Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

Insect social behavior among their own individual species consists of different actions that fall into one of three categories: Solitary Subsocial Eusocial Socialty Among Insects Entomology Info To dig deep into Eusocial behavior, we will take a closer look at termites and how their hierarchy works. While every species of termite behave in ways unique to them, there are several commonalities in the way that they work together to ensure the success of the colony. The Reproducer of the colony(the queen) lays several thousand eggs within her lifetime and these eggs receive special care. Workers in the colony are blind, unable to produce offspring, and fill a very specific role in the colony. Workers take the queen's eggs and stack them together in large amounts, sometimes up to 500 eggs or more! While the eggs are sitting through their approximate 15 day hatch time, the workers are consistently moving them, turning them, and cleaning them. Work...

Coloration in Insects Across plant and animal species there are a variety of different color traits, all of which can be used to analyze their abilities of evading predators or attacking prey. Coloration is a key component in the survival and persistence of many insect species. Once type of coloration that may protect a species from becoming prey is camouflage, also known as cryptic coloration. These insects are often the same color as their most common surroundings. This helps prey blend into their environment and avoid being eaten. Some examples of camouflaged insects include:  Stick Bugs (Phasmatodea) Photo:   Brian Gratwicke /Flickr Common Baron Caterpillar ( Euthalia aconthea) Photo: wohinauswandern/Flickr Katydid (Tettigoniidae) Photo: yeomans/Flickr Insects can also exhibit warning coloration meaning that their coloring can be aposematic and serve as an off putting distraction to an predators who come near it. It is...

Invasive Pests are the Best! We chose to do our blog post over the topic of invasive species. The first question that might arise is what exactly qualifies an insect species to be considered “invasive”. The U.S Forest Service defines an invasive species as one that is both nonnative to the ecosystem in which it is found and capable of causing environmental, economic, or human harm (U.S Forest Service, 2015). Invasive species often compete so successfully in new ecosystems that they displace native species and disrupt important ecosystem processes. We have discussed a few invasive species in class already, but there are hundreds of other species out there in the world today that are already causing much harm to agriculture and the environment around them. One specific species of invasive insects that we have already talked a little about in class is the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata ), also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-li...