Ground Dwelling Insects Flashcards
What is the soil profile?
The characteristics of a specific patch of soil
What are the uppermost two layers of soil?
The litter and humus, contain high amounts of decayed organic matter make for best soil habitat for insects
What is a common visual characteristic of insects that dwell underground?
No eyes
What is a detritovore/saprophage?
eats organic detritus of plants or animal origin, or decaying organisms
What is the ecosystem around roots called?
rhizosphere
What is a fungivore?
An individual that eats fungus
What does the wide distribution of ground habitat suggest about insects as a whole?
That the ground habitat was the ancestral habitat of the first insects
Which insect order can only be found on the ground?
Zoraptera
What can the ground do for overwintering insects?
The ground provides a constant temperature for overwintering insects to stay, insects go to dryer areas for pupation
What are the challenges of having subterranean homes?
Good ventilation, water, large number of pathogens within the soil.
What are common morphological adaptations of ground-dwelling insects?
Larvae have well developped legs, pupae with spinous transverse bands, prognathous mouthparts, reduced eyes, hardened forewings, low reliance on wings, apterous, brachypterous, deciduous, fossorial legs
What do cavernicolous insects rely on for food?
roots in shallow caves, streams, bat dung
What are characteristic adaptations of cavernicolous insects?
blind, unpigmented, long slender appendages, sensory setae
What are the two feeding strategies of fungivores?
microphages eat small spores hyphae and liquid, macrophages eat fungal fruiting bodies
What order of insects have species that farm fungi?
Hymenoptera - leaf cutting fungi farming ants, they feed the fungi using a fecal cocktail and remove fungal competitors to feed the fungus to their young
