The Lasiocampoidea(includes tent caterpillars)

forest tent caterpillar(Malacosoma spp)

The Bombycoidea(stout-bodied moths with broad wings)

• major families include the following

- giant lappet moths (Eupterotid)

- silkworms (Bombycidae)

- atlas, emperor and royal moths (Saturniidae)

domestic silkmoth(Bombyx mori)

rosy maple moth(Dryocampa rubicunda)

regal moth(Citheronia regalis)

• hawk moths (sphigids) are large moths with a long proboscis that is curled under the head when not in use

• some resemble bees and hummingbirds as they hover at flowers (feeding on nectar)

• include the Death’s-head hawk moth

The Bombycoidea(also contains the Sphingidae, which has just over 1,000 species)

death’s head hawk moth(Acherontia atropos)

tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) w/ parasitoids

• major families include the following...

- tussock moths (Lymantriids)

- tiger moths (Arctiidae)

- cutworms and armyworms (Noctuidae)

The Noctuoidea(largest lepidopteran superfamily with > 40,000 species)

gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar)

Woolly bear caterpillar and moth

• caterpillars are called cutworms, armyworms, and loopers - they are among the most devastating agricultural pests

The Noctuidae(one of the largest lepidopteran families with > 22,000 species)

cut worms (Agrotis spp.) European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis)

Class meeting: Nov. 21st

Objectives: 1. Distinguish Hymenoptera from other orders.2. Model the effects of parasitoids on populations of pests

and plant yield

Sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants

• (EE, pp. 259-275)

Phylogeny ofHexapodafrom p. 52

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera

•Common name: Sawflies, wasps, bees and ants (198,000 known world species (19.8%))•Derivation: Gk. hymen - membrane; pteron - a wing•Size: Body length 0.25-70 mm•Metamorphosis: Complete (egg, larva, pupa, adult)•Distribution: Worldwide, except Antarctica•Number of families: 91

Key Features

• abundant and ubiquitous• body usually with constricted waist• some species live in social colonies• ovipositor may be modified as a sting• second largest order

• the Symphyta are basal, with the Apocrita (honey bees, wasps and ants) being the more derived group

Hymenoptera relationships(divided into two suborders - Symphyta and Apocrita)

• do not have a constricted waist

• females have a saw-like ovipositor

The Symphyta(the primitive group - they are herbivorous)

• parasitic apocritans have a slender and, sometimes, very elongate ovipositor for penetrating and laying egges in other insects

• aculeate apocritans (e.g. honey bees and social wasps) have a modifed ovipositor in the form of a sting with an assoicated poison gland

The Apocrita(the presence of a waist allows for maneuverability for egg laying and defense)

(Syngaster lepidus)

• the first segment of the abdomen, called the propodeum, is fused to the thorax

• the second and, sometimes, the third abdominal segments are very narrow and form the petiole, which gives the distinctive wasp-waisted appearance

• the swollen remainder of the abdomen behind the petiole is called the gaster or metasoma

The Apocrita(what are the characteristics of apocritans?)

propodeumpetiole

petiole

gaster

Two types of larvae(caterpillar-like (Symphyta) or grub-like (Apocrita))

• sawfly larvae have a well-defined head capsule, three pairs of thoracic legs, and abdominal prolegs

• apocritan larvae (e.g. honey bees and social wasps) tend to be simple and maggot- or grub-like with no legs and a reduced head capsule

• parasitism and carnivory may have arisen via inquiline species that may originally have been herbivores inside plant galls or other plant tissues - they progressed to eating other small herbivores

Herbivory is primitive(sawfly larvae are herbivorous on a wide range of plants)

• large and stout and often strikingly colored - black or metallic blue, or with yellow hornet-like markings

• the end of the abdomen has a distinctive terminal spine - it is short in males and spear-like in females

The Siricoidea(about 100 species of horntails or wood wasps - attack trees)

Oregon horntail (Urocerus gigas)pigeon horntail (Tremex columba)

• larvae feeding on tree leaves, including pines, and are gregarious and warningly colored (aposematic)

• when larvae are attacked, they jerk their bodies upright and exude distasteful resins

The Tenthredinoidea(the biggest sawfly superfamily - 4,000 species (85% of all sawflies))

Tenthredo basilaris

dusky birch sawfly (Croesus latitarusus)

Ericampa ovatula

Parasitoid lifestyle(most species of parasitoids are hymenopterans)

• can feed inside (endoparasitoid) or outside (ectoparasitoid)

• they always kill their hosts upon completion of development

• many parasitoids are used in biological control programs against pest insects

Monodontomerus dentipes feeding on Diprion pini

Cotesia spp feeding on Manduca sexta

• Ichneumonids are typically ecto- and endoparasitoids of larvae and pupae of holometabolous insects, although some are hyperparasitoids

• braconids tend to be parasitoids of hemimetabolous insects, such as bugs, barklice and termites

The Ichneumonoidea(dominated by 2 huge familes - each with around 50,000 species)

Ichneumonid attacking a caterpillar

braconid attacking an aphid

• many species use oaks and related trees as their host plants

• lots of variation in the type of gall that is formed

• gall formers have complicated life cycles involving sexual and asexual generations (all females in late summer and autumn)

The Cynipoidea(outside of the tenthredinids, most Hymenoptera gall forms are cynipids)

red cone gall wasp(Andricus kingii)

The Chalcidoidea(23,000 species representing 21 families - very small & small parasitic wasps)

• some are herbivores or seed feeders or gall formers - includes the fig wasps (in the family Agaonidae)

• the Bethylidae attack caterpillars and beetle larvae, the Dryinidae attack auchenorrhynchan nymphs - the sting from a female causes paralysis and death

• chrysidids, or jewel wasps, are metallic in color, and roll into a ball to protect against wasp and bee stings

The Chrysidoidea(members of the 7 families that make up this group are parasitoids)

fuzzy fringed butterfly(Nathalis iole)

dryinid larvae emerging from a leaf hopper

chrysidid wasp

The Vespoidea(more than 22,000 species in 9 families)

velvet ant (Dasymutilla vestita)

• the velvet ants (Mutillidae) - the males have wings but the females are wingless, and lay their eggs in developing bee larvae

• the spider hunting wasps (Pompilidae)

• common or paper wasps belong to the Vespidae

spider wasp paper wasp (Polistes exclamans) (Texas)

• the Sphecidae contains the solitary hunting wasps, digger wasps, and sand wasps

• female sphecids catch prey, paralyze it with their sting, and transport it back to the nest where they will seal it in with an egg

• prey items include other insects and spiders

The Sphecoidea(a single family, the sphecids, with about 8,000 species)

blue hunting wasp (Chlorion spp.)

great golden digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus)