The insects Portal
Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. (Full article...)
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Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that survive as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by consuming blood, or hematophagy, from their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about 3 millimetres (1⁄8 inch) long, are usually brown, and have bodies that are "flattened" sideways or narrow, enabling them to move through their host's fur or feathers. They lack wings, but have strong claws preventing them from being dislodged, mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood, and hind legs extremely well adapted for jumping. They are able to leap a distance of some 50 times their body length, a feat second only to jumps made by another group of insects, the superfamily of froghoppers. Flea larvae are worm-like with no limbs; they have chewing mouthparts and feed on organic debris left on their host's skin.
Genetic evidence indicates that fleas are a specialised lineage of parasitic scorpionflies sensu lato, most closely related to Nannochoristidae. The earliest known fleas are known from the Middle Jurassic, though modern looking forms do not appear until the Cenozoic. Fleas likely originated on mammals before later parasitising birds. Each species of flea is more or less a specialist with respect to its host animal species: many species never breed on any other host, though some are less selective. Some families of fleas are exclusive to a single host group; for example, the Malacopsyllidae are found only on armadillos, the Ischnopsyllidae only on bats, and the Chimaeropsyllidae only on elephant shrews. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that molecular phylogenetics suggests that Pthirus gorillae jumped from gorillas to early humans about 3.3 million years ago and speciated into the present day pubic louse?
- ... that Austroplatypus incompertus forms colonies in the heartwood of some Eucalyptus trees and was the first beetle recognized as eusocial?
- ... that Mimoides phaon was the first swallowtail butterfly of the genus Mimoides to stray into the United States?
- ... that the "orchid dupe wasp", Lissopimpla excelsa, ejaculates visible amounts of semen as it tries to copulate with flowers of the leafless-, large- and tartan- tongue orchids, which it mistakes for a female wasp?
- ... that the oriental mole cricket, Gryllotalpa orientalis, can not only dig a burrow a metre deep but can also swim?
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Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)
Evolution has produced astonishing variety in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Leg of a trilobite, an early arthropod. The internal branch made of endites is at the top; the smaller external branch made of exites is below. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)
Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the centre (A), to the lapping type (B) of a bee, the siphoning type (C) of a butterfly and the sucking type (D) of a female mosquito.
Legend: a - antennae
c - compound eye
lb - labium
lr - labrum
md - mandibles
mx - maxillae (from Insect morphology)
A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the Palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Head of Orthoptera, Acrididae. a:antenna; b:ocelli; c:vertex; d:compound eye; e:occiput; f:gena; g:pleurostoma; h:mandible; i:labial palp; j:maxillary palps; k:maxilla; l:labrum; m:clypeus; n:frons (from Insect morphology)
Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Insect morphology
Legend of body parts
Tagmata: A - Head, B - Thorax, C - Abdomen.(from Insect morphology)- antenna
- ocelli (lower)
- ocelli (upper)
- compound eye
- brain (cerebral ganglia)
- prothorax
- dorsal blood vessel
- tracheal tubes (trunk with spiracle)
- mesothorax
- metathorax
- forewing
- hindwing
- mid-gut (stomach)
- dorsal tube (heart)
- ovary
- hind-gut (intestine, rectum & anus)
- anus
- oviduct
- nerve cord (abdominal ganglia)
- Malpighian tubes
- tarsal pads
- claws
- tarsus
- tibia
- femur
- trochanter
- fore-gut (crop, gizzard)
- thoracic ganglion
- coxa
- salivary gland
- subesophageal ganglion
- mouthparts
Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)
The female genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
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Panorpa communis, the common scorpionfly (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), is a species of scorpionfly native to Western Europe.
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