Factors Contributing to the Success of Insects Insect, small, air-breathing animal characterized by a segmented body with three main parts—head, thorax, and abdomen. In their adult forms, insects typically have three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae, and in most instances, two pairs of wings. Insects rank among the most successful animals on Earth. About one million species of insects have been identified so far, which is about half of all the animals known to science. That is why for every pound of human on the earth there are 10 pounds of insects. So that is why there are many reasons why insects are so successful, their exoskeleton, their size, their body function, the way they reproduce, and their development of metamorphosis. One of the first reason why insects are so successful because they possess a tough exoskeleton that is covered with a waxy water repellant layer. The exoskeleton of insects also has helped them survive. An insect's external skeleton, or exoskeleton, is made of semi-rigid plates and tubes. In insects, these plates are made of a plastic like material called chitin along with a tough protein. A waterproof wax covers the plates and prevents the insect's internal tissues from drying out. Insect exoskeletons are highly effective as a body framework, but they have two drawbacks: they cannot grow once they have formed, and like a suit of armor, they become too heavy to move when they reach a certain size. Insects overcome the first problem by periodically molting their exoskeleton and growing a larger one in its place. Insects have not evolved ways to solve the problem of increasing weight, and this is one of the reasons why insects are relatively small. But compared to animals the Exoskeletons d... ... middle of paper ... ...eding and locomotion. (flight allows dispersal almost world wide with time). Insects possess all types of legs for running, grabbing, digging, crawling, and clinging etc. They also possess wings. The ability to fly allows insects to disperse from a crowded and deteriorating habitat when necessary. For example, in Africa, populations of up to a billion locusts migrate annually from unsuitable dry areas to greener areas where rains are falling. In North America, Monarch butterflies will migrate to Mexico and coastal California to avoid harsh Canadian winters. Locally, ladybird beetles migrate to mountain tops during winter and summer. Seventh, in some groups of insects, truly social behavior has evolved. Social behavior will allow a large population to survive through difficult periods via cooperation in food gathering, food storage, temperature control, and colony
..., Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Available from Journal of Insect Physiology. (46 (2000) 655–661)Retrieved from http://www.units.muohio.edu/cryolab/publications/documents/IrwinLee00.pdf
By listing down enough accurate examples to prove his thesis, Thomas presents a clear structured and logically organized essay. For instance, the essay focuses on the steps of building “the Hill”, a collective process that consists in using the efficient group thinking to develop knowledge (233-34). Starting with a unique ant and adding others one by one, Lewis Thomas clearly illustrates the progressive creation of the organism (233). It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the different animals’ way of living and working as an entity, since humans are part of an organism as well. Additionally, Thomas’ description of the beehive’s construction and organization to expand the family is relevant to provide basic knowledge on the subject while reinforcing Thomas’ authority on the topic. Bees form a communal intelligence that builds “symmetrical polygons” and spreads out their “family genome” when half of the members are led by the new queen (234-35). According to Thomas, this collaboration and transmission of information is also observed in the men’s activities. Thus, this other detailed explanation provides a logical reason to the author’s thesis. In short, the processes are effectively used, along with scientific terminology, to present the similar procedures mankind and other life forms daily
After conducting the experiments, the hypothesis was found to be incorrect. The data’s common trend was; as the beetle’s mass increased, the amount of weight it could pull decreased. One of the beetles tested had a mass of 1.6 grams and was able to pull only a mass of 18.6 grams. The second beetle had a mass of 1.8 grams and was able to pull 37.3 grams.
Intro: Charles Darwin’s natural selection comes to mind when viewing the aggressive behaviors in crickets. This interaction comes into play specifically when competition for resources, such as foods and females, are scarce. Thus, only the organism most fit in the environment would be allowed to survive and pass on its genes. Pioneers of animal behavior, pave the way to understanding the why animals act the way they act (von Frisch, 1967; Lorenz, 1952; and Tinbergen 1951). With further integration between different biological organizations, we see the rise of new possible research, especially in crickets (Wong & Hoffman, 2010). The house crickets, Acheta domesticus, would normally display little to no aggression between males because of their natural behavior to live in groups. But when isolated for a length of time, ag...
In the next essay, "On societies as organisms," Thomas points out that the writers of books on insect behavior go to great lengths to distinguish the uniqueness of insect life.
The Wasp Women tells the story of Janice Starlin, owner and CEO of a cosmetics company. To bolster her declining sales she enlists the help of recently fired beekeeper Dr. Zinthrop. Zinthrop was fired for experimenting with wasps, specifically enzyme extracts from the royal jelly of a queen wasp. Starlin funds his research it the hopes of creating a formula to slow the aging process, with the condition of Starlin being the human trial. The serums are not working fast enough, so Starlin gives herself extra doses, causing her to shed 20 years rapidly but also to periodically transform into a killer wasp.
However, evidence such as fossils is more than enough to lend support and disprove any other theory to the development of species. Examples used by Root-Bernstein and McEachron also provide strong support to evolution. The authors detail how natural selection works in both insects and germs to create organisms better adapted to methods of control. Disease used to run rampant, until the creation of vaccines which led to many diseases becoming extinct. Root-Bernstein and McEachron note that the diseases that have survived to this day have been constantly mutating and evolving to become more resistant to any attempts at suppression. The same can be said for insects that have been consistently exposed to pesticides. The ones that survived the pesticides were able to reproduce and pass along a resistance to their offspring which in turn makes the species more resilient and better suited to their
According to Dorothea Kohstall-Schnell and Heribert Gras, Nicklaus, R found in his study most insects have fine hairs and/ or other structures for detecting movement such as wind and sound. (Activity of Giant Interneurones and other Wind-Sensitive Elements of the Terminal Ganglion in the Walking Cricket. Kohstall-Schnell, D. Gras, H. 1994).The cricket is equipped with these hair sensory structures. According to Dorothea Kohstall-Schnell and Heribert Gras, Palka, J. and Olberg, R found these structures trigger sensory cells and the message then passes through neurons to reach the terminal ganglion. (Activity of Giant Interneurones and other Wind-Sensitive Elements of the Terminal Ganglion in the Walking Cricket. Kohstall-Schnell, D. Gras, H. 1994). Dingle and Fox (1966) recently demonstrated that light also has an effect on cricket’s brain responses. Crickets are an easy invertebrate to test; they are mobile and are known for jumping and their mating noises. The crickets will react to different stimuli, light, sound, and motion, when placed on ice. The cricket’s movement will gradually increase as another stimulus is added on, making the three stimuli the highest amount of movement. With the crickets being cooled down they will be less mobile, but the stimuli will still have an effect on them. This experiment was chosen because crickets are easily accessed, as well as the rest of the materials used in this lab. The experiment started out being a simple hot vs. cold experiment with crickets, then it was given stimuli to make the lab more thought-provoking.
There are nearly one million species of insects known. Insects are defined by having six legs and a body divided into three segments: head, thorax, and abdomen. Chitin is an organic material that makes up an insects exoskeleton. There are three life cycles of insects, ametabolous or incomplete and paurometabolous or gradual, and homotabolous or complete metamorphosis. These life cycles are important in the aging of insects for aiding in legal investigations, (Houck and Siegel. Entomology).
Geraldine Brooks the author of People of the Book conveys the story of Sarajevo Haggadah. In the chapter “An Insect’s Wings,” Lola, a young Jewish girl, experiences running away from Nazis and coming back to Sarajevo. In this chapter, it also shares some details of how the famed Sarajevo Haggadah was saved from WWII. This chapter shares the journey of Lola and all the unpleasant events she went through.
Nunney, Len. “Group Selection, Altruism, and Structured-Deme Models.” The American Naturalist 126.2 (1985): 212-230. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.
Arthropods are animals belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, which is the largest of all phyla in the Animal Kingdom, with more than one million species, making them almost 80% of the whole kingdom. These include insects, arachnids, crustaceans and many more, most of which are quite small, the biggest being the Japanese Spider Crab with a leg span of 3.5 meters and the smallest being the microscopic Plankton.
Stones become hot from the sun and remain warm during the night. The warmth will radiate down into the nest and keep the young and older ants warm. Ants are social insects. Most insects have no family life, but ants are different. Ants have families and live in communities.
the environment which endangers our planet because it kills the insects and disrupts they way
Insects are some of the most important creatures in our world. They play a very large role in many tasks that are vital to human surviva,l like pollinating and effective decomposing. Insects have impacted science, environment, human development, and food supply in a variety of ways. Insect pollination is one of the primary beneficial functions of insects on human development.