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STATION ONE: AMAZING ANATOMY
Label the indicated parts on the insect.
a) Arthropod exoskeletons are made with a material called ___________, which is only used by arthropods and fungi.
b) Where on the body are an insect’s legs and wings attatched?
c) Which order does the insect in the diagram belong to?
d) This insect’s front legs are arranged in a very particular way. What function might that serve for the insect?
e) Insects don’t have lungs like mammals do – so how do they get oxygen? (Hint: it has to do with a part of the anatomy that is labelled here!) STATION TWO: OUT OF ORDER
Identify the order and family of each insect.
A: B: C:
D:
E:
F:
G: H:
I:
a) Which two of these insects are in the same order?
b) What feature of insect H is its order named after?
c) Why does insect G have yellow and black stripes?
STATION THREE: THE INSECT NURSERY
Below are several pictures of insect young. Some are holometabolous , meaning they are larvae that will turn into a pupa and go through complete metamorphasis into an adult. Others are hemimetabolous , meaning they are nymphs that will eventually molt into an adult. Which are which? A:
What kind of mouthparts do each of the following insects have? Not every answer must be used, and any may be used more than once.
MOUTHPART TYPES:
1 Chewing 2 Piercing-sucking 3 Sponging 4 Siphoning 5 Cutting 6 Lapping A: B: C: D:
E: F: G:
a) What type of mouthparts do almost all insect young have?
b) Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are very short-lived and don’t feed as adults, so their mouthparts are considered _____________.
c) What type of food might an insect eat if it had the listed type of mouthparts?
a. Chewing:
b. Piercing-sucking:
c. Siphoning: STATION FIVE: FLY FEVER
a) This fly (left) is a major blood-sucking pest and is responsible for spreading many deadly diseases such as malaria across the globe. What is its common name? Which family does it belong to?
b) This fly (right) is a common pollinator and is often mistaken for a bee. What is its common name? Which family does it belong to?
Indicate whether the following are true flies (order Diptera). If they aren’t, write the
correct order. A: B: C:
D:
E:
STATION SIX: TICK-TOCK
a) Name the class and order of this animal, and the common name of the species pictured to the right.
b) How does this creature latch onto its host and feed without the host noticing?
Label the indicated body parts on the diagram.
C:
D:
B:
E:
STATION EIGHT: YOU’RE BUGGING ME!
“Bug” is a bit of a misnomer – people call all kinds of arthropods bugs, but the only “true” bugs are those belonging to the order Hemiptera.
a) Hemiptera is one of the insect clades with the most diverse body plans. What one feature do they all share?
b) There are two groups within Hemiptera: homoptera and heteroptera. What feature is used to distinguish these two groups?
c) Aphids (family Aphididae) are a true bug and a common agricultural pest. Why are they so harmful to crops? What’s a natural control method used by some gardeners? STATION NINE: BUZZ BUZZ, WIGGLE WAGGLE
The insect pictured on the right live together in large colonies where they all have specialized functions.
a) Which order and family do these insects belong to?
b) Workers in these colonies find food for the colony, and to tell the others where to find it they engage in a unique type of communication. What is it? What can it tell the others about the food source?
c) Many species of beetles, butterflies, and other insects have bright red coloration despite not being able to see the color red. Why would they have red coloration?
d) The insect on the right makes noise using a process called stridulation. How does it work?
Describe the body parts used in making the noise and the mechanism.
e) Why would this insect engage in stridulation? STATION TEN: BEETLEMANIA
a) Beetles are generally identified by what common feature?
b) This picture shows a bombardier beetle. Name the family it belongs to.
c) The bombardier beetle is best known for its unique defense it has against predators. Describe this defense mechanism.
d) Aside from the measure described above, these animals can also just fly away. Why did they evolve another defense? (How could their defense be better than flying or help them fly away more easily?)
The following grain-eating beetle is both helpful and harmful to humans.
e) Give the family and common name of this insect.
f) These are a useful model organism that scientists use to conduct research. Why are they a good animal to grow in a lab?
g) The larvae of these insects are also helpful, being a nutritious food for both people and animals. What are the larvae called?
h) Unfortunately, these beetles are also a pest. What problem do they pose for humans? (Hint: it has to do with their common name!)
a) Two of these insects belong to the same order. Circle them. STATION TWELVE: MUDDY BUDDIES
a) Like many other types of animals, some species of insects spend the cold-weather months underground and slow down their metabolism in a process called ______________. b) Pictured is an underground nest built by insects. Which family are those insects in?
c) What are some advantages of an insect colony establishing a nest underground?
d) Write the class and order of the arthropod shown on the left.
e) These hexapods are named after the structure on the bottom of their abdomen (indicated in the image). What is that structure called? What is its function?
f) Write the order of the creature shown on the right.
g) The arthropod on the right is characterized by two “tails” that protrude from the end of their abdomen. What are these called?
h) Based on their habitat, what do you think these arthropods might eat? What purpose do they serve in their ecosystem?
