Transcript Sample Slides - Woodland Park Zoo
Arthropods:
Insects and their relatives
Arthropods: Insects and their relatives • Characteristics of the phylum Arthropoda • Five major classes 1. Crustacea 2. Arachnida 3. Chilopoda 4. Diplopoda 5. Insecta • Anatomy and development • Arthropod diversity • Roles in ecosystems and benefits for humans • Bugs rule!
Characheristics of the phylum Arthropoda 1. Exoskeleton 2. Jointed appendages 3. Segmented body parts
not an arthropod arthropod
Arthropod Anatomy Head • antennae • mouthparts • eyes: compound or simple Thorax or cephalothorax • legs and/or wings Abdomen • houses majority of reproductive, circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems • ovipositor (females) • spinnerets (spiders)
Five major classes of arthropods
1) Arachnida
• four pairs of legs • one or two body regions (cephalothorax and abdomen) • no wings or antennae • most live on land; some in freshwater • 35,000+ species Examples: spiders, harvestmen, scorpions, mites, ticks
Spiders of the Puget Sound Region The following are a few of the spiders that can be observed in the Puget Sound region. Some are yard and garden species, while others are “house” species. Flower (a.k.a. Goldenrod) Crab Spider ( Cross Orbweaver (
Araneus diadematus
Longbodied Cellar Spider ( False Black Widow ( Yellow Sac Spider ( Hobo Spider (
Steatoda grossa Tegenaria agrestis
Western Black Widow ( ) ) )
Misumena vatia Pholcus phalangioides
Giant House Spider (
Tegenaria gigantea
)
Cheiracanthium mildei
)
Latrodectus hesperus
) ) ) Domestic or Lesser House Spider (
Tegenaria domestica
) commonly noticed medically significant Resources for more information: WA Department of Health – Venomous Spiders http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Pests/Spiders.aspx
The Spider Myths Site – The Burke Museum http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/index.html
Five major classes of arthropods
2) Crustacea
• five or more pairs of legs • two body regions • two pairs of antennae • lack wings • breathe with gills • most are marine; some in freshwater; a few terrestrial • 35,000+ species Examples: crabs, crayfish, barnacles, sowbugs, shrimp, lobsters
Five major classes of arthropods
3) Diplopoda
• multi-segmented bodies • two pairs of legs on most segments • one pair of antennae • lack wings • terrestrial • 8,000+ species Millipedes
Five major classes of arthropods
4) Chilopoda
• flattened, multi-segmented bodies • one pair of legs on most segments • one pair of antennae • lack wings • terrestrial • 5,000+ species Centipedes
Five major classes of arthropods
5) Insecta
• three pairs of legs • three body regions • one pair of antennae • one or two pairs of wings (sometimes absent) • mostly terrestrial and freshwater, a few marine • 1 million+ species currently identified Examples: flies, beetles, walkingsticks, bees, ants, cockroaches, ladybugs, crickets, butterflies
Arthropod Taxonomy
Honey bee Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Apidea Genus: Apis Species: mellifera Cyanide-producing millipede Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Diplopoda Order: Polydesmida Family: Vestodesmidae Genus: Harpaphe Species: haydeniana
Arthropod Development
• Complete metamorphosis: 1.
egg 2.
3.
4.
larva pupa adult • Incomplete metamorphosis: 1.
2.
egg nymph 3.
(instars) adult
Arthropod Diversity and Abundance • Over one million insect species identified to date. Estimated that 30 million insect species may exist.
• Approximately three-fourths of all animal species that exist today are insects. Nearly 90% are arthropods.
• An estimated 10% of the world’s biomass is ants and another 10% is termites
Arthropod Diversity and Abundance • • • • • Arthropod diversity is a function of: Small
size
= infinitely more niches available Advantages of
exoskeleton
- prevents water loss, provides protection, allows for muscle attachment, and forms legs and wings for locomotion
Wings
- disperse to new habitats, avoid unsuitable conditions or predators, forage over greater distance
Larval and adult stages
occupy different niches
Mouthparts
- different structures to feed on different resources
Roles of Arthropods in Ecosystems: Benefits for Humans • • • • • Decomposition Pollination and seed dispersal Abundant food resource for many other animals Prey on other arthropod species - control populations (biological control) Products - honey, cochineal (red dye), shellac, silk, arthropods as food
Roles of Arthropods in Ecosystems: Fun Facts • • • • Dung beetles bury approximately 1/2 ton of dung per acre each year on the savannas of West Africa A single honeybee may visit 1,000 blossoms each day. An estimated 250,000 wild flowering plant species depend on animal pollinators, most of which are insects.
An average hummingbird may eat 10-15 insects per day. An adult dragonfly can eat up to 300 insects per day, mainly mosquitoes
Bugs Rule! Threats to humans • • • • • Damage to agriculture, forest resources Damage to structures, products Disease vectors (humans, domestic animals) Injury (painful or poisonous bites) Only 1% of all known insect species have a negative effect on humans
Cultural Entomology: Insects in human culture Scarab (dung) beetles in Egyptian culture: • scarab rolling a dung ball invokes the movement of sun across sky = “buried” at night and rises from the earth in the morning • scarabs bury dung balls (equated with eggs); larvae pupate and new adults emerge • pupa were inspiration for mummies if the sun and beetles can be buried and then resurrected, why not people?
Appreciation and Conservation “Conservation of wildlife, especially invertebrates, will necessitate a far greater understanding of why we react with hostile and negative feelings toward various creatures, particularly insects and spiders…
Appreciation and Conservation …more than 90% of the planet’s currently estimated 30 million animal species are invertebrates, mainly arthropods. Despite the possible catastrophic extinction of invertebrate species, the general public and most policymakers appear unaware of how such a loss may affect human well being.” Dr. Steve Kellert, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Woodland Park Zoo 2001 / Revised 2013
All photos by K. Remine/M. White
All WPZ photos property of Woodland Park Zoo. All rights reserved.
www.zoo.org
All photos by K. Remine/M. White, Woodland Park Zoo Slide 2: flower beetle (WPZ) Slide 3: banana slug and millipede (temperate forest, WA) Slide 4: thatch ants (temperate forest, WA), New Guinea walkingstick (WPZ) Slide 5: (l to r) - emperor scorpion (WPZ), mite (WPZ), Chilean rose tarantula (WPZ), Christmas spider (temperate forest, Australia) Slide 7: sowbug (WPZ), barnacles (beach, south Puget Sound), crab (beach, southwest Australia) Slide 8: giant millipede (WPZ), millipede (temperate forest, WA) Slide 9: giant centipede (WPZ) Slide 10: syrphid fly (WPZ grounds), tiger beetle (Japan), crane fly (WPZ grounds), butterflies (WPZ), Peruvian firestick (WPZ) Slide 11: honeybees (WPZ) and millipede (temperate forest, WA) Slide 13: spider (beach, southwest Australia), carabid beetle (temperate forest, WA), goliath walking stick (Healesville Sanctuary, Australia), velvet mite (temperate forest, WA), ant and aphids (shrub steppe, eastern WA), former graphic from “Bug” World (WPZ)
All photos by K. Remine/M. White, Woodland Park Zoo Slide 14: flower beetle (WPZ), giant water bug (WPZ), tiger beetle (Japan), darkling beetle (shrub steppe, eastern WA) Slide 15: millipede (temperate forest, WA), bumblebee (temperate forest, WA), leaf-rolling spider (temperate forest, southeastern Australia), ladybug (WPZ grounds) Slide 17: beetle larvae tunnels (temperate forest, WA), giant centipede (WPZ), dampwood termite (WPZ) Slide 18: dung beetle (Melbourne Zoo grounds, Australia), mealworm pupa (WPZ) Slide 19: Bug Club members, WPZ Slide 20: dragonfly art by former Bug Club member, WPZ