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Archaeognatha

(jumping bristle-tails)

- 3 terminal appendages* - 2 short cerci and one longer medial filament

- long maxillary palps*

- eyes meet at the top of the head*

- hunched appearance

- covered in scales

Live in leaf litter and eat algae, moss, and detrius

*jump out of harms way

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Zygentoma

(Silverfish)

- 3 terminal filaments - 2 long cerci and 1 equally long medial filament*

- widely separated eyes*

- flattened appearance

- covered in scales

Live in leaf litter, homes, and soil

they are scavengers (eat anything available)

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Protura

(coneheads)

- no eyes

- no antennae - however front two legs serve the purpose of antenna*

- unpigmented

- very small

found in leaf litter and soil

eat fungi and detritus

very little known

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Collembola

(springtails)

- posses a Furca - a unique tail-like apparatus for jumping*

- possess a Collophore - ventral tube-like structure.*

- may or may not have eyes

Live in leaf litter, mosses, and soil

feed on fungi and microbes

serve as an important food source for other invertebrates

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Diplura

(Diplurans)

- small

- eyeless

- unpigmented

- long, beadlike antennae*

- conspicuous cerci - can be long and bead-like or forceps-like*

Live in leaf litter and soil

they can be predators or detritivores (eat dead organic matter)

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Ephemeroptera

(Mayflies)

- reduce hindwings*

- 2-3 long terminal filaments*

- reduced or absent mouthparts - adults don't live long enough to worry about eating

- small bristle-like antennae

- wings held straight up at rest*

- Nymphs are usually aquatic

eat algae and detritus

- distinct featherlike gills and 3 terminal filaments

they have a winged pre-adult phase known as a subimago

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Odonata

(dragonflies and damselflies)

- large membranous wings

- large compound eyes

- elongated abdomen*

- Bristle-like antennae*

- well-developed mandibles*

- extremely short cerci

- wings held out to the side or straight up at rest*

all are predators

many are highly predatorial

Nymphs

- aquatic, predatorial and have excellent vision

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Plecoptera

(stoneflies)

- long membraneous wings - usually a dark and smokey color*

- long thread-like antennae and cerci (cerci not shown in photo)*

- broad flat head

- some adults have remnants of nymphal gills on the abdomen

adults don't eat

Nymphs are primarily aquatic and eat aquatic vegetation, serving as good bioindicators of pollution. have tuft like gills

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Dermaptera

(earwigs)

- unsegmented, forceps-like cerci*

- short forewings modified into tegmina - leathery wings*

- hindwings folded up underneath tegmina when at rest*

- always have eyes

- have chewing mandibles

- long antennae

Omnivores

exhibit really good mother behaviour with their young

cerci can be used for defense or fighting

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Zoraptera

(Angel insects, Zorapterans)

- very small 2-3 mm

- Eyes are reduced or absent*

- 1 segmented cerci*

- Bead-like antennae*

- many are secondarily apterous, those that aren't can shed their wings (dehiscent wings)*

found in rotting wood and leaf litter

eat detritus and fungi

some species live in small groups

little is understood about them

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Orthoptera

(Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)

- Hind legs are modified into saltatorial legs - strong legs for jumping*

- forewings are tegmina*

- strong biting chewing mandibles*

- Many species are cryptic while others are aposematic

- structures called tympana serve as ears*

while most species are herbivores, some are predators.

many use acoustic signals to communicate.

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Phasmatodea

stick and leaf insects

- large and elongated*

- highly cryptic mimicking twigs and leaves*

- biting chewing mandibles

- reduced wings or apterous*

- chemical defense glands on thorax*

all species are mainly herbivores

a few species are aposematic

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Embioptera

(webspinners)

- enlarged tarsi on the first pair of legs which house silk glands.*

- females are always apterous while males have wings*

- long soft body

- sinuses near the base of the wings can drain the* hemolymph from them and allow the wings to crumple.

eat algae and leaf litter

spin tube-like silk galleries for protection

mothers will protect the eggs

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Grylloblattodea

(Ice walkers)

- Secondarily apterous*

- long antennae and cerci*

- walk with upturned tarsi*

- thin antenna

- eyes reduced or absent

highly adapted for cold environments

eat detritus and moss

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Mantophasmatodea

(Gladiators or heel-walkers)

- secondarily apterous

- spiny forelegs

- walk with upturned tarsi

- long thin antennae

- short cerci

- strong chewing biting mandibles

exclusively predatory

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Mantodea

(Mantises)

- very elongated prothorax

- forelegs modified into spiny raptorial legs for grabbing prey*

- head is usually triangular*

- long thread-like antennae*

- Large conspicuous compound eyes* - excellent eyesight

- can be winged or apterous

all are predators

exhibit sexual cannibalism sometimes

many are mimics

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Blattodea

(Cockroaches)

- Dorsoventrally flattened*

- downward facing head under large pronotum*

- wings may or may not be present - if present, modified into tegmina

- antennae long and thread like

- legs modified into cursorial legs - running legs

- most have conspicuous cerci

Omnivores

important decomposers

good parents

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Blattodea

(termites)

- eyes are reduced or absent

- Eusocial with morphological classes

- soft bodies

- soldiers have large chewing mandibles

- only the reproductive casts have wings (they can be shed)

- bead-like antennae

Queen can live 20+ years, 30,000 babies per day

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Thysanoptera

(thrips)

- asymmetrical mouthpart* - right mandible reduced, left is pick like, Maxillae are sucking stylets

- many are apterous - if wings are present they are surrounded by setae - thin hairs *

- tiny

Most are herbivores but some are predators

some are highly social

can be vectors for plants

form galls - bundles of plant mass in which they reside

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Hemiptera

(True Bugs)

Heteroptera

- if wings are present they are modified into hemelytra -* half hard, half membranous wings

- wings are usually folded flat over backs

- stink bugs, assassin bugs

Homoptera

- wings if present are completely membraneous and held tent-like over back

- aphids, cicadas, scale insects, plant hoppers,

unique piercing-sucking mouthparts in an articulated beak known as rostrum*

fluid feeders, most are herbivores but some are predators

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Psocodea

(Lice)

Bark lice

- swollen clypeus - plate at the front of head*

- chewing scraping mouthparts*

- long and filamentous antennae

- wings can be there or not

True lice

- dorsoventrally flattened*

- large tarsal claws*

- eyes reduced or absent

- always apterous

- reduced antennae

- chewing scraping or sucking mouthparts

non-parasitic bark lice eat lichens, fungi, and detritus

true lice are external parasites of birds and mammals (can be chewing or sucking)

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Hymenoptera

(bees, ants, wasps, sawflies)

- 4 membranous wings coupled together*

- Biting chewing mandibles

- other mouthparts often modified into a lapping proboscis*

- constricted abdomen, except in sawflies*

- many have a conspicuous ovipositor, sometimes modified into a stinger.*

- All are haplodiploid - chromosome count determines sex

- most are parasitoids of other arthropods, others are herbivores

- several exhibit sociality

Larvae

sawflies have caterpillar-like larvae with more prolegs than true caterpillars. others have grub-like larvae with reduced or absent legs or eyes.

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Coleoptera

(beetles)

- forewings modified into Elytra* - hardened wing covers

- membranous hindwings used for flight

- Biting chewing mouthparts*

- extremely diverse in morphology*

Can be predatory, herbivores, fungivores, detritivores, etc.

while some are pests, many others can be helpful bioregulators and pollinators.

their diversity means they'll be in almost every facet of the insect life

exhibit various levels of parenting

Larvae

usually grub-like - usually have developed legs, feeding habits as diverse as adults

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Strepsiptera

(Twisted-Winged Parasites)

- highly reduced and non-functional forewings*

- hindwings are uniquely twisted*

- no mouthparts

- Blackberry-like compound eyes*

Exclusively parasitic on other insects

Adult males are free-living while females and young live inside the host.

often physically distend the host cuticle, and can even alter the host behaviour

Larvae are born highly mobile and find a host, once inside the host they become a highly reduced form, adult females lose almost everything and just stay in the host attracting males with pheromones.

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Raphidioptera

(Snakeflies)

- four membranous wings with intricate venation*

- Elongated prothorax*

- Broad flat heads

- Females have large, robust Ovipositors

all are predators

Larvae

Flat and elongated with broad heads like adults

most species are found under the bark of trees and the larvae are also predators

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Megaloptera

(Dobsonflies, Fishflies, Alderflies)

- medium to large

- four membranous wings with intricate venation*

- wings are often dark and smokey*

- male dobsonflies have very elongated mandibles*

Adults are short-lived and don't feed, mandibles are used for courtship.

Larvae

larval Dobsonflies are called hellgrammites and are exclusively aquatic

conspicuous filaments along the sides of their bodies that bear the gills.

Fierce predators

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Neuroptera

(Lacewings and realatives)[image]

- 4 membranous wings with intricate venation*

- similar to Raphidioptera and Megaloptera but differ in larvae morphology

adults are generally predators and aid in biocontrol

Larvae

- elongated sickle-like piercing and sucking mandibles

- all are predators - antlions lay sandy pitfall traps

- mantisflies are parasites of spider egg sacks

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Mecoptera

(Scorpionflies and relatives)

- Elongated Clypeus in most species*

- Male genitalia resembles a scorpion tail.*

- long and membranous wings with possibility of a pattern*

- chewing biting mouthparts*

Most are opportunistic scavengers, some are predators

Larvae

- caterpillar-like but with different arrangement of prolegs

- found in soil, leaf litter, and moss

- have compound eyes

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Siphonaptera

(Fleas)

- laterally flattened*

- hind legs modified for jumping*

- greatly reduced eyes and antennae

- piercing-sucking mouthparts

- some have a comb of bristles at the front of the head or behind the head.

highly specialized external predator of birds and mammals

can jump 50x body length due to resilin in their hind legs

larvae

lack legs

have chewing mouthparts and reside in the nest of the host where they feed on debris

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Diptera

(True Flies)

- hindwings are modified into sensory structures called halteres*

- two functional membranous wings*

- large, well-developed compound eyes*

- mouthparts vary widely: Peircing sucking, Sponging, or reduced, but they are never absent.

they are highly diverse in behavior and morphology with some being pests as some are vectors but others being useful pollinators, forensics decomposition, and more.

Larvae

known as maggots, they lack true legs though they may have pro legs. they have a head capsule but in some cases, even this is reduced to only some internal structures and mouth hooks.

like moist places and feed on anything.

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Trichoptera

(Caddisflies)

- Wings covered in setae*

- long maxillary palps with other mouthparts highly reduced or absent *

- antennae are long and filamentous*

Adults are short-lived and do not need to feed

usually near water

larvae

exclusively aquatic

many feed on aquatic plants and detritus but some are predatory

Most build elaborate cases from sediment plant material and silk they spin

Many groups lack the cases and just spin webs to catch prey.

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Lepidoptera

(Butterflies and moths)

- covered in microscopic scales*

- mouthpart is modified into a straw-like proboscis that is* coiled at rest - some species just have reduced or absent mouthparts

Adults will drink nectar but also drink other things like mud dung and tears in order to get the vital salts lacking in nectar.

many are pollinators and their diversification coincides with the diversification of flowers

Larvae

- Caterpillars

- 5 pairs of distinctive prolegs and a distinct pattern

- most are herbivores, and some are predatory

- many are crop pests

- many are chemically defended