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Plagues, Pests, and Politics > Week 1 - Success, Mechanics, and Naming of Insects, > Flashcards

Week 1 - Success, Mechanics, and Naming of Insects, Flashcards

1
Q

Success of Insects (Evidence and Reasons): Key Points

A

Evidence: numbers, longevity, diversity
Reasons: physical size, flight, fecundity

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2
Q

Extant

A

Currently living, still surviving

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3
Q

Taxon

A
  1. Any group or rank in a biological classification into which related organisms are classified
  2. A taxonomic unit in the biological system of classification of organisms, for example: a phylum, order, family, genus, or species
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4
Q

Stenothermic

A

Capable of living or growing only within a limited range of temperature

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5
Q

Ectothermic

A

Of or relating to an organism that regulates its body temperature by exchanging heat with its surroundings; cold-blooded.

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6
Q

Success: Numbers

A

More than 5/6th of all known animal species; 10^18 (one million billion) extant; one ton per tropical acre biomass

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7
Q

Success: Longevity (as a taxon)

A

First appeared 400 million years ago (before dinosaurs)

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8
Q

Success: Ecological Diversity

A

Live everywhere but polar ice caps: land, water, high altitude (up to 16500 ft), high/low longitudes, temperatures ranging from -190 deg C to 51 deg C

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9
Q

Success: size

A

Very small (1/5 mm in length to 22”): need less food to grow to maturity; can use very small spaces for protection; can eat very small bits of food;

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10
Q

Apterous Insects

A

Without wings, do not fly

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11
Q

Pterygota Insects

A

Winged, can fly

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12
Q

Success: flight

A

Most insects either fly, or used to fly (fleas have lost their wings); first winged insects 300 million years ago; allows food capture (increased menu options), escape, travel - colonize new areas, reproduction

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13
Q

Success: fecundity (fertility)

A

Short life and generation spans plus high numbers of offspring (average insect lays 100-150 fertilized eggs in lifetime of about 1 month); high reproduction rates controlled by competition, disease, weather, food supplies; very responsive to short-term environmental changes

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14
Q

Mechanics of Insects: Key Points

A 
small size
exoskeleton
body plan
vision
flight
metamorphosis
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15
Q

Metamerism

A

A linear series of body structures fundamentally similar in structure; in animals, metameric segments are called somites or metameres.

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16
Q

Somites/Metameres

A

Individual segments of a metameric structure

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17
Q

Etymology

A

The study of the history of words, origins, and evolution

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18
Q

Mechanics: size

A
  • 70% of all species are between 0.1” and 1.0” (600,000)
  • most ecological niches available are in this size range
  • high surface area to volume ratio
  • flight is dependent on surface area of wings to weight of object to be lifted (weight increases by cube of length, wing surface area only increases by the square of the length)
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19
Q

Mechanics: exoskeleton (functions, composition, characteristics)

A
  • retains water/controls water loss
  • laminated, composed of chitin
  • provides defense against predators
  • lightweight and strong (for muscle attachment)
20
Q

Exoskeleton layers

A
  • Epicuticle (outer layer)
  • Exocuticle (middle layer)
  • Endocuticle (inner layer)
21
Q

Chitin

A
  • material that composes the exoskeleton
  • a nitrogenous polysaccharide (a kind of carbohydrate)
  • formed via tanning process with the protein sclerotin
22
Q

How insects breathe

A
  • Through skin via tubes (tracheae) and ports (spiracles)

* Allows oxygen to flow throughout the whole body

23
Q

Mechanics: body plan (body and legs)

A
  • Segmented body (metamerism)
  • Major divisions are head, thorax, and abdomen
  • 6 legs, each segmented and jointed (coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia (with preapical bristle), spur, tarsus (with 5 tarsomeres/tarsal segments), tarsal claws
24
Q

Mechanics: eyes

A
  • hemispherical, multi-faceted
  • Facets of compound eyes are called “ommatidia”
  • insects see in color
  • vision is poor, polarized for some
  • produce a mosaic image
25
Q

Ommatidium

A

An individual unit in the compound eye, consisting of sensory cells and a lens

26
Q

Mechanics: flight

A
  • wings are independent structures (not modified limbs)
  • made up of braces (veins) and thin cuticle (membrane/exoskeleton) webbing
  • powered by muscles in thorax
27
Q

Numbers of wings

A

0 - apterous groups (mostly ancient groups)
2 - one pair; diptera order (true flies)
4 - two pairs; multiple orders

28
Q

Mechanics: metamorphosis (definition)

A

Growth through shedding exoskeleton

29
Q

Metamorphosis (types)

A

“Many/multiple shapes/forms”

* 2 types: hemimetabolous (direct/incomplete), holometabolous (indirect/complete)

30
Q

Instars

A

Stages between molts

31
Q

Hemimetabolous

A
  • Type of metamorphosis
  • Direct or incomplete
  • Immature stage called nymphs
32
Q

Nymphs

A
  • Youth stage of hemimetabolous metamorphosis
  • Immature insects which look and act like adults
  • Ex: grasshoppers
33
Q

Holometabolous

A
  • Type of metamorphosis
  • Indirect or complete
  • Immature stage called larva
  • Mature stage called imago
  • Follows egg-larva-pupa-adult development
34
Q

Larva

A
  • Youth stage of holometabolous metamorphosis
  • Immature insects which have different form, food choices, and habits than adults
  • (Ex: butterflies?)
35
Q

Naming of Insects: Key Points (5)

A
  • taxonomic hierarchy
  • what is the species definition
  • shared characteristics of arthropods and class Insecta
  • who is Linnaeus
  • what is a scientific name and how is it written
36
Q

Naming: taxonomic hierachy groups

A

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus (capitalized and underlined or italicized)
Species (lower case and underlined or italicized)
– can be followed by an initial of the “authority” (who named it, such as “L.” for Linnaeus)

37
Q

Naming: species definition

A
  • Capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring
  • Reproductively isolated from similar organisms (of different species)
  • Fundamentally of similar structure
38
Q

Naming: insect and arthropod shared characteristics (6)

A
  • Segmented body (2 or 3 divisions)
  • paired, segmented appendages
  • bilateral symmetry
  • possessing exoskeleton
  • open circulatory system
  • paired, ventral nerve cord
39
Q

Naming: 3 main Arthropod Classes

A
  • Crustacea (crabs, crayfish, lobsters)
  • Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks)
  • Insecta
40
Q

“Insecta” etyamology

A

From Latin “insecare”: in = into; secare = to cut or divide

41
Q

“Entamology” etyamology

A

From Greek “entoma” = notched body (segmented/divided body)

42
Q

Naming: Class Insecta shared characteristics (5)

A
  • body w/ 3 distinct segments
  • one pair of antennae
  • 3 pairs of legs
  • often one or two pair of wings
  • “postoral” appendages of the head include: pair of mandibles, pair of maxillae, a hypopharynx, and a labium
43
Q

Naming: Orders of Class Insecta

A
  • 27 Orders (based mostly on wing structure, some mouth structure)
  • 2 Subclasses: Apterygota (wingless - 4 Orders), and Pterygota (winged & secondarily wingless - 23 Orders)
44
Q

Naming: scientific names

A
  • binomial system (2 words)
  • derived from Latin or Greek
  • universally accepted
45
Q

Theophrastus

A

Greek (287 BC) who devised first systematic naming of classifications: “the father of taxonomy”

46
Q

Naming: Carolus Linnaeus

A
  • Born 1701 in Sweden
  • Wrote “Systema Naturae” (1736) which established the scientific naming convention used still today
  • Identified ~2000 insect species; most identification characteristics were based on wing venation patterns

Plagues, Pests, and Politics (9 decks)

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