Week 5 - Insect Communication and Control

Question 1

What insect order uses bioluminescence?

Answer 1

Coleoptera (beetles)

Question 2

Bioluminescence is used for? (by fireflies, by glow worms)

Answer 2

Fireflies - Sexual communication

Glow worms - Predation

Question 3

% of firefly’s light given as light (vs heat)

Answer 3

Nearly 100%

Question 4

Genus Photuris entymology

Answer 4

“Tail light” (photos = light; ouron = tail)

Question 5

Genus Photinus entymology

Answer 5

“Little tail light” (diminutive form)

Question 6

Synchronous-Aggregate Flashing (what is it, purpose)

Answer 6

Multiple individuals will flash in unison or generally in groups for the purpose of optimizing energy use

Question 7

Are glow worms beetles or flies?

Answer 7

Some are the larvae of beetles, some the larvae of flies - only produce light as larvae

Question 8

Phengodidae

Answer 8

Family of beetle glow worms (Species Zarhipis integripennis)

• Predator of millipedes
• Light from each body segment
• Bioluminescence from embryo-larva-larvaform adult females (males do not glow)

Question 9

Lampyridae

Answer 9

Family of beetle glow worms (Species Pterotus obscuripennis)

• predator of snails
• light from a terminal body segment
• Bioluminescence from embryo-larva-larvaform adult females (males do not glow)

Question 10

Which order is known best for “singing”?

Answer 10

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)

Question 11

Other orders that make sound?

Answer 11

Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Isoptera

Question 12

Functions of acoustic behavior

Answer 12

• Reproduction (mate attraction, or territorial display)
• Repellency (hissing cockroaches)
• Defense alarm (termites)
• Food gathering (parasitism)

Question 13

Mechanism for sound - Stridulation

Answer 13

Rubbing of one body part against another (grasshoppers, beetles, etc.)

Question 14

Mechanism for sound - Vibration

Answer 14

• Vibration of special membranes - tymbals (cicadas)

* Vibration of wings or thorax (incidental sounds)

Question 15

Mechanism for sound - Striking

Answer 15

Striking against a substrate (damp wood termites)

Question 16

Mechanism for sound - Ejection of Air

Answer 16

Hissing cockroach

Question 17

Temporal song separation (when do singers sing?)

Answer 17

• Night (katydids)
• Day (grasshoppers)
• Day or Night (crickets)

Question 18

Chorus singers

Answer 18

More than one individual singing simultaneously in unison or alternating

Question 19

Bio-control

Answer 19

The use of a pest insect’s natural insect enemies for its control.

Question 20

Two types (classes) of bio-control insects

Answer 20

• Predators

* Parasitoids

Question 21

Examples (2) of predator insects

Answer 21

• Ladybird beetle adults and larve
• Asian weaver ants
• Lacewings

Question 22

Earliest known insect used as bio-control agent

Answer 22

Asian weaver ant

Question 23

Examples of parasitoid insects

Answer 23

• Fly (single larvae develops inside the host)
• Wasp (lays multiple eggs inside bee larvae)
• Velvet ants (wingless wasps)

Question 24

Polyembryony

Answer 24

Laying multiple eggs by a parasitoid insect within its host

Question 25

Advantages of Biological Control

Answer 25

• Self-perpetuating
• Pest specific
• Density dependent
• Cost effective
• Environmentally compatible

Question 26

Density dependence

Answer 26

As the pest population increases, the biological control species most likely increases as well

Question 27

Constraints of Biological Control

Answer 27

• Not immediately effective (can take years)
• Not necessarily eradicative (not necessarily a bad thing)
• Bio-control agents unknown for many species
• Doesn’t always work – One out of 4 attempts have been successful (better than some pest development trials)

Question 28

What makes an effective bio-control agent?

Answer 28

• Very prey-specific
• Needs to develop own population quickly with respect to the prey species (mulivoltine)
• Well adapted to the environment of pest species
• Needs to have an excellent searching ability

Question 29

What is Classical Biological Control?

Answer 29

Import an exotic natural enemy into a new environment where the pest is
(100 success in past 100 years)

Question 30

What is the process for Classical Biological Control?

Answer 30

• foreign exploration
• quarantine processing
• mass propagation
• field colonization (release)
• evaluation of impact

Question 31

Example of insect that controls weeds

Answer 31

Cinnabar moth

Question 32

Biocontrol agents that control tansy

Answer 32

• Cinnabar moth

* Tansy ragwort flea beetle (prevents plants from flowering through feeding, introduced 1969)

Question 33

Alternative biocontrol agents (insect pathogens)

Answer 33

• Viruses (Japanese Beetle milky disease)
• Bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis)
• Microsporidians (against grasshoppers)
• Entomopathogenic fungi
• Entomopathogenic nematodes

Question 34

Alternative biocontrol agents (chemicals)

Answer 34

• Milky Spore powder attacks larvae stage of Japanese Beetles

Question 35

Process to develop insect pathogens

Answer 35

Find diseased larvae, bring into lab to rear both larvae and pathogen and re-release the pathogen.