week 2 Flashcards
what makes insects so dominant today
numerical dominance, wide distribution, reproductive potential, long evolutionary history
how many species are insects
53%
how many animals are insects
75%
how many described insect species
1 mil
how many estimated insect species
2-10 mil
how many ants per person
1.6 mil
how many locusts in swarm
1 bil
how much more insect biomass than vertebrate in brazilian rainforest
9 times more
1 out of how many animal species is a beetle
4
what is most diverse family of animals
rove beetles
how many rove beetle species
61000
what percent of all biomass is arthropods
42%
how many total insects
10 quintillion
5 hospitibal places insects found
Lightless caves
Petroleum fields
Floating algal mats in ocean
40 species of flies in antarctica
Hot springs
what environment doesn’t contain many insects
ocean
what is interesting about termite queen
30000 eggs/day
live 12-20 yrs
1 pair of house flies would result in how many after 5 months
190 quintillion
single aphid from march to august would result in how much biomass
800 million tons
how long insects been around
400 mil years
why have insects been so successful over history
small size, flight, exoskeleton
what do insects decompose
plants, other organic matter, dead bodies, feces
how is insect decomposition beneficial
improves soil condition, animal decomp used in forensic investigations
animals (especially insects) responsible for pollinating what percent of wild flowering plants
80%
global insect pollination value for 100 most important commodity crops how much per year
250 bil
who eats insects
animals in almost all terrestrial and freshwater aquatic ecosystems ( including humans)
what is biomimetic technology
Incorporating insect builds in our own technology
what are some natural products insects make
Silk
Honey
Beeswax
Propolis
Royal jelly
Venom
Medicinal value
Dyes
Shellac
Bioactive compounds
Resource insects
why are insects good research subjects
Insects small
-Easy to maintain
High reproductive rates
what areas of research are insects used in
Bioindicators
Ecology
Evolution
Toxicology
Genetics
Physiology
what makes an insect a pest
Nuisances of humans, pets and livestock
Damage crops, forests, human homes/products/possessions
Transmit disease
what percent of insects are pests
1%
what percent of insects serious pests
0.1%
what can insects destroy / be pests to
agriculture and forestry
-Can destroy plant and fruit and transfer disease
Veterinary pests and human pests
Damage to buildings, stored food, fiber, manufactured products
what insects are pests of agriculture and forestry
Planthopper
Aphids
Wheat midge
Forest tent caterpillar
what are some Veterinary pests and human pests
Stable fly
Mosquito
Tick
Wasp
what are 2 types of pest control
Natural predators and parasitoids
insecticide
insect Decomposition of plant
and other organic
matter is a vitally
important _____
ecosystem service
what is a parasitoid
insects who lay eggs inside of other insects which eventually kill the insect
why is taxonomy important
forms foundation of all other studies of biology
what is goal of taxonomists
knowing everything about data on species characteristics, natural history and nomenclature
Gather as much info on their own species as possible
what is a species concept
philosophical idea of What a species is
what is the biological species concept
If 2 individual in a population can mate and produce same offspring, they are species
Only works for sexual species
what is species delimitation
Science of recognizing species
Finding boundaries of where one species ends and one begins
what is species identification (specimen identification)
Assigning specimens/individuals to an existing species name
Routine identification of specimens
3 types of new species
new to us - found
new to the world - evolved
species concepts (what is a species)
how do we classify insects and who does this
Classify them into increasingly specific groups
taxonomists do it
some important insect grouping names
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
what type of insect grouping name always ends in oidea
Superfamily
what type of insect grouping name always ends in idae
family
what type of insect grouping name always ends in inae
subfamily
what type of insect grouping name always ends in ini
tribe
why should you use caution with common insect names
Don’t always have the same rules as scientific names
Can talk about 2 different species with same name
Names like fly and bug are used for insects in multiple orders
Not all common names neutral (may be offensive)
how many words do most common family names have
2 words
what does the common name containing a seperated common order name (eg. house fly) indicate about the insect
the insect is actually in that order
what is the most under documented type of living things based on how many species they have
insects
what do taxonomists keep track of
Specimens
-Maintenance of collection (historical record of biodiversity) typically role of taxonomists
Characteristics
-Study and comparison of species traits’
Literature
-Taxonomists read and keep track of old literature other biologists ignore
-Need to understand how our understanding of species changed over time
Names
-Taxonomists keep track of nomenclature, to ensure stable system of communication
What is a taxonomists vast knowledge about a type of insect useful for
Invasive species identification
Species conservation
- knowing where insects are more widely distributed
agriculture
- need to distinguish pests and predators
medicine
- need to know what bit you and whats harmful
where to find new species
Can go to remote areas and tropical rainforests
-Almost certain to find new species
Look closer to home
-Many undescribed species everywhere
Insect fossils and amber
what are some basic tools for collecting insects
sweeping nets
aspirators
vile
what are some tools for catching aquatic insects
Dip nets
D-nets
Dump into tray
Use pipettes, forceps to extract samples
name 4 methods of collecting insects
Hand collecting
Beat sheeting
malaise trap
pitfall traps
cores and funnel traps
pan traps
black lighting
canopy fogging
emergence traps
trap nests
what is beat sheeting
White or black depending on insect you want
Hit things and insects drop on sheet
what is malaise trap
Flying insects
Insects hit panel and fly up into container
Kind of like tent
what is pitfall trap
catches Ground crawling insects and arthropods
Hole with little plastic cup and collection inside
Rain cover
what are core and funnel traps
catches Soil fauna
Throw soil and leaves into trap
Heat on top
Insects funnelled into bottom trap
what are pan traps
Pan with water
insects go in
good for bottom of malaise trap
why is black light useful for finding insects
White sheet behind
Scorpions florece
what are trap nests
For bees and wasps
Let insects occupy themselves
good for finding parasites
what is Canopy fogging
Beat net but with insecticide
good for getting insects high in trees
can you find insects in snow
yes
what are Emergence traps
funnel above water or soil
funnels insects emerging from water or soil into collection
do people identify all the insects the collect? where do they go?
no, Not enough time or expertise
go into museums
why are museum collections important
Reference collection
-Collection of biodiversity
-Repository for types
Teaching collection
Historical record
Wealth of undescribed species
how do you know a species is undescribed
Expertise in taxon
-Need to know everything that is old
Taxonomic characters
Literature search
what taxonomic characters do you use to know an insect is new
Morphological
-Different external or internal characters
Behavioral
-Eg. Different phenology, Different host
Genetic
-Different sequences
what literature do you search to identify new species
Biodiversity heritage library
Greatly facilitated by databases
-taxapad, universal chalcidoidea database
what are 2 types of key shape whats better
Fan shaped (best)
Comb shaped
whats in a species description
Diagnosis
Synonyms
Material examined
Description
Physical description
Distribution
Variation
Etymology
Images & illustrations
Key to species
who gets to name new species and what names can you use
Author of paper
Some rules, mostly based on good taste
Can’t use offensive name
