Litinsects

Litinsects #10: What is a bug? Raise your hand 🤚 if you’ve ever used the words “insect” and “bug” interchangeably? I hate to break it to you, but you probably haven’t been using the word bug correctly. You see, bugs are a kind of insect but NOT ALL INSECTS ARE BUGS! TRUE BUGS make up an order called HEMIPTERA. They can vary widely in their appearance but all share one basic feature: mouthparts modified into a stylet-like ROSTRUM, as you can see on the specimens pictured. Don’t worry, this isn’t some mutant species of legless bug, I just removed the legs so the entire rostrum is easily visible. Now let’s learn some more about TRUE BUGS: Examples of Hemiptera include: aphids, stink bugs, cicadas, bed bugs, scale insects, planthoppers, shield bugs, and assassin bugs Hemipterans use their piercing sucking mouthparts to feed on a variety of fluids. Most are plant-eaters, using their rostrum to pierce leaf cells and extract plant sap. Some are predatory w...

A general overview of arthropod body plans and phylogeny (relationships) of the four extant groups. <https://dev.biologists.org/content/129/5/1225/F1> Litinsects #6: What defines an insect? I realize I’ve been throwing around words like arthropod and insect but maybe not everyone knows how these groups are related. Today I'm going through some classification basics. First off, insects are ARTHROPODS, meaning they have paired JOINTED LIMBS. Arthropods include 5 main subgroups: (Future posts will go into each of the other arthropod groups in more detail...) (1) Trilobites, which are extinct (2) Chelicerates, which include spiders, scorpions, and mites (3) Myriapods, consisting of millipedes and centipedes (4) Crustaceans, including lobsters, crabs, and barnacles (5) Hexapods, the group to which insects belong Arthropods have a hard EXOSKELETON made of chitin that supports and protects the body. All arthropods grow by MOLTING, a process by which the...