Stone Lab: Insect Morphology And Behavior Flashcards
What are characteristics of Arthropoda?
They have many jointed legs, exoskeleton, and bilateral symmetry.
What are characteristics of hexapods?
They have an exoskeleton, three pairs of legs, pair of antennae on head, body segments (head, thorax and abdomen), and most have two pairs of wings.
Where do wings and legs attach in Arthropoda?
To the insects thorax.
How do insects impact negatively?
They are agricultural pests, forest pests, structural pests, vectors for human and animal diseases, and ectoparasites for humans.
How do insects impact positively?
They are detritivores, pollinators, soil builders, and indicators of good water quality.
What are insect sensory organs?
Antennae, ocelli, and compound eyes. Setae can connect to sensory cells.
What are the three main mouth parts of insects?
Mandibles, maxilla, and Labium.
What role do mandibles play?
They are involved in chewing, grasping, and cutting.
What role do maxilla play?
They are for tasting or manipulating food.
What role do Labium play?
They help with food manipulation.
What are the two types of mouth parts?
Mandibulate are chewing mouth parts, while Haustellate are sucking mouth parts.
What are the three types of chewing insects?
Chewing (grasshoppers), chewing-lapping (honey bee), and chewing-filter feeder (mosquitoes).
What are the two types of Haustellate insects?
Piercing-sucking (mosquito, horse fly, flea) and non-piercing (some flies, butterflies and moths).
How have Diptera mouth parts been modified?
They have a long labrum and loss of mandibles and maxilla.
How have Lepidoptera mouth parts been modified?
They have lost mandibles and labium. They have modified maxillae.
What are the parts of an insect’s leg?
Trochantin, coxa , trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus and tarsal claws.
What term describes legs modified for jumping?
Saltatorial
What terms describes legs modified for climbing or clinging?
Scansorial
What term describes legs modified for swimming?
Natatorial
What term describes legs modified for running?
Cursorial
What term describes legs modified for grasping?
Raptorial
What term describes legs modified for digging or burrowing?
Fossorial
What are the three sections of an insect’s digestive system?
Foregut, mid-gut, and hind gut
What structures form an insect’s foregut?
Pharynx, esophagus, crop, and proventriculus.
What is the function of the crop?
The crop is predigestion storage for food.
What is the function of the proventriculus?
It acts to break down food like a gizzard.
What functions occur in the mid-gut?
Digestion and nutrient absorption.
What is the function of the Caeca?
The caeca increase surface area for food absorption.
What functions occur in the hind gut?
Water and salt reabsorption and nitrogen compound excretion.
What structures act as an insect’s heart and aorta?
Dorsal vessels
How does hemolymph circulate in an insect?
Dorsal to ventral, then ventral to dorsal.
What are properties of hemolymph?
Transport and storage of sugars, amino acids and water, hydraulic pressure, wound healing and internal defense.
What structures make up an insect’s excretory system?
Malphighian tubules, rectum and colon.
What is the function of malphighian tubules?
They remove nitrogen waste and maintain salt and water balance.
What are the tracheal system components?
Spiracles, trachea, air sacs and tracheoles.
What are spiracles?
Small openings (pores) along the insect’s abdomen that facilitate gas exchange.
What are taenidia?
They are spiral thickenings that prevent tracheal system collapse.
How do insects breath?
Oxygen is delivered through trachea. Breathing is through incidental body movement or opening/closing of spiracles.
How do insects exhale?
They release carbon dioxide through the tracheal system and cuticle.
What are the two types of respiration of aquatic insects?
They have gaseous respiration (oxygen enters tracheal system as a gas) and aqueous respiration (oxygen enters tracheal system in solution).
What methods do aquatic insects use for gaseous respiration?
Tubes are a direct link to the atmosphere, bubbles act like temporary gills that need nitrogen replenishment, and plastrons are permanent physical gills.
Although plants have poor nitrogen nutritional value compared to animals, what parts of plants can be consumed?
Leaves, twigs, bark, wood (borers), and roots.
What are the three basic categories of insect plant feeding?
Parasitic (sap or small amounts of tissue), grazing (large amounts of tissue), and predatory (insect kills plant).
What are the three feeding types for plant feeding insects?
Piercing-sucking (sap from phloem or xylem), rasping-sucking (scrape surface or interior of plant), and chewing (bite off large pieces of plant tissue).
What are the three types of external insect plant feeders?
Exoparasites, grazers, and seed predators.
What are four types of internal insect plant feeders?
Endoparasites (gall makers), miners (form tunnels between the upper and lower epidermis), borers (tunnel within and feed on tissues) and seed predators.
Define polyphagy
Insects that eat many kinds of plants
Define Oligophagy
Insects that eat species from the same family or genus
Define monophagy
Insects that eat only a specific species
What are advantages of oligophagy and monophagy?
Insects can easily detect food species, they have specific detoxification systems (to overcome plant defenses), and they efficiently use the plant.
What are advantages of Polyphagy?
They have more food options, they search less for food, and they resist extinction better because they are not food species specific.
What are some orders that participate in pollination?
Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera
What benefits do plants receive from pollination?
Dioecious plants need a pollinator because separate male and female plants and insects transfer pollen between plants.
What benefits do insects receive from plants?
Plant provides nectar (sugar) and excess pollen
What are some plant traits that facilitate pollination?
Nectar, sticky pollen, and synamones (fragrance)
How do plants use color to facilitate pollination?
Plants use color on carpels, stamens, petals, sepals and leaves to attract pollinators and direct them to the proper structures.
What name is given to the pollen packet of some plants?
Pollinia (it is sticky or contains attachment devices).
What plant structure can serve as nectar guides?
Petal shape or coloration (including UV patterns)
What are some physical structures of plants that facilitate pollination?
Landing platforms, trips to release pollen, traps, and some structures for specific pollinators.
What structures are modified on insects to facilitate pollination?
Leg traps and crops
Define polylexy
Insect pollinates many different species of plants
Define oligiolexy
Insect pollinates plants within a family of plants
Define monocle you
Insect pollinates a specific species
What is the difference between nectar thieves and nectar robbers?
Nectar thieves obtain nectar without holes in the flowers, whereas nectar robbers create a hole in the flower to access nectar.
What are some methods by which a plant attracts an insect by “false advertising?”
The odors of excrement or carrion and decoy flowers (shape, appearance or fragrance)
What is myrmecochory?
Method of seed dispersal by ants whereby the ant brings the seed back to its colony. The ant consumes the elaiosomes, and the seed itself is buried.
What is a myrmecophyte?
A plant with a close relationship to ants.
Define phytotelmata
Water bodies held by terrestrial plants
What are examples of social insects?
Ants, some bees, some wasps, and all termites.
What are examples of parental care or lack of care?
Walking sticks just drop their eggs randomly, some true bugs provide protection for eggs or larvae, and some insects provide a good nest or food source for larvae.
According to Michener-Wilson, what is a communal insect?
An insect that aggregates (shares nest but does own work)
According to Michener-Wilson, what is a quasisocial insect?
An insect with both adult aggregation and parent/offspring aggregation.
According to Michener-Wilson, what is a semisocial insect?
An insect that not only aggregates, but has a reproductive division of labor (dominance interactions).
According to Michener-Wilson, what is a eusocial insect?
An insect with overlapping generations and cooperative brood care.
What are characteristics of primitive eusocial colonies?
The queen is larger (10%), dominance interactions occur, and the males demonstrate individual recognition.
What are characteristics of advanced eusocial colonies?
Usually no physical dominance after the queen is established, the workers are sterile females (no wings) and the males are sperm donors (winged).
Describe the reproductive role of the queen.
The virgin queen mates to become a fertilized queen. She stores sperm for the remainder of her lifetime (spermatheca). She determines the sex of her colony with fertilized females and underutilized males.
What is the social structure of advanced eusocial colonies?
The queen, the minor workers, the soldiers/major workers, and the males.
How do colonies exhibit self-organization?
The workers are “hard wired” for behavior to accomplish necessary tasks.
Why is self-organization an admirable trait?
Insects have existed for over 50 million years, they move more earth than earthworms, 75% of plants rely on social insects for pollination, 50% of woodland flower seeds are planted by ants, and honey bees support a $15 billion industry.
What is temporary social parasitism?
The parasite queen enters the host colony, accepts host workers through aggression or conciliation, and kills the host queen. This results in a temporary mixed colony.
What is piracy social parasitism?
The parasitic queen steals workers from another species and brings them back to maintain the parasite’s colony.
What is facultative piracy?
The queen brings workers from another species to supplement her colony’s caste system.
What is obligate piracy?
The host brood works for the parasitic queen.
What is inquilinism?
It is an extreme form of piracy whereby the queen brings back workers from another species because her own lacks a worker caste.
