Here are two photographs of the more familiar Large Milkweed Bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, from the archives.

Most members of the group feed on seeds, and Large Milkweed Bugs prefer the seeds of milkweeds.

They also feed on the milkweed plant when there are no seeds available. The ones in the photographs are sitting on the flower buds of a butterfly milkweed.

As you might guess from the bright red and black warning coloration, milkweed bugs take up the same toxins from milkweeds as the monarch caterpillar does. Their colors say, “Don’t eat me!”

Surprisingly, Large Milkweed Bugs are commonly used for science experiments because they are fairly easy to take care of. If you don’t have milkweed seeds, they will feed on raw sunflower seeds as well as some nuts. They also need a good source of water.

Illinois.edu has more information and detailed rearing instructions.

The larval stage are called wireworms. They live in the soil, often in sod.

Here’s an example of a wireworm. We dug up from the soil. The reddish-brown end to the right is the head.

In this photograph, the wireworm has been tipped on its side so you can see the three tiny pairs of legs on the thorax, which is the part right behind the head. At the other end (end of abdomen) is a single proleg.

The end of the abdomen is towards the right in this photograph. This species has a flattened area above the single peg-like proleg.

The flattened area has numerous hairs, so it probably has a sensory function, although it also looks a bit like a second head.

It is amazing what you see if you (dare to) look closely.

Glancing quickly, I thought the read and black bug below feeding on a desert milkweed flower was a large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus.

But looking again, I realized it had two black bars across the center of the body, rather than one wide one.

This is an adult Oncopeltus cayensis. I don’t think it has a common name. Check out the sucking mouthparts it is using to feed on the flower.

Have you ever found something new when you took a second look?

Characteristics of Five Major Orders of Insects

Scientists who name insects have grouped them into about 30 different orders (the exact number is still under debate). However, five of the orders are the most common.

1. Beetles (Order Coleoptera) – Of all the more than one million species of insects, beetles are by far the most numerous. There are an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 different species of beetles!

Characteristics:
Adults with hardened front wings called called elytra. Hind wings are generally under the elytra and are membranous (sort of like plastic wrap).

Beetle larvae are grubs or worms with a distinct head.

One type of beetle larva is called a wireworm.

Beetles go through complete metamorphosis, which means they have four life stages:  egg, larva, pupa and adult.

See the life stages of a carpet beetle

2. Flies and mosquitoes (Order Diptera)

Characteristics:

The order name of this group means “two wings.” Unlike all other insects, adult flies have only two wings, rather than the more common number of four. (The second pair of wings have been reduced to a knob-like structure called a haltere.)

Flies also have complete metamorphosis. Most fly larvae lack a distinct head and are commonly called maggots.

3. Ants, bees and wasps (Order Hymenoptera)

Characteristics:

Most adult hymenoptera have four membranous wings, with the forewings larger than the hindwings, although it might be hard to tell in a resting insect because their wings are folded. Many bees, wasps and ants have a stinger, which they use to defend themselves or subdue prey. Bees and wasps, in particular, have black-and-yellow or black-and-red warning coloration.

Bees have robust bodies and are usually quite fuzzy.

Wasps are usually hairless and shiny.

Ants have antennae that bend in the middle, like an elbow.

Hymenoptera also have complete metamorphosis.

Ant larvae are shaped like a crochet hook. They have a head, but no legs. The smaller, yellowish ovals are the eggs. The beige sack towards the top right is a pupa within a cocoon.

Bee larvae also lack legs. The larvae are on the left, sitting on the bright yellow bee bread that they use for food. The four white objects on the center/right of the photograph are pupae. You can see some of the characteristics of the adults, like eyes and mouthparts, in the pupa.

4. Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera)

Butterflies and moths have four large wings, usually covered with flat scales

Butterflies are brightly colored and fly by day.

In general, moths (like this atlas moth) are more drab and fly at night.

Lepidoptera also undergo complete metamorphosis.

The larvae of butterflies and moths are called caterpillars.

See this post for photographs of the butterfly life cycle and more information.

5.    True bugs, as well as aphids and cicadas (Order Hemiptera)

Note:  The Order Hemiptera has undergone several revisions over the last few decades. For a long time there were two separate orders, the so-called true bugs were called hemiptera (meaning half-wing) and the aphids, cicadas and their relatives were called homoptera (meaning uniform winged). Then the Order Hemiptera was re-named Heteroptera. Finally, based on new evidence, the two orders have been combined into the Order Hemiptera. You will see names of the earlier orders in older texts.

Insects in the Order Hemiptera have sucking mouthparts that suck up fluids rather like a turkey baster.

The “true bugs”have interesting wings that are half leathery and half membranous. They also have a triangle-shaped piece in the middle of their back.

The membranous part of the wing is between the two raindrops in this photograph of a mesquite bug. Can you also see the triangle (just to the right of the center raindrop) and the sucking mouthparts?

In this milkweed bug the membranous portion of the wing is black, the leathery part is red. Can you see the triangle?

More about mesquite and squash bugs

The aphids, cicadas, leafhoppers and their relatives have wings that fold like a tent over the rear section or abdomen.

Underneath…

…you can see the mouthparts as a tube running between the bases of the legs.

Hemiptera have incomplete metamorphosis, which means they have three life stage:  egg, nymphs (that look mostly like an adult, but lack wings) and adults.

Here are stinkbug nymphs that just hatched from eggs.

This is a cicada nymph that lives most of its life under the soil.

Once again, in this view of the underside you can see the tube that it uses to suck fluids from tree roots.

(More about cicada nymphs)

So, there’s a quick overview of how to recognize some of the insects you might find in your yard.

Please feel free to leave any questions you may have in the comments.

Happy 2012!

The honey bee is collecting pollen and nectar.

Do you notice another insect in the photograph?

The fly is approaching.

Now it is sitting still.

Now watch what happens when the bee leaves.

It actually hopped off again when the honey bee came back.

Just a little drama around a dandelion flower.

By the way, because they bloom this time of year, dandelions are an important source of food for honey bees. Do you have any blooming in your yard?

These  are two digger bees in a flower called a prickly poppy.

Someone mentioned lately that you rarely see more than one bee per flower. I guess this flower has enough nectar and pollen to share.

Did you recognize the bee last week was a bumble bee?

How do you tell a carpenter bee from a bumble bee? Actually it is difficult to tell in the species that are yellow and black, but one clue is that a carpenter bee has a bare, shiny abdomen and the bumble bee has a fuzzy abdomen.

does this archive photo show a bumble bee or a carpenter bee?

Just for fun, here are some different kinds of bees caught in slow motion.

Way back when I started this blog, I purposely chose the title “Bug of the Week” for the long-running Wednesday feature because I knew I would want to include spiders, pill bugs, and other creepy crawlies, as well as insects.  A World of Bugs shows children the range of arthropods and other invertebrates that are often called “bugs.” It tells what their features are, how they grow, where they live, and how they move. It is filled with huge, full color photographs that are very attractive. On the last page, the book also has some suggestions for activities to do before and after reading the book.

Identification of insects and their relatives requires careful observation of their anatomy.

Insects are part of the phylum of animals called Arthropoda.  All arthropods have:

• supporting skeleton on the outside, called an exoskeleton
• bi-lateral symmetry, which means if you draw a line down the center the two sides will be symmetrical
• jointed appendages
• segmented bodies
• specialized appendages, like antennae

The major arthropod classes can be separated by comparing their number of body regions, legs, and antennae.

Activity 1. Compare various creatures to discover features using live arthropods to observe, pictures and rubber or plastic models to explore. Give the children free explore time at first, and then start to encourage them to observe the following features:

Arachnids are the spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions and their relatives

• Have 8 legs
• Have 2 body regions, the cephalothorax (literally head-thorax), and abdomen

Spiders have 6 or 8 eyes at the front of the cephalothorax. Spiders’ mouthparts are called chelicerae and typically end in a fang. Around the mouth are the pedipalps.

For detailed information about spider anatomy, see Invertebrate Anatomy Online, the Garden Spider.

Crustaceans

The Isopods, which are called pillbugs, roly-polies, or wood lice, and other common names, have:

• 12 legs
• 2 antennae (one pair small)

Pill bug activities for kids

Centipedes and millipedes

• Many legs per segment
• Many segments
• One pair of antennae

Millipedes have 2 pairs of legs per segment.

Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment. (Photograph from Wikimedia).

Insects have:

• Three body parts:  head, thorax and abdomen
• Six legs
• One pair antennae
• Many adults have wings, but not all

Next time we will discuss how to recognize the major groups of insects, the orders.

A World of Bugs by Charlotte Guillain

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1432955063
ISBN-13: 978-1432955069

Book was provided by publisher for review purposes.

My son pointed this one out to me. Doesn’t it look like it is hanging in the air?