Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

As we have talked about in class before, the order Coleopteran is the largest and most diverse family in all of the animal kingdom, with this large extent of diversity within the family there are is an array of ecosystems and habitats that coleopterans can survive in, this includes both terrestrial species as well as aquatic species in both larval and adult stages.  Coleopterans that live in these aquatic situations are commonly known as, “water beetles”.  There are estimated to be over twenty four thousands species of beetles, and that’s only in North America! Of those twenty four thousand, roughly one thousand of those coleopterans are aquatic beetles, considering that they live there adult stage aquatically, like other insects a large amount of coleopterans larvae are aquatic yet this doesn’t mean they are “aquatic beetles”.(Voshell)  All water beetles go through complete metamorphosis, as we all should know this means the insect has a larval, pupal, and adult stage i...

Chemical Communication When talking about insect communication and chemical signaling, it is important to know the two types of chemical signals: interspecific chemicals and intraspecific chemicals. Interspecific chemical signaling is when different species can communicate to one another, but intraspecific chemical signals only allow communication within a certain species. Intraspecific Intraspecific chemical signaling allows members within a species to communicate to one another as they go about their daily lives. Communication is important in the lives of insects, and there are many different reasons why insects use chemical signals. Intraspecific signals are used for locating members of the opposite sex for mating, giving directions for food, warnings for danger and communicating position. For instance, ants are very well known for their good communication. They use chemical signals to help find food, defend against attackers to their colony and protect and te...