... 25
2 The importance, diversity, and conservation of insects
Curiosity alone concerning the identities and lifestyles
of the fellow inhabitants of our planet justifies the study
of insects. Some of ... phytophagous insects.
Another explanation for the high species numbers of
insects is the role of sexual selection in the diversifica-
tion of many insects. T...
... 2 The importance, diversity, and conservation of insects
Curiosity alone concerning the identities and lifestyles
of the fellow inhabitants of our planet justifies the study
of insects. Some of ... First,
we outline the field of entomology and the role of ento-
mologists, and then introduce the ecological functions
of insects. Next, we explore insect divers...
... ii
Third Edition
The Insects
An Outline of Entomology
P.J. Gullan and P.S. Cranston
Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, USA
With illustrations by
K. Hansen McInnes
TIA01 ... namely the ecology of
ground-dwelling, aquatic and plant-feeding insects,
and the behaviours of sociality, predation and para-
sitism, and defence. Finally, aspects of m...
... First,
we outline the field of entomology and the role of ento-
mologists, and then introduce the ecological functions
of insects. Next, we explore insect diversity, and then
discuss how we name and ... past and some
continuing cultural and economic aspects of insects,
their aesthetic and tourism appeal, and their import-
ance as foods for humans and animals. We conclude
w...
... lip” (Fig. 2.10).
The labrum forms the roof of the preoral cavity
and mouth (Fig. 3.14) and covers the base of the
mandibles; it may be formed from fusion of parts of a
pair of ancestral appendages. ... crickets, and earwigs,
the mouthparts are of a biting and chewing type
(mandibulate) and resemble the probable basic design
of ancestral pterygote insects more c...
... to be the primary
mechanism for the movement of gases in the tracheae
and is always the sole mode of gas exchange at the
tissues. The efficiency of diffusion is related to the dis-
tance of diffusion ... circulation, the
tracheal system and gas exchange, the gut and diges-
tion, the fat body, nutrition and microorganisms, the
excretory system and waste disposal,...
... membrane, such that one half closely
connects with the anterior and the other half with
the posterior tympanal membrane. The primary route
of sound to the tympanal organ is usually from the
acoustic ... organ
in the tibia approximates the function of a horn and
amplifies the sound. Although the slits of the tympanic
chambers do allow the entry of sound, their e...
... –
the transfer of sperm via the insertion of part of the
male’s aedeagus (edeagus), the penis, into the repro-
ductive tract of the female. In males of many species the
extrusion of the aedeagus ... messengers) and also
control the synthesis of two groups of insect hormones
– the ecdysteroids and the juvenile hormones (JH).
More detailed discussions of...
... in insects is the result of the large amount
of yolk in the egg. The blastoderm usually gives rise to
all the cells of the larval body, whereas the central yolky
part of the egg provides the ... affects the eggs of the
next generation.
The ability of insects to recognize seasonal photo-
period and other environmental cues requires some
means of measur...
... as
wings held roof-like over the abdomen, fore wings
either membranous or in the form of tegmina of uni-
form texture, and with the rostrum arising ventrally
close to the anterior of the thorax, ... moderate-sized, soft-bodied insects
with anteriorly projecting mandibulate mouthparts
and the compound eyes are either reduced or absent.
The antennae are multisegmented and...