Insect Ecology Flashcards
What does ecology mean, and who termed it and when?
Science of plants and animals in relation to their environment
Ernst Haekel-1869
What does oikos mean?
house in greek
What does insect ecology mean?
Study of insects in relationship to their environment
What are biotic factors?
organisms living together, influencing others directly under natural conditions
What do vital processes like growth, nutrition, and reproduction depend on?
interactions between individuals of same or different species
What are abiotic factors?
non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment and how organisms live in it
What are the three major disciplines in insect ecology?
trophic relationships
population ecology
community ecology
How much energy is retained by different modes of nutrition? (3)
carnivore- 100%
omnivore- 10%
producers- 0.01%
What are 6 types of trophic relationships?
Insect-plant interaction
Predator-prey interactions
Parasite-host interactions
Mutualistic association
Pollination ecology
Ecosystem function
What are five factors of population ecology?
Demography
life histories
behavioral ecology
ecological genetics
population dynamics
What are four factors for community ecology?
intraspecific and interspecific competition
community structure and organization
diversity and stability
paleoecology and biogeography
How do insects and plants interact, and what 2 orders are the most diverse in regards to chewing?
herbivores/ phytophagous
coleoptera and lepidoptera
In what ways do herbivorous insects interact with plants? (6)
leaf chewing
sap sucking
seed predation
gall inducing
leaf mining
pollen foraging
What type of mining/boring do insects do? (4)
fruit
stalk
stem
wood
How do predator-prey interactions occur? (3)
Ambush (sit and wait)
active foraging
phoresy
What are two types of active foraging?
random- non-directional
non-random- directional
What does phoresy mean?
organism is transferred from individual to individual
What orders have great diversity regarding the parasitoid lifestyle?
Diptera
Hymenoptera
How do insects carry out as parasite? (#)
Host specific
host discriminate
hyperparasitism
How does the host get manipulated by a parasite? (2)
as an idiobiont
as a koinobiont
what does idiobiont mean, and an example?
parasitization kills or paralyzes the host
zombie-making: Jewel wasp and cockroaches
What does koinobiont mean, and examples?
a parasitoid lays eggs in a young host, which continue to grow, providing more resources to the young
wasp, polydnavirus, lepidopteran host
What are four ecosystem functions?
productivity
decomposition
energy flow
nutrient-cycling
6 types of ecological associations
competition (both negatively affected)
predation/ parasitism
ammensalism (one is unaffected, other is disadvantaged)
neutralism
commensalism
mutualism
What are the five types of mutualism?
obligate
facultative
trophic
defensive
dispersive
What is an example of obligate mutualism?
Yucca moth being a native pollinator for the Yucca plant
What is an example of facultative mutualism?
bees acting as a general pollinator for.a variety of plants, with plants depending on other insects for pollination
What is an example of trophic mutualism?
Protozoa in termite gut can provide digestion of wood, but protozoa depends on the microbiome of the termite
What is an example of defensive mutualism?
Acacia plan provide shelter for ants to raise brood
ant defends plant from herbivores
What is an example of dispersive mutualism, and what is it specific to?
specific to pollinators
bumblebee receives food from moving pollen or seeds
plants benefit through cross-pollenation and transfer of genes
What are two factors of pollination ecology?
abiotic pollination
biotic pollination
What is biotic pollination?
Coevolution with insects, with plants evolving to specific insects
4 examples of biotic pollination evolution
Dipterphily- flies
coleopeterophily- beetles
hymenopterophily- bees and wasp
mellitophily- bees
lepidopterophily- butterflies
What are 3 characteristics of dipterophily, where is pollen found, and an example?
red to mimic meat
soe produce heat
some produce smells like rotting meat or feces
Sapromyophiles
pollen found inside flower buds
Five characteristics of coleopterophily.
radial symmetry
open flowers during the day
some possess many pollen clusters
moderate nectar producers
flowers often produce many leaves and petals
7 characteristics of hymenopterophily
radial symmetry
open flowers during the day
flowers tend to be every color except red- often blue or purple
can have nectar or pollen
produce oils to attract pollinators
mimics morphology of a female or its scent
vibration may be required to release pollen
five characteristics of lepidopterphily
radial symmetry
flowers open during the day
produce lots of nectar deep in the flower
pollen found above nectar tubes
tubular-shaped
Five factors of population ecology
demography
life histories
behavioral ecology
ecological genetics
population dynamics
What does demographics mean?
study based on the population of species
How do insects affect population ecology? (2)
insects are small and numerous
ecological functions of larvae and adults differ
How do the ecological functions of larvae and adults differ?
larvae are responsible for regulating the population and consumption of resources
adults disperse and reproduce
How do expoinential growth and logistic growth differ, and how does it look?
Why is exponential population growth not favored?
cannot continue indefinitely in a resource-limited environment
What happens when population density approaches carrying capacity? (3)
competition intensifies
mortality increases
birth rate drops
Five factors of carrying capacity
food
water
space
shelter
mating partners
Three types of population growth
logistic/sigmoid curve
boom and burst
oscillation
Seven factors of behavioral ecology in insects
feeding
locomotion
grooming
reproduction
learning
migration
communication
What does diapause mean?
arrested development along with adaptive physiological changes, recommending after particular physical stimuli
differs from hibernation and quiescence (dormancy)
Two factors of diapause, and when it occurs
obligatory vs facultative
length variable
any stage from egg to adult
6 factors effecting diapause
photoperiod
temperature
food quality
moisture
pH
Chemicals
three roles of insect in community ecology
foundation species
keystone species
invasive species
What is an ecological niche? (2)
functional position of an organism in an environment
job species performs within nature, with each species occupying its own niche
What three factors comprises of an ecological niche?
habitat
activity pattern
resources
