1. Orders
Orthoptera
Blattaria
Mantodea
Phasmida

2. All Orders today share the following characteristics:
Pterygotes
Also true for remaining orders
Neoptera wing flexing
Gradual metamorphosis
Chewing mouthparts
Leathery wings (tegmina) when present

3. ORTHOPTERA ortho = straight + ptera = wing
(Grasshoppers / Locusts / Crickets / Katydids)
Antennae filiform
Chewing mouthparts
Pronotum shield like,
covering much of thorax
Front wings narrow,
leathery (tegmina)
Hind legs usually
adapted for jumping

4. Shorthorned Grasshopper
Hind legs modified for jumping
Antennae shorter than or not much longer than pronotum ( usually less than ½ body length)
Tympanum on first
abdominal segment
Ovipositor (when
present) is short
Cerci short

5. Longhorned Grasshopper
Hind legs modified for jumping
Antennae much longer than pronotum
(usually much longer than ½ body length)
Ovipositor (when present)
is laterally flattened; either
sword-like or sickle-like
Tympanum on fore tibia
Cerci long

6. Cricket Hind legs modified for jumping
Antennae much longer than pronotum
(usually longer than ½ body length)
Tympanum
on fore tibia
Ovipositor
spear-like
Cerci long

7. Metamorphosis
Paurometabolous
(gradual)
(egg, nymph, adult)

8. Economic Importance
Orthoptera is one of the largest and most important groups of plant-feeding insects.
These insects feed on all types of plants and often cause serious economic damage.

9. Swarms of grasshoppers (locusts) regularly appear in parts of Africa, Asia, and North America and destroy crops over wide land areas.
Mole crickets are major pests in lawns and golf courses in the southern United States.

10. Orthoptera
Sound Production
stridulation
Tympanum
Temperature

11. Blattaria (Cockroaches) Antennae slender, filiform
Pronotum oval, shield-like, covering much of the head and thorax
Legs adapted for running
Front wings thickened
Cerci short,
multi-segmented
Chewing mouthparts

12. Gradual or Paurometabolous
Metamorphosis
Gradual or Paurometabolous
(egg, nymph, adult)

13. What do roaches eat? Where do they live? Cockroaches are
scavengers or omnivores.
Where do they live?
They are most abundant in tropical or subtropical climates, but they also inhabit temperate and boreal regions. They are commonly found in close association with human dwellings where they are considered pests.

14. Reproduction
When cockroaches lay eggs, the female's reproductive system secretes a special capsule around her eggs – Ootheca

15. Economic Importance
Cockroaches are among the most cosmopolitan of all insect pests
They are associated with human dwellings throughout the world, hiding in cracks and crevices during the day and emerging at night to forage for food and water
They may carry a variety of human pathogens on their bodies
Dead roaches (and their feces) provoke respiratory allergies in sensitive people

16. However, cockroaches also have proven to be very useful as research tools, particularly for the study of insect physiology and toxicology
Madagascar roaches, slow-moving cockroaches are sometimes kept as pets

17. Mantodea

18. “soothsayer” or “kind of grasshopper” (mantids/preying mantis)
MANTODEA
“soothsayer” or “kind of grasshopper”
(mantids/preying mantis)
Head triangular with well-
developed compound eyes
Chewing mouthparts
Prothorax elongate with
large, spiny front legs
adapted for catching
prey (raptorial)
Front wings thickened

19. Gradual or Paurometabolous
Metamorphosis
Gradual or Paurometabolous
(egg, nymph, adult)

20. Mantids are Predators Mantids have elongate
bodies that are specialized
for a predatory lifestyle:
long front legs with spines
for catching and holding prey
a head that can turn from
side to side
cryptic coloration for
hiding in foliage or flowers

21. Economic Importance
Generally considered to be highly beneficial insects because they feed on other insects, but….
…since they are cannibalistic, and also feed on other beneficial insects, their value as biocontrol agents is rather limited.

22. Phasmida

23. (Walkingsticks / Stick Insects)
PHASMIDA
"phasm" = phantom
(Walkingsticks / Stick Insects)
Chewing mouthparts
Body long, cylindrical
Prothorax shorter than
meso- and metathorax
Leg segments long
and slender
Wings often reduced or absent

24. Gradual or Paurometabolous
Metamorphosis
Gradual or Paurometabolous
(egg, nymph, adult)

25. All species are herbivores
Most walkingsticks are slow-moving insects, a behavior pattern that is consistent with their cryptic lifestyle
In a few tropical species, the adults have well-developed wings, but most phasmids are brachypterous (reduced wings) or secondarily wingless
Stick insects are most abundant in the tropics
where some species may be up to 12 inches in
length

26. Economic Importance
In temperate zones, walkingsticks are seldom abundant enough to cause injury to their host plants.
In the tropics, however, some species have been known to defoliate forest trees and cause economic losses to shrubbery and shade trees.