Other Insects
Blattodea (=Blattaria)
The Cockroaches
Cockroaches evolved very early in Earth's zoological history, sometime in the Carboniferous period, about 345 million years ago. They share a common lineage with early Orthopterans, apparent by the ovipositors present in ancient cockroach fossils. They have changed little since branching off to form their own order, about 300 million years ago. Roaches have become a very successful group of insects and can be found almost everywhere on land that there is organic matter for them to feed on (except Antarctica). They were gifted with an elegant biological design, one that has endured through generation after generation of cockroaches without number.
Their long antennae bear an array of sense hairs. These bristles, which detect moisture and pressure, also serve as the basis for the senses of sight, taste, and touch. Bristle-studded maxillary palpi sample molecules of potential food on an even deeper level, checking for toxic compounds. Vibration sensors in the knees and pressure-sensitive hairs on the legs can trigger nerve impulses to run in about half a second; faster than a human can blink.
Although there are thousands of different species of cockroaches that do not interact with humans, a few have managed to exploit human settlements as a source of food and shelter. The German and American Cockroaches have become the insect equivalent of the rat and the mouse; easily moving into artificial, indoor environments and the network of underground tunnels beneath cities, they thrive off the leavings of humans gathered in these close quarters.
Spread out among the far-flung corners of the Earth, the other nearly 3,500 species eke out a living in a myriad of other ways. Many species live in caves, beneath ground litter and in other dark places or else are completely nocturnal. Their aversion to light earned them the Latin name "Blatta", meaning, "insect that shuns light". In fact, there are roaches that live in hollow logs eating rotten wood (Cryptocercus spp.) that are quite possibly the ancestors of termites. Conversely, there are roaches that live high up in the canopies of rainforests, their lifecycles linked to the pollinating of flowers. There are roaches that swim through desert sand, roaches that can roll up into balls like armadillos and roaches that mimic beetles. There are roaches in the Neotropics that are 9cm (3.5”) in length and look almost exactly the way roaches looked 300 million years ago (Megaloblatta longipennis). Tough little critters, some roach species are capable of surviving for a few days with their head cut off (the insect eventually dies of dehydration). Some species can go a month without water and three months without food. Cockroaches are hemimetabolous (exhibiting incomplete metamorphosis) but growth rates vary. German cockroaches can reproduce rapidly, the young maturing in a few months, while giant cockroaches may take several years to mature.
Dermaptera
The Earwigs
The Earwigs are ancient ancestors of the Orthoptera. They first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic, about 208 million years ago. They are easily recognized by their abdominal pincers, which are actually single-segment creci. While they are not dangerous, large specimens can give a good pinch with their cerci and are also able to use them to capture prey.
The ordinal name, Dermaptera, comes from the Greek words for "skin-wing", indicating the short, leathery fore wings (tegmina) which conceal the delicate, semi-circular wings used for flight. Some species are wingless and have evolved to become parasites on the bodies of bats and giant South African pouched rats. However, most are associated with soil or plants, feeding omnivorously. Females contruct underground nesting chambers where they lay their eggs. They exhibit remarkable parental care and will guard the eggs and hatchlings until they can fend for themselves.
The earwigs body form, slender and elongate, allows it to fit into small crevices. Its love of tight spaces has given rise to the common name “earwig”, based on the notion of them nesting in a humans’ ear (and boring into the brain, to be sure). We feel the need to dispel the urban myths and let you know that you are not in danger of having them nest in your ears. Many insects like to hide in tight spots and do occasional wind up in people' ears (this is a common occurrence with cockroaches). The earwigs preference for tight spots has invariable led to it being removed from the auditory canals of humans on occasion, especially where humanity lives in squalor. Earwigs are common in the temperate zones of the world and very abundant in the tropics. They are hemimetabolous (exhibiting incomplete metamorphosis), with wingless nymphs that resemble the adults. There are about 1,200 described species.
Grylloblattodea
The Icebugs AKA Rock Crawlers
Discovered in 1914 in the mountains of Canada, members of the Grylloblattodea are not present in the fossil record. They share physical characteristics with several different kinds of insects, their ordinal name being derived from the Greek words “gryll’ (cricket) and “blatta” (cockroach). These hemimetabolous insects are believed by some to be a family within the Orthoptera (Grylloblattidae) while some researchers (e.g., Vrsansky et al. 2001) consider Grylloblattids to be related to the archaic Protorthoptera complex, dating back to the Carboniferous. Called rock crawlers or icebugs, this small and obscure group of insects is found only at high elevations in the mountains of China, Siberia, Japan, and northwestern North America. Cave-dwelling species have been found in Korea and Japan. These omnivorous insects scavenge for food on the surface of snow and ice, as well as under rocks, logs and ground litter near permanent ice fields. They are active only at cold temperatures and move downward toward permafrost during warm seasons.
No Specimen Images Available At This Time
Hemiptera
The Bugs
The Hemiptera, for some reason, get the distinction of being dubbed "bugs". While the word "bug" is generally used to describe any or all arthropods, in binomial nomenclature it refers specifically to the Hemiptera. An incredibly diverse group of insects, they feed with the aid of piercing mouthparts enclosed in a beak-like rostrum, on both plants and animals. They have been broken into four suborders: Heteroptera (the true bugs), Auchenorrhyncha (the cicadas, lanternflies and hoppers), Sternorrhyncha (the aphids and scales), and Coleorrhyncha (the moss bugs). The ordinal name Hemiptera, is derived from Greek words meaning “half-wing”. Hemiptera appear in the fossil record during the Permian (280-225 million years ago). There are about 82,000 known species with more being described all the time.
Isoptera
The Termites
The marvelous and highly social termites evolved from cockroaches some 220 million years ago, during the early Mesozoic or late Paleozoic. This close relationship with roaches can be seen through the comparison of the primitive Australian Darwin Termite and the colonial Wood-eating Cockroachs (Cryptocercidae). Wood-eating Cockroachs live in galleries they excavates in rotten logs and share many things in common with the Darwin Termite. Similar features include; the structure of the wings, genitalia and jaws; the arrangement of eggs when laid; and the presence of symbiotic protozoa in their guts which enables them to digest the cellulose in wood. Termites are the only insects with a general ability to digest cellulose; the main chemical constituent of plants but also the most difficult to digest. Termites have been able to do this by entering into symbiotic relationships with ancient forms of life. There are about 2,230 described species of termites, all living a variety of lifestyles adapted to consume cellulose with the aid of protists, bacteria and fungus. Truth is stranger than fiction in the realm of the termite. True, some are capable of damaging wooden structures if the conditions are right, but many prefer to live elsewhere and instead create some of the most amazing examples of non-human architecture on Earth. Found on the savannas of Africa, there are mounds that rise up as tall as 7.5m (25’), the human equivalent of which has yet to be constructed. Well known for their engineering capabilities, termites fashion structures of profound complexity. It is still not known how they can do this. Some termites are colored various shades of brown but many, adapted to a subterranean life, have pale, transparent bodies. This, coupled with their frequent habit of living in the earth, earned them the archaic name “white ant”. Termite colonies are all uniformly hierarchical: a queen, with her diminutive king, “rules” over a population that is mostly workers. The workers are guarded over by a soldier caste that is unable to feed itself and is therefore dependent on the workers in turn. Species reproduction is carried out by the queen who will occasionally create a batch of sexual alates. The word Isoptera is derived from the Greek words for "equal-wing", making reference to the winged males and females which emerge at certain times of the year for their nuptial flights. After flying a distance from their old colonies, they shed their wings, pair off and set up new colonies.
Mantodea
The Mantids
The word “mantis” is of Greek origin, meaning prophet, or diviner. At some point in time the word was linked to an insect of distinct appearance, an insect whose aspect is that of constant prayer or absolution: The Praying Mantis. The name should have been “Preying Mantis” because this meditative pose is assumed as the mantis hunts for food. Its forelegs, modified into killing claws armed with spikes, are unique in form and define members of the order Mantodea. Sharing many similarities with cockroaches, perhaps even evolving from them (historical records are poor and the earliest known fossil mantis dates back only about 36-25 million years, from the Oligocene period), the mantids became distinct by exhibiting entirely carnivorous behavior. Fearless hunters, they possess excellent eyesight and are keenly aware of their surroundings, actively pursuing or ambushing their prey. Since they spend most of their time stalking potential quarry on foliage, many species mimic leaves, bark, twigs and flowers. Those mantids that inhabit arid lands and hunt on the ground will often mimic stones. Other arthropods (whatever can be subdued) make up the bulk of an average mantis’ diet, but large tropical species (15cm/6”) are capable of capturing and consuming small birds and reptiles. All mantids are notorious for eating each other. This tendency towards cannibalism may be responsible for their solitary existences. This cannibalism may also play an important role in mating, as the males of some species have been reported to perform better sexually after their head has been eaten (Ladies, please don't try this at home!). Another thing unique to mantids is their ootheca, or egg case: females lay eggs in a frothy mass, which hardens on contact with the air. Mantids exhibit incomplete metamorphosis with the nymphs usually emerging as wingless miniatures of the adults, ready to stalk and hunt. In some tropical species, the young mantids resemble ants for the first two instars, later molting into the colors of the adult. There are around 1,800 known species of mantids.
Mantophasmatodea
The Gladiators AKA Heelwalkers
The last order to be described, the Mantophasmatodea came to light in 2002. Misidentified, sometimes as immature mantids, they had actually been collected prior to their “discovery” and stored in many museum collections, one dating back to 1890. In aspect, they are sort of a cross between a mantid and a walkingstick (as the ordinal name implies). They are carnivorous and feed on other insects but are small, only a few centimeters (1”-2”) in length. Their size generally forces them to stay hidden at the bases of the plants amongst which they hunt. The common name “heelwalker” is derived from their habit of keeping the tarsal segments up in the air at all times; the name “gladiator” references the armor-plated look of these fierce little insects. The female has a well-developed ovipositor (egg-laying tube) and all instars have long cerci. They are considered the smallest order of insects, with only 13 species known (two of these are based on specimens preserved in Baltic amber about 40-45 million years old). So far, living members of this order have been found only in the Brandberg and Erongo Mountains of Namibia and the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
No Specimen Images Available At This Time
Microcoryphia (=Archaeognatha)
The Jumping Bristletails
The jumping bristletails can be found, by day, hiding in rock crevices or under bark. They emerge at night to feed on algae, lichens and vegetable matter, both alive and dead. Primitive insects, perhaps dating back as far as the Devonian period (390 million years ago), they are a little more advanced than the Thysanurans yet still retain some very primitive features. They have compound eyes that are enlarged and medially contiguous (these strange-looking eyes glow at night when illuminated). Their abdominal segments bear styles, which are small appendages that may be remnants of ancestral limbs. Their thorax is arched and they have the ability to jump through the rapid downward flexing of the abdomen. Even the name Archeognatha is derived from Greek words referencing the creature's primitive design: "archeo" -ancient, and "gnatha"-jaw. It refers to the manner in which the mandibles connect with the head capsule, restricting them to articulating at only one point (the current ordinal name "Microcoryphia" means "small head"). Jumping bristletail eggs are scattered about singly (often disguised with bits of plants or soil) or laid in small groups of up to 30 eggs. Copulation consists of males producing a spermatophore, which they give to a female after sometimes-elaborate courtship rites. Jumping bristletails occur all over the world in a variety of habitats, from high on mountains to just above the high tide line in coastal areas. There are only about 250 species known.
No Specimen Images Available At This Time
Thysanura (=Zygentoma)
The Bristletails, Silverfish and Firebrats
Thysanurans, or three-pronged bristletails, are the order believed to be the link between ancient wingless insects and the more evolved winged insects. Thysanurans probably resemble the first insects that ever existed and specimens have been found preserved in rocks dating back to the Carboniferous period (345 million years ago). They are small insects measuring up to 50mm (less than 2”), most of that length its “tail”. In fact, the ordinal name Thysanura is derived from the Greek words "thysano-", (fringed) and "ura" (tail). In addition to having an abdomen ending in three “tails” (which are actually two cerci and a telson), they also have long filiform antennae. There are two families of Thysanurans: the Lepismatidae and the Nicoletiidae. The Nicoletiidae are tiny (7-18mm), have no eyes and can only be found within the nests of ants and termites. The Lepismatidae have small compound eyes and, in some species, the bodies are covered in scales. Fragile insects, they spend most of their life concealed beneath or within houses, ground litter, stones, logs, bark, soil, and almost any dark place where food can be found. Commonly referred to as silverfish (AKA fishmoths), they are fast-running insects that emerge after dark to search for food. They survive on a wide range of nourishment, including fungal hyphae (mycelium), algae, lichens, fallen fruit and starchy vegetable matter. A few species are resistant to desiccation and are well adapted to survive in man-made environments. Some pest species, called firebrats, are found in areas of intense heat (like bakeries and kitchens), while other species of Thysanurans are able to survive in deserts. There are about 700 known species.
