Monday, 19 October 2015

INSECT WORLD

Insects (from Latin insectum, a calque of Greek ἔντομον [éntomon], "cut into sections") are a class of invertebrates within the arthropodphylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (headthorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legscompound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are among the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, including more than a million described speciesand representing more than half of all known living organisms.[2][3] The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million,[2][4][5] and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth.[6] Insects may be found in nearly allenvironments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group,crustaceans.

The life cycles of insects vary but most insects hatch from eggs. Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, and can include a passive pupalstage in those groups that undergo 4-stage metamorphosis (see holometabolism). Insects that undergo 3-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages.[7] The higher level relationship of the hexapoda is unclear. Fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm (22–28 in). The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants.

GRASSHOPPER

Grasshoppers are insects of the order Orthoptera, suborder Caelifera. They are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers to distinguish them from the katydids (bush crickets) which have much longer antennae. They are typically ground-dwelling insects with powerful hind legs which enable them to escape from threats by leaping vigorously. They are hemimetabolous insects (do not undergocomplete metamorphosis) which hatch from an egg into a nymph or "hopper" which undergoes five moults, becoming more similar to the adult insect at each developmental stage. At high population densities and under certain environmental conditions, some grasshopper species can change colour and behaviour and form swarms. Under these circumstances they are known as locusts.

BEE'S
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their role in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the European honey bee, for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently considered as a clade Anthophila. There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in seven to nine recognized families,[1] though many are undescribed and the actual number is probably higher. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants


Butterfly
Butterflies are part of the class of insects in the order Lepidoptera, along with the moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, along with two smaller groups, the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). Butterfly fossils date to the Palaeocene, about 56 million years ago.
Ladybird
The Coccinellidae (/ˌkɒksɪˈnɛlɪd/)[3] are a family of small beetles, ranging from 0.8 to 18 mm (0.0315 to 0.708 inches).[4] They are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, heads and antennae. Such colour patterns vary greatly, however; for example, a minority of species, such as Vibidia duodecimguttata, a twelve-spotted species, have whitish spots on a brown background. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described.[5]
Coccinellidae are known colloquially as ladybirds (in Britain, Ireland, the Commonwealth, and some parts of the southern United States),ladybugs (originating in North America) or lady cows, among other names.[6] When they need to use a common name, entomologists in the United States widely prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles[7] as these insects are not true bugs.


Mosquito

Mosquitoes are small, midge-like flies which comprise the family Culicidae. Females of most species are ectoparasites, whose tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) pierce the hosts' skin to consume blood. The word "mosquito" (formed by mosca and diminutive ito) isSpanish for "little fly".[2] Thousands of species feed on the blood of various kinds of hosts, mainly vertebrates, including mammalsbirds,reptilesamphibians, and even some kinds of fish. Some mosquitoes also attack invertebrates, mainly arthropods. Though the loss of blood is seldom of any importance to the victim, the saliva of the mosquito often causes an irritating rash that is a serious nuisance. Much more serious though, are the roles of many species of mosquitoes as vectors of diseases. In passing from host to host, some transmit extremely harmful infections such as malariayellow feverwest Nile virusdengue feverfilariasis, and other arboviruses, rendering it the deadliest animal family in the world

Snail

Snail is a common name that is applied most often to land snailsterrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs.
However, the common name "snail" is also applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also thousands of species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Occasionally a few other molluscs that are not actually gastropods, such as the Monoplacophora, which superficially resemble small limpets, may also informally be referred to as "snails".
Snail-like animals that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called slugs, and land snails that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are often called semi-slugs

Christmas Beetle
Christmas beetle is a name commonly applied to the Australian beetle genus Anoplognathus. They are known as Christmas beetles because they are abundant in both urban and rural areas close to Christmas. Christmas beetles are large (20-30 mm long) members of the scarab family that are noisy and clumsy fliers, similar to the cockchafers of Europe. They typically have elytra that are a dark or light brown, or green, in some species with a green-yellow iridescence.
The genus includes 35 species, several of which have been implicated in dieback of eucalyptsAnoplognathus pallidicollis is the species most commonly observed and associated with the name of Christmas beetle



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