Abundance, Diversity, and Importance of Insects Flashcards
1
Q
Abundance (total number)
A
Insects have the largest biomass of all terrestrial animals. 80% of all animals on the planet are insects
2
Q
Diversity (species richness)
A
Currently 1 million described species
3
Q
Insect success
A
Insects have colonized most major biomes and habitats except the ocean
4
Q
Reasons for insect success
A
- High reproductive capacity
- Ancient lineage
- Exoskeleton
- Wings
- Small size
- Complete metamorphosis
5
Q
High reproductive capacity
A
- Short generation time
- Populations build up faster
- Faster rate of mutation
6
Q
Ancient lineage
A
- Ready to exploit new environments
- Less competition
- Long time to adapt to a wide variety of environments
7
Q
Exoskeleton
A
- Protection from physical damage
- Discourage predators
- Barrier between living tissue and environment
- Protects against desiccation
8
Q
Wings
A
- Advantage in finding food, mates, and escaping from enemies
- Can move freely from one habitat to another to find better conditions
9
Q
Small size
A
- Require little food
- Exploit micro habitats for food, protection, environmental conditions, and nesting
10
Q
Complete metamorphosis
A
- No competition between same species since different body forms = different habitats and food
11
Q
Importance of insects
A
- Pollination
- Food source
- Nutrient cycling
- Soil improvement
- Control of other organisms
- Medicine and genetics
- Biological indicators
- Commercial products
- Aesthetics and culture
12
Q
Pollination
A
- almost the only animal pollinators
- Bees are the most important pollinators
13
Q
Pollination process
A
- Pollen from stamens stick to the pollinators body when it collects flower nectar
- Pollinator carries pollen to another flower
- Pollen from the pollinators body is deposited on the stigma to complete pollination
14
Q
Food source
A
Food source for birds, mammals, fishes, amphibians and reptiles, domesticated animals, and humans
15
Q
FDA legal tolerance for insects in food
A
- 60 aphids per 100g
- 60 microscopic insect fragments per 100g
- 30 fly eggs and 2 maggots per 100g
