Category: insects (Page 65 of 89)

Weekend Science Fun: Insects and Their Relatives Part 1

December 4, 2011 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Today our post was inspired by the picture book A World of Bugs (Comparing Bugs: Acorn Read-Aloud) by Charlotte Guillain.

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.Â 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.Â 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:Â 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.

Bug of the Week: Carpet Beetle Larva

November 16, 2011 / Roberta / 2 Comments

It is winter gardening time here in the desert and so I’ve been pulling out seeds saved from previous years. One container had more than just seeds:

This larva isn’t much bigger than a seed, but I knew right away what it was.

I could tell it was a so-called carpet beetle larva (Family Dermestidae) because of the bands of bristly hairs on it. Doesn’t it look like a walking carpet?

If you look closely at the end of the abdomen (left side in this photograph), you can see long bristles trailing behind it.

In this photograph the bristles are raised so you can see they are almost as long as the larva itself.

This larva will pupate when it gets big enough. Eventually it will become a small, oval beetle like this one.

(Photograph by Alvesgaspar at Wikimedia)

The beetle’s wings or elytra are covered with tiny scales like a butterfly’s wing, giving it the patterned appearance.

Carpet beetle larvae are generally scavengers. They feed on dead plant parts, seeds, and various animal bits. They are nature’s recyclers, but can be a nuisance if they are recycling something of value, such as seeds. Most entomologists have experience with carpet beetles or dermestids because the larvae often try to recycle the preserved insects in insect collections.

The life stages:

a. Eggs

b. Carpet beetle larva

c. Molting larva (you will often see the empty or “cast” exoskeletons left behind)

d. Pupa

e. Adult – The adult lays eggs that will hatch into more larvae.

Edit:Â Mike at Slugyard has a great photo of a carpet beetle.