Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera: Butterflies and Moths


My research project is over butterflies and moths. Butterflies and moths are a homogenous group of insects that forms the order Lepidoptera. Homogenous means the same or similar kind of nature. The name Lepidoptera is greek, meaning scale and wings. The insect order Lepidoptera is the largest and most important of all other orders. Most species of butterflies are day- flying so they attract attention regularly. These are known as butterflies, the night fliers are often known as moths. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly colored, and some dull- colored, and their erratic yet graceful flight have made butterfly watching a popular hobby. Adult females are often larger than males. Male moths usually have very elaborate antennae. Coloration may be different between the sexes.
Butterflies and moths are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. The butterflies and moths body is covered by tiny sensory hairs. They have two pairs of large wings covered with colorful, scales in overlapping rows. Veins support the delicate wings and nourish them with blood. Butterflies and moths can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees. Butterflies and moths sun themselves to warm up in cool weather. As butterflies & moths age, the color of the wings fades and the wings become ragged.
The speed varies among butterfly species (the poisonous varieties are slower than non – poisonous varieties). Like all insects, they have six- jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. The three body parts are the head, the thorax (the chest) , and the abdomen (the tail). The insect’s head is sometimes referred to as the head- capsule, and is the insect’s feeding and sensory centre. It supports the eyes, antennae and jaws of the insect. (Note: insects do not breathe through their mouths, but through their abdominal spiracles). The thorax consist of three segments, the "prothorax", "mesathorax", "metathorax". The abdomen is a roughly tubular structure made up of ten segments, the last two or three of which are modified into secondary reproductive organs.
In general butterflies have slender bodies, are brightly colored, and fly in the daytime. Moths have stout bodies, is dull colored, and fly at dusk or in the night time. Both larval and adult butterflies and moths are often highly colored. Sometimes the colors are bright and are intended to warn away potential predators. Often, this indicates that they taste bad to a predator. Other times the bright colors are meant to attract mates. Some are colored to look very much like a food plant in order to help the insect hide. Eggs of lepidoptera often have very elaborate shells, and may be either brightly colored or cryptic. The egg shell or chorion, are usually very hard to prevent predators from eating them.
There are, however, some brightly colored, slender – bodied moths, and conversely, there are butterflies, especially those in the family group known as " Skippers". The colors of butterflies may be divided into two classes, those caused by the pigments which are deposited in the scales, and those caused by interference with, or diffraction of light due to the nature of the construction of the scales, the so – called " structural colors". The fastest butterflies (some skippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 5 mph.
Butterflies go through a complete metamorphosis. This means that there are four separate stages, each of which looks completely different and serves a different purpose in the life of the insect. The four stages are; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The egg is a tiny, round, oval, or cylindrical object, usually with fine ribs and other microscopic structures. The larva is the long, wormlike stage of the butterfly or moth. The pupa is the transformation stage within which the caterpillar tissues are broken down and the adult insect’s structures are formed. The adult is the colorful butterfly or moth usually seen.
Butterflies and moths can only sip liquid food using a tube- like proboscis, which is a long, flexible "tongue". This proboscis uncoils to sip food, and coils up again into a spiral when not in use. Most butterflies live on nectar from flowers. Some butterflies sip the liquid from rotting fruits and a rare few prefer rotting animal flesh or animal fluids (the harvester butterfly pierces the bodies of wolly aphids with its sharp proboscis and drinks the body fluids).
Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforest. Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 different species of butterflies and moths. (there may be more). There are about 28,000 butterfly species worldwide, the rest are moths. Butterfly fossils are VERY hard to find.
Butterflies and moths can be difficult to find, but looking for known food plants makes the task easier. Different swallowtail caterpillars eat parsley, dill, citrus leaves and sometimes carrot greens. If milkweed grows in your area, monarch caterpillars will be on the plants in the spring or summer. Locate many large moth caterpillars like the tomato sphinx caterpillar by the frass below the plant they are eating. Carefully look above the piles of frass for damaged leaves and the caterpillar. Many caterpillars feed on large trees and locating them is next to impossible unless there is an infestation. Consult local gardeners, scientists and other resource people to find good places to find caterpillars.















Bibliography
Clarence Barnhart. The world book encyclopedia.
Doubleday & Company, Inc. Chicago, Illinois. 1964.
Halsey William and Shores Louis. Collier’s Encyclopedia. Crowell Collier and Macmillan, Inc. Great Britain. 1967.
Dictionary. " Butterfly". The Free Dictionary. 2007. http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly
HHMI. " where do butterlies come from?" .
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 2007. http://www. hhmi.org/coolscience/ butterfly/index.html
Sbordoni, Valerio and Foresterio, Saverio. Butterflies of the world. Firefly Books (U.S) Inc. Elliott Station Buffalo, New York. 1975
Wikipedia. " Butterfly". Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 2007. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki.buttrfly

10 Multiple Choice Questions 10/31/2007!

1. How many different cerci are there?
a. 1
b.2
c. 3
d. 4

2. The two name species is ?
a. binomial
b. linneaus
c. aristotle
d. carolus

3. Insects are aloud to have how many cerci at a time?
a. 2
b. 4
c. 6
d. 8

4. What type of antennae does dermoptera have?
a. filliform
b. monillaform
c. plumose
d. geniculate

5. How big can dermoptera get?
a. 10 -15 mm long
b. 5 -10 mm long
c. 2-5 mm long
d. 6 -8 mm long

6. The term for away from or distant from the body is?
a. ventral
b. anterior
c. posterior
d. distal

7. Protura has how many antennae?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. none

8. How does a praying mantis and a grass hopper differ?
a. predator and prey
b. they dont, their very much alike
c.
d.

Test Assignment

1. While we give lice blood meals, what do they give us?
A. antibiotics
B. energy
C. deadly diseases
D. protein

2. What type of heads do lice prefer?
A. dirty heads
B. clean heads
C. shaved heads
D. dyed heads

3. What can butterflies do with their legs.
A. feel
B. crawl
C. taste
D. eat

4. How many tagmas are there in insects.
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

5. How many tagmas are there in spiders.
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

6. What do bees eat?
A. human blood
B. honey
C. nectar
D. plant juices

7.




8.




9.






10.




Fill in the blank

1. There are more than _____ kinds of insects.
A. 500
B. 1,000
C.100,000,000
D. 500,000

2. Army ants travel in _____.
A. in pairs
B. in columns
C. by their self
D. in quads

3.

1.What is a grasshopper's lower lip called?
a. maxilla
b. labium
c. Labellum
d. hypopharynx


2. How many different mouth parts are there?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 7


3. The name of the upper lip is called?
a. labrum
b. labellum
c. labium
d. maxilla

4. Mandibles and Maxillae are shaped into?
a. short thin stylets
b. short thick stylets
c. long slender stylets
d. long thick stylets

5. House flys and Tsetse flys differ because?
a. Horse flys have a blade like mouth part and a Tsetse fly have teeth.
b. Horse flys slice the skin then sponge the blood up, and Tsetse cut the skin then suck up the blood.
c. Tsetse have a blade like mouth and a Horse fly have teeth.
d. Tsetse flys slices the skin then sponge the blood up, and House flys cut the skin then suck up the blood.

Study Questions #2

1. Name and describe 4 characteristics of insects.

An insect has an exoskeloton which is made up of chiton. Jointed appendages meaning jointed feet. A segmented body which it has 3: thorax, head, and the abdomen. All insects have only six legs . They all have two antennaes.


2. An insect's thorax is responsible for locomotion. Why is this? What are the different parts of the thorax that make this true and how do they work?

The thorax is responsible for locomotion, because the legs are attached to the thorax. The three parts of the thorax are the prothorax, mesothorax, and the metathorax. The prothorax holds the first pair of legs. The mesothorax holds the second pair of legs. The metathorax holds the third pair of legs.



3. Name and describe 4 different antennae types and an example of an insect with that type. Why do insects have different types of antennae?



Geniculate is a type of antennae that is shaped like an elbow. Example: Ant. Serrate is another type of antennae that is saw like. Ex.Click beetles. A type of antennae that has three segments is aristate. Ex. Blow flies. Another type of antennae is pectinate its shaped almost like a comb. Ex. Glow-worms. Last, but not least plumose its shaped like a feather. Ex. Luna moths. All insects have different kinds of antennaes, because they all do different things. Insects that move very fast need small antennaes, b/c if they had long ones they would get in their way. Insects that are small need long antennaes to sense their surroundings.


4. What is the largest insect? What is the smallest insect? Why are no insects larger than a toaster?

The largest insect in the world is a Goliath Beetle. They measure anywhere from 50 - 110 mm (2 to 4 1/3 inches ). The smallest insect in the world is the fairyfly. They measure 0.139 mm in length. If predation risk was to increase with insect size, it would make an extension of development very risky, favouring smaller final sizes.


5. Name and describe 3 ways that insects are beneficial to people. Name and describe 3 ways that insects are harmful to people.

The dung beetle is helpful to us by keeping the world clean form "poop". Alot of insects spread pollen from one plant to another.That's necessary for plants to produce fruit. Honeybees make honey. And silk worms make silk. One way that insects are harmful to people is lice pass on diseases to us. Another way is many people are allergic to bees.


6. Why are some insects' exoskeletons very rigid and others are so soft? Give an example of an insect with a hard exoskeleton and one with a soft exoskeleton.

Some insects have a hard exoskeleton, because it supports and protects the soft tissues of certain insects. The flexible joints in the exoskeleton of insects such as the ladybug allow great freedom of movement. An exoskeleton does not grow; it must be molted regularly and a new one secreted, at which time the insect is soft and vulnerable to both predators and environmental changes. An insects that has a hard exoskeleton is a beetle. A soft exoskeleton insect is a maggot.

1. Think about what you know about insects. Are insects arthropods? Explain why or why not. Please use specific examples of different arthropod characteristics to support your answer. Yes, Insects are Arthropods. They have a dorsal heart and a ventral nervous system. All arthropods are covered by a hard exoskeleton made of chitin. Sometimes it sheds its skin when it molts.

2. In the class lecture, it was said that Isopods are dorsoventrally compressed. What in the world does that mean? What are other things in nature that can be described as dorsoventrally compressed? Explain. Dorsoventrally compressed means that the body is flattened. Examples: pill bugs or sow bugs.

3. Do you eat anything that Isopods eat? What "foods" do you have in common with Isopods? What "foods" do you not have in common with Isopods? Elaborate please. Yes I eat fish, and sushi. Some other things that isopods eat that I don’t eat are wood.

4. Many female scorpions will carry their young on their back to protect them until the young are more able to protect them selves. What would life be like if human mothers and fathers carried all of their young around on their backs? How is this similar to what humans already do and how is it different? I think life would be completely different. I say that because it wouldn’t be as much trouble to get into, a mother would now where her child is. Most teens would have a job like they do now because after our parents leave their job they would have to " carry" us to our job. I don’t think it would be as many teenage mothers either.

5. Cathedral Termites build quite interesting homes for themselves. Pretend that you lived in a Cathedral Termite mound. What are the advantages and disadvantages of life in the mound? An advantage would be they use grass to keep cool, Some disadvantages would be that they use their "poop" because its like glue, (so imagine walking round an cathedral’s mound) and if it rained it would destroy their mound. Predators might come and destroy their mounds aswell and eat them also.

6. The Huntsman spider lives in Australia. Although it is quite large, the spider’s bite is essentially harmless. If this is true, how does the Huntsman spider cause harm to humans? Would the Huntsman spider affect you in the same way? It causes so much harm to people because, it scares people. Yes, it would affect me in the same way, because I am afraid of spiders and any other insects.