Insect Taxonomic Diversity BY: HANNAH SUTTON ZOOLOGY 5 TH PERIOD

CONTENTS  Ephemeroptera  Odonata  Blattaria  Isoptera  Dermatptera  Orthroptera  Phasmida  Hemiptera  Coleoptera  Lepidoptera  Diptera  Siphonoptera  Hymenoptera  Mantodea  Plecoptera

Ephemeroptera  Ephemeroptera : mayflies  Mayflies are small to medium sized insects with an average wingspan up to 15 millimetres. As their name suggests, mayflies have only a short adult life ranging from a few hours up to a day or two depending on the species.  2 pair of membranous wings  Hind wings much smaller than the forewings  Short, fine antennae  Mandibulate mouthparts

Odonata  Odonata is an order of carnivorous insects, encompassing dragonflies (Anisoptera/Epiprocta) and damselflies (Zygoptera).  These insects characteristically have large rounded heads covered mostly by well-developed, compound eyes, legs that facilitate catching prey in flight, two pairs of long, transparent wings that move independently, and elongated abdomens. They have three ocelli and short antennae. The mouthparts are on the underside of the head and include simple chewing mandibles in the adult.

Blattaria  Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, sometimes also called Blattaria, of which about 30 species out of 4,600 total are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests.  eggs usually contained in ootheca  leathery forewings.  male genitalia asymmetrical  cerci variable, with one or more segments

Isoptera  Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera but are now accepted as the infraorder Isoptera, of the cockroach order Blattodea.  As eusocial insects, termites live in colonies. A typical colony contains nymphs, workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both sexes, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens.

Dermatptera  Earwigs have slender flattened body, bead-like antennae, and are easily recognized by the pair of large pincers (cerci) at the tip of the abdomen. Adult males have 10 abdominal tergites; females, 8. Some are wingless, but in most the fore wings are represented by short leathery covers called tegmina, under which the hind wings (if present) fold in a unique fan-like fashion leaving a chitinized triangular part exposed.

Orthoptera  Orthoptera is an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets, cave crickets, Jerusalem crickets, katydids, weta, lubber, Acrida, and locust s. Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps. These organisms use vibrations to locate other individuals.

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 insects. The ordinal name is derived from the Ancient Greek φάσμα phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom, and refers to the resemblance of many species to sticks or leaves. Their natural camouflage can make them extremely difficult to spot.

Hemiptera  Hemiptera 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, and others. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. Sometimes, the name true bugs is applied more narrowly still to insects of the suborder Heteroptera only.

Coleoptera  The Coleoptera order of insects is commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek κολεός, koleos, meaning "sheath"; and πτερόν, pteron, meaning "wing", thus "sheathed wing", because most beetles have two pairs of wings, the front pair, the "elytra", being hardened and thickened into a shell-like protection for the rear pair and the beetle's abdomen.

Lepidoptera  Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution.

Diptera  True flies are insects of the order Diptera. Their 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.

Siphonaptera  Fleas are the insects forming the order Siphonaptera. They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds.

Hymenoptera  The Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. The hind wings are connected to the fore wings by a series of hooks called hamuli.  Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or otherwise inaccessible places. The ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism, they have a worm- like larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature.

Mantodea  Mantodea (or mantises, mantes ) is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species and about 430 genera in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats.  The name mantid refers only to members of the family Mantidae. The other common name, often applied to any species in the order, is " praying mantis ", because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore- limbs, although the eggcorn "preying mantis" is sometimes used in reference to their predatory habits. In Europe and other regions, however, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa.

Plecoptera  The Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the most primitive groups of Neoptera, with close relatives identified from the Carboniferous and Lower Permian geological periods, while true stoneflies are known from fossils only a bit younger. The modern diversity, however, apparently is of Mesozoic origin.  All species of Plecoptera are intolerant of water pollution, and their presence in a stream or still water is usually an indicator of good or excellent water quality.

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