The Blattodea group of insects known as cockroaches (or roaches) includes all of the group’s members with the exception of termites. Cockroaches are a very old species; its “roachoids” ancestors emerged around 320 million years ago, during the Carboniferous epoch. But unlike modern roaches, these primitive relatives lacked the internal ovipositors. Cockroaches, being rather generalist […]
The name for their family is called Dynastinae, or rhinoceros beetles (Scarabaeidae). There are 225 genera and more than 1500 species of rhinoceros beetles. Numerous rhinoceros beetles are renowned for their distinctive forms and enormous sizes. Exoskeleton Herbivorous rhinoceros beetles get their name from the horn-like protrusion on and near the males’ heads. The majority
Rhinoceros Beetles Read More »
An isopod crustacean belonging to the polyphyletic suborder Oniscidea of the order Isopoda is referred to as a woodlouse (plural woodlice). They are frequently found in old wood, which gives them their name. While the oldest known fossils date from the Cretaceous era, it is believed that the first woodlice were marine isopods that colonized
Ants, which belong to the Formicidae family of eusocial insects, have waist-mounted nodes that resemble nodes and geniculate (elbowed) antennae. Ants create colonies made up of soldiers, wingless sterile females, and other specialized groupings. In some colonies, there are also one or more fertile females called “queens,” as well as fertile males known as “drones.”
Mealworms are the larval stage of Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle that feeds on yellow mealworms. They go through the same four life phases as all holometabolic insects: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The average length of a larva is 2.5 centimeters (0.98 in), while the average adult is 1.25 to 1.8 centimeters
Crickets are orthopteran insects, distantly related to grasshoppers and bush crickets. Older writers, like Imms, categorized “crickets” at the family level (i.e., Gryllidae), whereas modern experts, like Otte, now categorize them in the superfamily Grylloidea. The phrase has been combined to refer to taxa in the suborder Ensifera that are more distantly related, like king
The largest group of insects is the Coleoptera, which includes beetles. About 40% of all known insect species are beetles, which have 350,000 different identified species. An estimated 800,000 to 1 million species are alive today. Beetles are found practically everywhere, although not in the ocean or in extreme cold climates like Antarctica. Early in
Over 2,400 species of insects make up the order (Mantodea) of mantises, which is divided into 33 families and 460 genera. The Mantidae is the largest family (“mantids”). Mantises are found in both temperate and tropical settings all over the planet. They have flexible necks and triangular heads with protruding eyes. Mantodea may or may
The largest class of myriapods are millipedes, which are arthropods having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments. Diplopoda contain about 12,000 identified species that are divided into 16 orders and 140 families. Slow-moving detritivores known as millipedes consume rotting leaves and other types of dead plant material. Some may develop into pests
The stick insect, as its name suggests, resembles the twigs that it lives amid, giving it one of the most effective natural camouflages on Earth. It and the similarly unnoticeable leaf insect make up the Phasmatodea order, which comprises over 6,000 species. Threats to Life Stick insects are poorly understood, thus it is challenging to