Entomology

Original PowerPoint by Mark Morgan Modified by Georgia Agriculture Education Curriculum Office

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

Contd
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 Chewing 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