Original by Grant Lambdin Modified by Georgia Agriculture Education Curriculum Office –November 2005 Welcome to the World of Insects

Insects are often mentioned in your daily school routine: -- busy as a “bee” -- mad as a “hornet” -- don’t “bug” me -- don’t be a “bookworm” Why should insects be included in our class?

What is agriculture? Agriculture is more than just Chickens Cows Hogs Crops

What is agriculture? -the science or art of cultivating the soil, producing crops,and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation of these products for man’s use and their disposal (as in marketing) - Webster’s Dictionary

What is agriculture? Traditional Agriculture Natural Resources Environment/Biodiversity

What is one thing that all humans on Earth have in common? -They must eat!

EARTH COMPOSITION About 3% of all of the Earth’s surface is currently cropped to support ca. 6.4 billion people!!

Agriculture will continue to be important because we have to EAT! -Insects will continue to be important to us as beneficials and pests!

Importance of Insects to Agriculture - spread plant, human, and animal diseases PESTS – eat our foods - damage our crops 4 5

Importance of Insects to Agriculture - sting us (venomous) PESTS - infest our homes - infest our animals and our bodies 6 7 8

Importance of Insects to Agriculture PESTS - annoy us - cause unsightly damage 910

Importance of insects to Agriculture BENEFITS - degrade and recycle nutrients – pollinate our plants 11

Importance of Insects to Agriculture - feed on pest species - food for other animals BENEFITS 12

Importance of insects to Agriculture BENEFITS - used in research and medicine - provide natural products (e.g., honey, beeswax, silk, dye, and shellac) 13 14

MOST OF US RECOGNIZE BEETLES AS MAJOR PESTS!! DID YOU KNOW THAT SOME PEOPLE “TREASURE” THEM AS COLLECTIBLES??

Let the METAMORPHOSIS begin!!

How many insects are there in the world? - about one million insect species have been described - scientists estimate that there may be as many as 10 million different types of insects!! - there are about 200 million insects for every human on earth!!

How many insects are there in the world? -insects comprise about 10% of the earth’s weight -insects represent about 80 to 85% of all life on earth

The insect population of the world is at least1,000,000,000,000,000,000. Averaging the weight of each insect as 2.5 mg, the weight of the earth's insect population exceeds that of human inhabitants by a factor of 12.

Fortunately, most of these insects cause us no harm - only about 10% of all insects cause us the greatest amount of pain, anguish, and economic loss - because each one of you will come into contact with many types of organisms, it is important to properly identify them to effectively manage them

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What makes an organism an INSECT?? [generally speaking] - three body parts [head, thorax, and abdomen] - one pair of compound eyes - six legs - one pair of antennae - an exoskeleton - most adult insects have wings

INSECTS are experts at two biological functions: 1) eating [unfortunately, they do both of them extremely well!] 2) reproducing

How can we separate or classify INSECTS?? 1) by the use of a written key [generally uses body parts] 3) by the type of mouthparts that they have or their manner of feeding [e.g., chewing or piercing-sucking] 2) by the type of damage that they cause [e.g., borer, gall former, leaf feeder]

These types of classifications help us to quickly place a “general label” on the “problem” insect!!

Types of Mouthparts [piercing-sucking] 24

Types of Mouthparts [chewing]

Types of wings and venation of wings 28

Types of development

“WHITE ANTS”

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CAN YOU MATCH THESE PHYSICAL WONDERS? 1) Run 50 body lengths in 1 second (cockroach) = a six-foot person running ca. 206 miles per hour

CAN YOU MATCH THESE PHYSICAL WONDERS? 1) Run 50 body lengths in 1 second (cockroach) 2) Flap your arms (“wings”) 300 times in 1 second (flying mosquito) = about one million times per hour

CAN YOU MATCH THESE PHYSICAL WONDERS? 1) Run 50 body lengths in 1 second (cockroach) 3) Jump 130 times your height (flea) 2) Flap your arms (“wings”) 300 times in 1 second (flying mosquito) = a six-foot person jumping 780 feet

CAN YOU MATCH THESE PHYSICAL WONDERS? 1) Run 50 body lengths in 1 second (cockroach) 3) Jump 130 times your height (flea) 2) Flap your arms (“wings”) 300 times in 1 second (flying mosquito) 4) Lift times your weight (ant) = a 200 lb person lifting one to five tons!

CAN YOU MATCH THESE PHYSICAL WONDERS? 1) Run 50 body lengths in 1 second (cockroach) 3) Jump 130 times your height (flea) 2) Flap your arms (“wings”) 300 times in 1 second (flying mosquito) 4) Lift times your weight (ant) 5) Hear with your legs (cricket)

INSECTS THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!! 1) in the air 3) in the soil 2) in the water 4) in our homes 5) on our plants 6) on our animals 7) on our bodies!!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF INSECTS THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BUGLY!