Entomology Original PowerPoint by Mark Morgan Modified by Georgia Agriculture Education Curriculum Office November 2005

What is Entomology? the branch of zoology that deals with the study of insects

• On average there are more than 750,000 species of insects that have been identified worldwide.

There are only approximately 10,000 species of insects that are harmful to humans.

Problems Deadly epidemics of the past have been caused by diseased organisms carried by insects. Example: Bubonic Plague epidemic that wiped out the population of Europe in the 14 century was carried by fleas that infested rodents

Classification of insects: Kingdom Phyla Class Order Family Genus Species

The highest level is the Kingdom The most specific is the species level. Organisms are usually classified by the genus and species. This is called a binomial nomenclature.

Six orders of insects: Orthoptera- which includes the grasshopper and locust Hemiptera- which includes the true bugs such as leaf hoppers and plant bugs Lepidoptera – moths and butterflies Homoptera- aphids

Cont’d… Thysanoptera- thrips Coleoptera- which is the largest group of the insect orders this has beetles

How are insects grouped? by the way they feed on plants by their mouth parts

Six Mouth Parts Sponging Rasping- sucking Siphoning Chewing-lapping Piercing- sucking

Insects have no internal skeleton and they rely on their hard outer coating, exoskeleton, which protects their inner organs and supports their body.

Parts of an Insect Head Thorax Abdomen

Head Has a pair of compound eye and two sensory appendages called antennae

Thorax is divided into three segments from which are attached three pairs of legs

Abdomen is attached to the thorax which will contain more segments

Life Cycles Incomplete Metamorphosis Complete Metamorphosis

Incomplete Metamorphosis Eggs to Early nymph (no wings) to late nymph (wings developing) Goes to Adult

Complete Metamorphosis Eggs to Larva to Pupa to Adult

What Is a Larva? It is when the young insect has soft tubular body and looks very much like a worm

What Is the Pupa Stage? The larva matures and will pass through the pupa stages which is usually a relatively dormant stage.

What is DDT? This is a chemical that was discovered by German name Othmar Zeidler in 1874. It is a chemical used to reduce the number of insects in a given area. Example: mosquitoes in the tropics

Integrated Pest Management Cultural methods Insect diseases and predators Pheromones Release of sterile males Insect resistant plants varieties