Insect Taxonomic Diversity

By Jaida sellers

Insect Orders

Ephemeroptera Orthoptera Diptera

Odonata Phasmida Siphonoptera

Blattaria Hemiptera Mantodea

Isoptera Coleoptera Plecoptera

Dermatptera Lepidoptera

Ephemeropetra

The Ephemeroptera are thought to have evolved towards the end of the Carboniferous.

Mayfly nymphs

Mayfly nymphs are mainly herbivorous (some are carnivorous or even cannibalistic) feeding off algae and plant debris. They breathe though a series of tracheal gills, usually seven pairs, growing out of the side of their abdomen - see the drawings below.

Mayfly nymphs spend their lives in water, usually preferring clean water, so are rarely found in polluted waterways. So their presence is usually an indicator of relatively unpolluted water. The nymphs live in the mud or among water plants. Ephemerella sp. (left) are usually found creeping along the mud or on stream and river beds, and occasionally cover themselves with debris.

Odonata

Dragonflies and damselflies, like cockroaches, are one of the oldest types of insects. The only thing that has changed about dragonflies and damselflies, known as "Odonata," are their size. In prehistoric times, when dinosaurs could be found roaming the earth, odonata were as big as hawks. Odonate fossils have been discovered in Kansas, Siberia, and many other parts of the world. They had wingspans of about thirty inches and were the largest insects to ever live.-- (Nature Sketches)

Dragonflies and damselflies are fairly large flying insects. They are often very colorful and are carnivorous - they hunt and eat meat. Even though they can fly, odonates are considered aquatic insects because they live near fresh water and their larvae (young form) actually live in water. Dragonflies have been an extremely popular subject of folklore in many cultures, most notably Japan. In Europe they have been regarded as dangerous, but they neither sting nor bite and are in fact completely harmless to humans. Actually, odonates are in some ways beneficial as predators because they can be used to control pests.

Blattaria

Members of this order include: cockroaches.

Etymology: Blattaria comes from the Latin blatta, which simply means cockroach.

General characteristics: • quick-moving• dorsoventrally flattened body• large shield-like pronotum that extends forward to at least partially cover the head• two pairs of wings (in some species, the wings are small)• leathery, membranous wings• chewing mouthparts• two cerci• hemimetabolous metamorphosis (egg — nymph — adult)

Number of species worldwide: about 4,000

Basic ecology: Cockroaches are generally insects of the darkness. They are negatively phototactic, which means that they are repelled by light, so they spend most of their time either under leaf litter, beneath logs or in other dark places during the day. They become active at night. If you have cockroaches in your house, you are most likely to see them scurrying for cover when you flip on a light at night. Cockroaches are quick, and because of their dorsoventrally flattened bodies, they can fit into seemingly impossibly narrow crevices and cracks. As anyone who has stepped on one can attest, their flattened bodies also make them somewhat resistant to squashing.

Isoptera

Life History & Ecology

The termites are another group of insects that appear to be closely related to cockroaches. This conclusion is based on behavioral and ecological similarities between termites and wood roaches

(members of the family Cryptocercidae). These cockroaches live in fallen timber on the forest floor, feeding on wood fibers which are then digested by symbiotic microorganisms within their digestive

systems. They live in small family groups where each female provides care for her young offspring. Termites and wood roaches are thought to be close relatives because they both occupy similar habitats,

share the same type of food resources, have the same intestinal symbionts, and provide care for their offspring.

Phasmida

The Phasmatodea are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects, walking sticks or stick-bugs, phasmids, ghost insects and leaf inseThe order Phasmida is included in the Orthopteroid superorder which includes orthoptera (grasshoppers), mantodea (mantids), and blattodea (cockroaches).

There are some 3000 described species of phasmids of which 30 are found in North America.

Six families make up the order Phasmida:

Timemidae--timemid sticks

Pseudophasmatidae--striped sticks

Heteronemiidae--common sticks

Phasmatidae--winged sticks

Phylliidae--leaf and tooth-bearing sticks

Bacillidae--?? cts.

HemipteraHemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs, comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, Other characeristics of Hemiptera include:

•piercing-sucking mouth parts

•Mouth part in form of segmented beak arising from front part of the head and extending back along the ventral side of the body at times as far as the base of the hind legs

•Antennae are fairly long and contain four to five segments

•Compound eyes are usually well developed

•Many have glands secreting unpleasant odor

•Well developed wings in general

•Some are wingless

•Eggs cases may be layed on plants or sometimes just dropped

•Simple metamorphosis with mostly five nymphal instars

Coleoptera

Beetles are a group of insects which are biologically classified in the order Coleoptera. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek κολεός, koleos, meaning "sheath"; and πτερόν, pteron, meaning "wing", thus "sheathed wing", because most beetles have ... Coleoptera (beetles and weevils) is the largest order in the class Insecta. As adults, most beetles have a hard, dense exoskeleton that covers and protects most of their body surface. The front wings, known as elytra, are just as hard as the rest of the exoskeleton. They fold down over the abdomen and serve as protective covers for the large, membranous hind wings. At rest, both elytra meet along the middle of the back, forming a straight line that is probably the most distinctive characteristics of the order. During flight, the elytra are held out to the sides of the body where they provide a certain amount of aerodynamic stability

Lepidoptera

The Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. 180,000 species of Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10% of the total described species of living organisms.

Diptera

True flies are insects of the order Diptera. The most obvious distinction from other orders of insects is that a typical fly possesses a pair of flight wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax..

Although a lot of flying insects are referred to as "flies" -- butterflies, dragonflies, mayflies, and so on -- the true flies belong to the Diptera. The name means "two wings," and true flies bear only one pair of functional wings. The reduced remnants of the second pair of wings are known as halteres, and seem to function as stabilizers or as airspeed detectors. Dipterans also have large eyes, and may have either long antennae (Nematocera) or short antennae (Brachycera).

Siphonaptera

As adults, all fleas are blood-sucking external parasites. Most species feed on mammals, although a few (less than 10%) live on birds. Only adult fleas inhabit the host's body and feed on its blood. They are active insects with a hard exoskeleton, strong hind legs adapted for jumping, and a laterally flattened body that can move easily within the host's fur or feathers. Unlike lice, most fleas spend a considerable amount of time away from their host. Adults may live for a year or more and can survive for weeks or months without a blood meal.

Hymenoptera

The Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. Over 150,000 species are recognized, with many more remaining to be described.

Hymenopterans, the "membrane-winged" insects, include bees, ants, and a large number of other insect taxa collectively referred to as wasps. The Hymenoptera include famous examples of social insects, such as honeybees and true ants; these insects have developed regimented social systems in which members are divided into worker, drone, and queen castes. Such social hymenoptera may live together in nests or hives of many thousands of individuals, all descended form a single queen. Not all hymenoptera are social, however; many live a solitary life, coming together only for a brief mating.

Mantodea

Mantodea is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species and about 430 genera in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae. Mantids have elongate bodies that are specialized for a predatory lifestyle: long front legs with spines for catching and holding prey, a head that can turn from side to side, and cryptic coloration for hiding in foliage or flowers. Mantids are most abundant and most diverse in the tropics; there are only 5 species commonly collected in the United States and 3 of these have been imported from abroad.

Plecoptera

The Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica.

Stoneflies are generally regarded as the earliest group of Neoptera. They probably represent an evolutionary "dead end" that diverged well over 300 million years ago. Immature stoneflies are aquatic nymphs (naiads). They usually live beneath stones in fast-moving, well-aerated water

The End