Insect Behavior

Rhythms Are simple responses to periodic changes in the environment Many rhythms are response to changes in length of day and night are seasonal Reproduction, mating, or migration

Locating food & initiating feeding Food habits are classified by type of food eaten Phytophagous = plant tissue Carnivorous = animal tissue Saprophagous = dead organic Omnivorous = more than one type of food

Specialized in food source areas Leaves Sap Roots Pollen

Phytophagous = use sight & odors Carnivorous = use sight (look for movements) After they find the food source they will then use their mouth parts, tarsi, antennae to determine if the food source is what they can eat

Locating mates & copulation Vision Hearing Smell (including pheromones) Touch

Oviposition First a general discrimination as to an area Second requires specific sensory conditions to initiate the behavior needed for egg deposition. Chemoreceptors & tactile receptors on the tarsi and ovipositor, tasting the substrate by the mouthparts, and other senses are employed.

Oviposition Eggs may be laid either singly or in batches Once laid most eggs are abandoned Some beetles, sawflies & true bugs will provide parental care

Migration Few insect species engage in migration. Those that do are classified as: 1- Undergoing this behavior soon after adulthood is reached 2- Females with developing ovaries being the consistent migrant sex 3- the migration often being a one-way movement, although some of the best known examples, such as certain populations of the Monarch butterfly do make at least partial return flights 4- Movement may not be straight-line in direction because of the directional winds and air masses.

Protective Behavior Bite Sting Flee Defensive Secretions Chemicals in defense

Protective Behavior Concealing coloration Revealing coloration Mimicry