Why study insects?

Number of Species: million described/named – estimates as high as million ~900,000 described insects e.g., >50% of everything ON this planet IS an insect… why study anything other than entomology? ;)

2009 NY Times

domination of biomass: North Carolina study: soil samples to a depth of 5 inches  124 million insects per acre – classic George Salt papers in 30’s and 40’s; 250 mill springtails/1 acre topsoil one South American termite nest, N = 3 million locust swarms up to 30 billion individuals (at 2.5 gms each, that’s about 75,000 tons of locust…) for each human on Earth there are 200 mill individual insects and 300 pounds of insect biomass 7 bill x 200 mill = 1.4 x bill x 300 lbs = 2.1 x lbs

biomass con’t: supercolonies of ants – Japan, >1 mill queens, >300 mill workers, queens, 45,000 interconnected nests, 670 acres – 33 interconnected ant populations over 3700 mile stretch along Mediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean, billions and billions of individuals ants comprise ~30% of biomass in Amazon, 10% of Earth’s biomass; termites comprise an additional 10%

essential, un-replaceable Ecosystem roles KEY component of terrestrial food webs nutrient cycling (dung, wood, carrion) – without insects, Earth would pile up… dead soil aeration and turnover plant community structure (through herbivory)

Insects as Pollinators: (Lecture 5) 90% of angios rely on animal pollinators 200,000 spp of animals act as pollinators; of those, 1,000 are mammals/birds – the rest are INSECTS – apples, bananas, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, melons, peaches, potatoes, pumpkins, vanilla, almonds, tequila… – produce $40 bill worth of products annually (USA) 2008 (bee crisis), did “math”, dollar estimate on crops pollinated by bees  $217 billion (global/annual)

Oregon’s Pollinators bumble bees – 19 spp, most berries (blue, cran, brambles), tomatoes sweat bees – ground nesters, solitary mining (or digger) bees – also solitary ground nesters European honey bees (non-native) – carrots: ¾ acreage, 90% income syrphid flies butterflies – 170 spp found in Oregon

Insects as Pests acts.asp acts.asp st_lists.shtml st_lists.shtml

Insects & Medicine/Disease example = malaria – mill cases/year – ~750,000 deaths per year ~1.5 million people diagnosed with a form of cancer each year…

Insects & Products

Insects & Science

Course Outline: Insect Form & Diversity A&P series Insects & Plants Development, Life History, Evolution Insects and Disease, Products, Science