The Insects — an Outline of Entomology
1 : The importance, diversity, and conservation of insects
Curiosity alone concerning the identities and lifestyles of the fellow inhabitants of our planet justifies the study of insects. Some of us ...
2 : External anatomy
Insects are segmented invertebrates that possess the articulated external skeleton (exoskeleton) characteristic of all arthropods. Groups are ...
3 : Internal anatomy and physiology
What you see if you dissect open the body of an insect is a complex and compact masterpiece of functional design. Figure 3.1 ...
4 : Sensory systems and behavior
In the opening chapter of this book we suggested that the success of insects derives at least in part from their ability ...
5 : Reproduction
Most insects are sexual and thus mature males and females must be present at the same time and place for reproduction to take place.
6 : Insect development and life histories
In this chapter we discuss the pattern of growth from egg to adult — the ontogeny — and life histories of insects. The ...
7 : Insect systematics: phylogeny and classification
Because there are so many guides to the identity and classification of birds, mammals, and flowers, it is tempting to think that ...
8 : Insect biogeography and evolution
The insects have had a long history since the divergence of the Hexapoda from the Crustacea many millions of years ago. In this time the ...
9 : Ground-dwelling insects
A profile of a typical soil shows an upper layer of recently derived vegetational material, termed litter, overlying more decayed ...
10 : Aquatic insects
Every inland waterbody, whether a river, stream, seepage, or lake, supports a biological community. The most familiar components often are the ...
11 : Insects and plants
Insects and plants share ancient associations that date from the Carboniferous, some 300 million years ago (Fig. 8.1). Evidence preserved ...
12 : Insect societies
The study of insect social behaviors is a popular entomological topic and there is a voluminous literature, ranging from the popular ...
13 : Insect predation and parasitism
We saw in Chapter 11 that many insects are phytophagous, feeding directly on primary producers, the algae and higher plants. These ...
14 : Insect defense
Although some humans eat insects (section 1.6), many “western” cultures are reluctant to use them as food; this aversion extends no further ...
15 : Medical and veterinary entomology
Aside from their impact on agricultural and horticultural crops, insects impinge on us mainly through the diseases they can transmit to humans ...
16 : Pest management
Insects become pests when they conflict with our welfare, aesthetics, or profits. For example, otherwise innocuous insects can provoke severe allergic ...
