Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening

Managing Arthropod Pests

Unit 1.8 | 19
Instructor’s Lecture 2 Outline

Lecture 2: The Biology and Ecology of Arthropods

for the instructor

A. Basic Biology and Ecology of Arthropods

1. Taxonomic context

a) Systematics defined

b) Taxonomy and taxonomic organization of insects

Example:

Kingdom (Animalia)

            Phylum  (Arthropoda)    



                            Class   (Hexapoda   =   Insects)



                                            Order   (Hemiptera  =   true    bugs)



                                                            Family  (Miridae)

Genus (Lygus)

Species (hesperus)

Common name = lygus bug

c) Orders of the class Hexapoda

i. 659 families for North America north of Mexico

ii. Family designation and the biology of an insect

iii. Example: “hover flies” (family Syrphidae) are predators on other insects

iv. Variation within families

2. Insect and spider body plans (illustrate with slides, transparencies, Powerpoint)

a) Head and mouthparts; thorax; abdomen

b) Circulatory system

c) Respiratory system

3. Insect development

a) Metamorphosis

b) “Primitive” metamorphosis

c) “Incomplete” metamorphosis

d) “Complete” metamorphosis

e) Life cycles of insects

i. Eggs

ii. Larvae/nymphs

iii. Larvae

iv. Pupae

· Diapause

4. Basic ecological categories

a) Trophic levels

i. Scavengers/Detritivores

ii. Herbivores

iii. Predators

iv. Parasitoids

v. Hyperparasitoids

b) Functional groups