Week 2 - Evolution and Insect Products Flashcards
1
Q
Insect Evolution: Key Points
A
- Natural Selection
- Importance of Paleoentomology
- Evolutionary Time frames
- Important Events
2
Q
Importance of DNA
A
DNA is the “ladder of life”, can change on a continuous basis, adapting to new environments
3
Q
Charles Darwin
A
- Defined our current understanding of species evolution and natural selection
- British, lived in 1800’s
- Interested in botany and entomology
- Wrote “The Origin of Species” 1859
4
Q
Alfred Russell Wallace
A
- Independently concluded that evolution happens through natural selection
- British, lived in 1800’s
- Interested in botany and entomology
5
Q
Definition of Natural Selection (Darwin)
A
The principle by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved.
6
Q
Evolution via Natural Selection
A
- “Survival of the Fittest”
- “survival” = getting your genes into the next generation
- “fittest” = those who are able to get their genes into the next generation
7
Q
Natural Selection: Selective Pressure
A
Forces (usually environmental change) that select in favor of individuals best suited to survive the change, and against those who are not able to.
8
Q
Natural Selection: Differential Reproduction (the 5 Principles of Natural Selection: Natality, Variability, Survivorship, Heritability, Time)
A
- Natality - more individuals are born into a generation than will survive and reproduce
- Variability - there is variation between individuals in any given population
- Survivorship - individuals with certain characteristics have a better chance of surviving and passing along their genes
- Heritability - some of the characteristics responsible for differential reproduction are genetically mediated
- Time - enormous amount of time are involved in evolutionary change
9
Q
Paleoentomology
A
- Bugs don’t make good fossils; only about 1% of Class Insecta has a fossil record
- Best-preserved insect fossils are in ambers
- Fossils show 55 extinct orders of insects
- Fossils can be used to trace insect evolution
10
Q
Paleoentomology: Phylogeny
A
A “family tree” based on morphological and structural similarities between groups, establishing an ancestral lineage, providing an understanding of how all living things are connected.
11
Q
Time Frames (micro-evolution, speciation, macro-evolution)
A
- Micro-evolution - changes in populations over decades
- Speciation - changes that result in new species over hundreds of thousands of years
- Macro-evolution - major changes in phylogenetic patterns over long time scales (millions of years) and broad geographic regions
12
Q
Important Events (8 major periods in earth evolution)
A
- Earth - 4.5 billion years old
- Precambrian era (prokaryotes) - 3.1 bya
- Cambrian era (metazoans) - 600 mya; first abundant fossils
- Silurian Period - 425 mya; invasion of land by arthropods
- Devonian Period - 400 mya; first true insects
- Carboniferous Period - 345 mya; first great radiation of insects
- Cretaceous Period - 135 mya; second great radiation of insects
- Tertiary Period - 63 mya; dominance of land by mammals, birds, and insects
- Quaternary Period - 2 mya; first Homo
13
Q
Important Events: When/how insects evolved
A
- Evolved from the Annelids (worms)
- Evolved 400 mya
- Devonian Period
14
Q
Oldest Insect orders
A
- Apterygotes (wingless)
- Thysanura (bristle tails and silverfish)
- Collembola (spring tails)
15
Q
Most Advanced Insect Orders
A
- Coleoptera - 250,000 species
- Lepidoptera - 120,000 species
- Hymenoptera - 89,000 species
- Diptera - 78,000 species
16
Q
Important Events: Big 4 (origin, wings, flexion, metamorphosis)
A
- Origin of insects - 400 mya
- Wings (paleopterous) - 350 mya
- Wing flexion/folding (neopterous) - 300 mya
- Complete metamorphosis - 290 mya
17
Q
Insect Products: Key Concepts
A
What are the following, and who makes them?
- Sericulture by moths
- Lac by scale insects
- Paper and Ink by wasps
18
Q
Instar
A
a developmental stage of arthropods (like insects), between each molt until maturity is reached
19
Q
Filature
A
process of drawing fibers into threads, esp the process of reeling raw silk from cocoons
20
Q
Sericulture: who makes
A
- Made by Giant Silkworm moth family
- Silkworm moths from Order Lepidoptera
- The “commercialized” silkworm moth species is Bombyx mori (native of Asia)
21
Q
Sericulture: definition and origin
A
- The propagation of silkworm moths and their host plants.
* Started in China about 4000 years ago, spread to Japan about 2100 years ago, and Europe about 1500 years ago
22
Q
Sericulture: process
A
- Adults mate
- Females lay eggs on paper
- Instar larvae feed on mulberry leaves
- Mature larvae spin cocoons
- The cocoons then undergo filature
- End product is silk
23
Q
Lac: what is it, and origin
A
- A resin produced in flaky layers or shells, and used to make varnish, phonographic records, insulation, and other things.
- Process developed by Maya and Aztec
24
Q
Lac: what makes it
A
- Made by scale insects, Order Homoptera, Family Coccidae
- 2000 species
- Have a phytophageous life style (“sap tappers”)
25
Lac: scale insects of economic importance
* LAC scale
* Cactus scale (for Cochineal dye)
* Kermes scale (for Kermes dye)
26
Lac: about the Cochineal (from cactus scale)
* Females are wingless, males are winged
* Feed on cactus
* Native to S America and Mexico
27
Lac: how it is made
* Females produce carminic acid as defense, extracted from bodies and eggs
* Cochineal extract - raw coloring made from crushed insects
* Carmine - purified coloring made by boiling the crushed insects with solvents
* Used to color food, makeup, cloth, wool, paint, ink
* 155,000 insects used to make one kg of dye
28
Paper and ink: wasps
* Order Hymenoptera, Family Vespidae
* Social wasps: yellow jackets and hornets
* Evolved about 70 mya
29
Paper and ink: nests
* Made out of cellulose, similar to paper
30
Paper origin
* Developed in China about 1800 years ago
* 800's in Arab world
* Moorish Spain - 1150 AD
* England - 1590 AD
31
Ink
* Produced from oak galls
32
Galls
* Physical growth by a plant in response to an insect laying eggs in the plant tissue, in this case a wasp of Genus Cynips gallae-tinctoriae
* Oak leaves develop galls from gall wasp
33
Products of the Hive: Key Points
* History of Beekeeping
* Modern Apiculture (removable frames, bee space)
* Honeybee Products (honey, beeswax, pollen, venom, royal jelly, pollination services)
34
History of Beekeeping
* Prehistoric man collected honey
* Oldest apiculture records are Egyptian
* Honeybees were brought to Western Hemisphere in 1622
* Before 1853, hives used were called "skep" hives, the cone-shaped/"wound" hives; harvest was destructive and inefficient
35
Primary bee specie
* Apis mellifera
* 2 biotypes used: European and African
* 27 subspecies in the world
36
Apiculture
The management of honeybees
37
Modern Apiculture
* Began 1853 with publication of "The Hive and the Honeybee" by L.L. Langstroth, considered the "father" of modern beekeeping
* Established bee space, top-opening hives, and removable frames
38
Bee Space
Between 1/4" and 3/8"; too much space and they attach combs to the walls, too little, and they don't create combs
39
Honey: constitution
About 17% water, 82.5% sugar (glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose), .5% protein/vitamins/minerals
40
Honey: how it's produced
* Produced from plant nectar, mostly from flowers.
* Nectar comes from phloem sap, a dilute solution of sucrose
* For bees to make the honey, the nectar is dehydrated and undergoes enzymatic "inversion", breaking sucrose down into glucose and fructose
41
Honey: uses
* First sweetener
* First alcoholic beverage (mead)
* US produces 200 million pounds per year (2 billion lbs worldwide)
* US consumption: 1 lb/person/yr (Germany = 4)
* Also used in pharmacy and cosmetics
42
Beeswax: uses
* Cosmetics
* Candles
* Beekeeping uses
43
Beeswax: how it's produced
* Comes from 4 pairs of sub-dermal glands underneath abdomen of worker bees.
* Produced when bees 10-18 days old
* Produced as small, translucent flakes
44
Beeswax: components
Over 300 identified individual components
45
Royal jelly: definition
Glandular secretions of young worker bees (4-10 days old) by hypopharyngeal gland in the head, used as food for larval bees.
46
Royal jelly: composition
* 66% water
* 14% protein
* 14% carbohydrates
* 5% lipids
47
Bee venom: uses and composition
* Used to desensitize people who work with bees
| * Mixture of proteins and peptides
48
Pollen: definition and uses
* Plant male gametophyte (reproductive structure that carries sperm)
* Direct food source for older larvae
* Indirect food source for royal jelly
49
Pollen: composition
* Protein: up to 28%
* Lipid: up to 20% (usually <5%)
* Sterols, sugars, starches, minerals, vitamins
50
Pollination Services
* Greatest economic value of beekeeping
| * US: $15 billion/year
