 4 wings, which are all completely covered in small scales. All the adults in the Lepidoptera family start off as a caterpillar, which resembles a worm,and grow up to be either a moth or a butterfly. The butterflies have very thin antennas and tend to fly during the day, while the moths have feathery antennas and are attracted by night lights.
Orthoptera-
Examples are: Gryllus campestris, Stenopalmatus fuscus and Schistocerca gregaria. These insects have large hind legs, used especially for jumping. They have hidden wings, which are very thin and are capable of producing a sound known as stridulation. The adults are usually 2.5cm or more in length. Most of the order feed on both insects and plants while only a few are completely herbivorous.
Coleoptera-
Insects that are part of this order include: Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Dytiscus marginalis and lucanus cervus. These are beetles with one pair of hard, outer wings and a pair of soft, inner wings. Their antennae can easily been seen on adults from this order. They are holometabolus insects and start off as eggs which hatch into grubs. Insects from this order are considered pests as they can destruct plants in gardens. Specific examples include: Syrphus ribesii, Calliphora and Tipula.
Diptera-
Specific examples include: Syrphus ribesii, Calliphora and Tipula. The insects in this order are the fly and the mosquito. An adult from the Diptera order would have one pair of wings. The larva of this order is called a maggot, which does not have legs or a head. Flies are willing to eat almost anything, such as dung and other flies while mosquitoes feed on nectar, plant juices and blood.
Hemiptera-
Members of this order are: Acalypta duryi, Aphylidae and Oxycarenidae. They have mouthparts for piercing and sucking, and many of them go through the plant’s tissue in order to eat the fluids. Doing this slightly damages the plants which is why these insects are considered pests. They have compound eyes and three ocelli.
Blattodea-
Members of this order are: Acalypta duryi, Aphylidae and Oxycarenidae. They usually have a flat, oval shaped body. Most of cockroaches omnivorous although some insects are known to have the majority of their diet consist of rotting wood. Cockroaches are usually nocturnal and will hide in many different places, such as in a log.
Hymenoptera-
Examples are: Bumble bee, carpenter ant and Sawfly. They have two pairs of wings, bent antennae and compound eyes. These insects have the ability to sting. Insects from this order can be found anywhere in the world, except for Antarctica.
Thysanura-
Examples are: Thrips, Springtail and Flea. The silverfish is wingless with small compound eyes and its body is covered with silvery scales – hence it’s name. Some are omnivorous, some are herbivorous and some silverfish eat old glue!

Siphonaptera-
Specific examples include: Ctenocephalides felis.Fleas can lay up to 2 dozen eggs everyday and these eggs take just a few days to hatch. The adults feed on a mammal’s blood so you can almost always find them where there are mammals. They have two ocelli as eyes.
Isoptera-
Examples found in Australia include: Odontotermes latericus, Astotermes darwiniensis and Macrotermes bellicosus. Termites have pale bodies and are sometimes known as white ants. Some termites have two pairs of wings but get rid of them after mating. A termite’s diet would consist of plants. They have rather long antennae (about the same length of their head!)

2.
There are three main parts on an insect’s body; the head, the thorax and the abdomen. In these three parts are the other areas, which the diagram shows. On the head, you would find 1 to 3 simple eyes, two compound eyes, an antenna and the mouth. The thorax is split into 3 parts (prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax). The thorax is where the legs are located and there is a pair of legs on each part of the thorax. The legs have 4 main parts; coxa, femur, tibia and tarsus. If the insect had wings, it would be on the mesothorax and the metathorax, and there would be a pair of wings on each segment of the thorax, with the forewings at the front and the hindwings at the back.. The abdomen consists of 11 parts. In each of these parts, there are spiracles, which are holes that allow the insect to breathe through.
3.
Grasshopper –
Labrum:
The labrum is a large, somewhat rectangular shaped structure.
Mandibles
Mandibles are moved in a horizontal way and are used to chew up food.
Maxillae
A pair of structures lying beneath the mandibles. Each of them consists of 5-segmented sensory maxillary palp in addition to other parts. The maxillae, along with the mandibles, help chew the food before it is swallowed.
Labium & Labial Palps
This forms the bottom of the mouth. The labium and the labrum are used to hold together pieces of food with the mandibles and maxillae.

Aphid –
Mentum
A tongue- -like thing used to hold food
Mandibles
Antenna-like structure, used to crush up food so that it can be eaten.
Maxillae
Teeth that crush up food before being swallowed
Labial Palps
Labial palps are long with multiple segments and work together with the mentum

Fly –
Labrum
Tube which holds onto food while being eaten by a fly
Maxillae
Hairy things which are used to chop up foods.
Labial Palps
Labial palps are used to help flies taste the food

Adult Butterfly –
Galea/ Proboscis & Maxillary Palp:
The galea is a tube that, during feeding, sucks up nectar for the butterfly to eat, and the maxillary palp tastes it.
Labial Palps
Used to sense and sometimes for hearing.

Bee –
Labrum:
A nearly circular shaped structure, used for grasping food.
Mandibles
Short, thick mandibles used for crushing the bee’s food.
Maxillae
The pair of maxilla on the bee chews the food
Labium & Labial Palps
A tube used to move the nectar so it can be eaten by the bees
Tongue
The long and hairy tongue is used by the bees to suck up nectar.

4. Using specific Australian examples, discuss the reasons why some insects are regarded as
i. Good or beneficial to agriculture
Some insects are beneficial to agriculture as they perform services such as pollination and pest control, or are able to produce products which can be used by humans. Parasites can lay eggs on other insects and when the egg hatches, it will eat the insect which could have been a pest. For example, bees pollinate flowers and can produce honey, which is used by us. Dung beetles bury droppings and this helps reduce the amount of dung in the area and insects that eat weeds could help get rid of them. ii. Bad or detrimental to agriculture
The insects which are detrimental to agriculture can cause diseases, such as flystrike on the animals, and can eat and destroy the crops. For example, aphids suck the sap out, which harms the plants and cabbage white caterpillars bite holes through the leaves

5. Holometabolus insects go through a life cycle called complete metamorphism, which consists of 4 stages. Examples of insects with a complete life cycle would be the Christmas Beetle and the Monarch Butterfly. The first stage of the cycle is as an egg, which fertilises inside the mother until it is ready to hatch. Just before it hatches, the egg becomes a larva. The next stage is when it hatches into a larva, where the larva spends most of its time eating food to save up energy for the metamorphosis. In the third stage, the larva will turn into a pupae will become very lethargic and stay in its cocoon. The final stage is for it to break out of its cocoon and start looking for a mate. The butterfly will develop from a caterpillar to the Monarch Butterfly and the Christmas beetle will develop from a pupa into the beetle.
Hemimetabolous life cycles are different to holometabolous cycles, since it only has three stages. Examples of insects with an incomplete life cycle would be the yellow Monday Cicada and the Southern Vicetail dragonfly. The cycle starts as an egg. When the egg hatches, a nymph appears but it has no wings. The last stage is when the nymphs become adults, develop wings and are ready to mate. The dragonfly transforms from a nymph with no wings to a Southern Vice Dragonfly and the cicada finally emerges as an insect with wings

Bibliography:

David A Kendall.insect body-parts.http://www.kendalluk.com/morph.htm(accessed September1 2012)
Martin Mogia.Insect body parts.http://www.entu.cas.cz/png/MogiaBodyparts.pdf (accessed September1 2012)

TutorVista.Mouthparts of a grasshopper.http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-ii/nutrition/grasshopper-mouthparts.php# (accessed September 5 2012)

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Answers.Mouthparts of a butterfly.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Mouthparts_of_a_butterfly(accessed September 5 2012)

Bumblebee. Bumblebee tongue and mouthparts http://www.bumblebee.org/bodyTongue.htm(accessed September 5 2012)
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Wikipedia. 2012. Holometabolism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holometabolism (accessed 6 August 2012)
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Wikipedia. 2012. Hemimetabolism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemimetabolism (accessed 6 August 2012) eHow. 2011. How Many Stages Of Metamorphis That Grasshoppers & Dragonflies Go Through. http://www.ehow.com/info_8183145_many-grasshoppers-dragonflies-go-through.html (accessed 6 August 2012)
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-The University of Arizona. 1998. Entomology: Basic Entomology http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/entomology/thysanoptera.html#thrips (accessed 4 September 2012)
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Yahoo. How are insects detrimental to agriculture?.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080928024027AARsIja (accessed 4 September 2012)
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CSIRO.Blattodea:Cockroaches.http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/blattodea.html(accessed 4 September 2012)
CSIRO.Thysanura:silverdish.http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/thysanura.html(accessed 4 September 2012)

Bibliography: David A Kendall.insect body-parts.http://www.kendalluk.com/morph.htm(accessed September1 2012) Martin Mogia.Insect body parts.http://www.entu.cas.cz/png/MogiaBodyparts.pdf (accessed September1 2012) TutorVista.Mouthparts of a grasshopper.http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-ii/nutrition/grasshopper-mouthparts.php# (accessed September 5 2012) Wikipedia Answers.Mouthparts of a butterfly.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Mouthparts_of_a_butterfly(accessed September 5 2012) Bumblebee Department Of Agriculture And Food. 2006. Insect and allied pests of extensive farming. http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_92887.html#beneficial (accessed 17 May 2012) Wikipedia Wikipedia. 2012. Holometabolism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holometabolism (accessed 6 August 2012) The Earth Life Web Wikipedia. 2012. Hemimetabolism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemimetabolism (accessed 6 August 2012) eHow Debby Hadley. 2012. Characteristics of Butterflies and moths, order Lepidoptera.http://insects.about.com/od/butterfliesmoths/p/char_lepidopter.htm (accessed 4 September 2012) -The University of Arizona -David A Kendall. 2010. Classification of bugs http://www.kendalluk.com/class.htm#insecta (accessed 4 September 2012) -Mr Gordon Ramel.- Wikipedia.Mosquito.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito#Feeding_by_adults(accessed 4 September 2012) CSIRO.Blattodea:Cockroaches.http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/blattodea.html(accessed 4 September 2012) CSIRO.Thysanura:silverdish.http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/thysanura.html(accessed 4 September 2012)