Why Learn Classification?

• Groups have similar biology and appearance.
• More specific groups have closer biology.
• Characters relate to damage and pest status.
• When a name is known we can look up more information.

• Ask an expert
• Compare to identified specimens
• Compare to original descriptions
• Use identification keys and short cuts

• pictures
• lists of known pests of a particular plant
• rear immatures to adults
• damage characteristics
• time of year may help

Kingdom (Animalia)
Phylum (Arthropoda)
Class (Insecta)
Order (Hymenoptera)
Family (Apidae)
Genus (Apis)
Species (mellifera)
Common Name: Honey Bee

Arthropod Characters

• Segmented bodies
• Segmented legs
• Exoskeleton

• Insecta - insects
• Arachnida - spiders, mites, ticks
• Diplopoda - millipedes
• Chilopoda - centipedes

• Araneae - spiders
• Acari - mites, ticks
• Scorpiones - scorpions
• Opiliones - harvestmen

• body divided into two parts
• four pairs of legs
• no antennae
• no wings

• wingless and lack antennae
• six or eight legs
• body highly variable in size and shape
• all food intake is liquid
• webs to capture prey and other uses
• all are beneficial, few are hazardous

• over 900 species in Texas
• all are beneficial
• almost all have venom
• hazardous spiders include widow spiders, recluse spiders and few others
• reactions vary with individual

• jumping spiders - day active, fuzzy
• crab spiders - on flowers or under bark
• orb weavers - classic web
  • yellow garden spider
  • spiny backed orb weaver
• wolf spiders - dull color, enter homes
• tarantulas - common, heaviest spider

• wingless, lack antennae
• body is flat or round
• adults have eight legs
• ticks only feed on blood of animals
• four stages; egg, larva, nymph and adult

• wingless
• lack antennae
• bodies are broad
• tail with a sting at the tip
• front appendages are enlarged pinchers
• size from 1-3 inches

Scorpions

• about 18 species in Texas
• more species as you go west
• several only occur in the Big Bend
• only one species, the striped scorpion, occurs in the eastern part of Texas
• stings are painful but not fatal unless very sensitive

• 3 regions: head, thorax, & abdomen

• one pair of antennae
• one pair of mandibles

• locomotor appendages
• 3 pairs of true legs
• often 1 or 2 pairs of wings

• genitalia at the end

• wingless
• small
• hop with tail appendage

Thysanura (silverfish and firebrats)

• wingless
• long antennae
• three tails
• scales on the body

Ephemeroptera (mayflies)
Characters

• upright winds
• only group to molt once winged
• elongate body
• three tails

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
Characters

• two pairs of membranous wings
• large conspicuous eyes
• dragonflies hold wings flat
• damselflies hold wings together

Plecoptera (stoneflies)
Characters

• large soft-bodied insects
• four wings held flat over the back
• hind pair fold fan-like
• long antennae

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)
Characters

• two pairs of wings with many veins
• front pair usually slender and hind pair broad and fan-like

Blattaria (cockroaches)
Characters

• flattened bodies
• head is concealed from above
• two pairs of wings
• eggs in a capsule called an ootheca
• unpleasant odor

Mantodea (mantids)
Characters

• large, elongate and slow-moving
• front legs are for grasping prey
• biological control agents

Phasmida (walkingsticks)
Characters

• elongated bodies
• slow moving
• found on trees or shrubs
• wingless as adults

Dermaptera (earwigs)
Characters

• medium sized insects
• four wings
• abdomen exposed
• hind wings are folded under front

Isoptera (termites)
Characters

• small, soft bodied
• yellowish or whitish insects
• wide waist, bead-like antennae
• live in colonies in wood
• three castes: workers, soldiers and swarmers

Psocoptera (psocids, booklice)
Characters

• tiny soft-bodied insects
• four wings or none at all
• microscopic to 1/4 inch in size

Phthiraptera (lice)
Characters

• wingless parasites on most birds and mammals
• deposit eggs on hair or feathers

• chewing lice (Mallophaga)
• sucking lice (Anoplura)

Thysanoptera (thrips)
Characters

• tiny insects about 1/8 inch long
• two pair of slender wings, fringed with long hair
• legs and antennae are short

Hemiptera (true bugs)
Characters

• four wings folded flat
• front pair are thickened and leathery
• beak arises from the front of head

Examples of True Bugs

• cotton fleahopper
• milkweed bugs
• giant water bug
• backswimmers
• assassin bug
• stink bugs
• leaf footed bugs

• may or may not have wings
• four wings when present and are held roof-like over body
• feed on plants

Neuroptera (lacewings, antlions)
Characters

• fragile insects
• two pair of many veined wings
• antennae are long

Coleoptera (beetles)
Characters

• largest order of insects
• usually two pairs of wings
• front pair are thick (elytra)
• straight line down the middle of back

Examples of Beetles

• boll weevil
• pecan weevil
• powderpost beetles
• June beetles (white grubs)
• carpet beetles
• ladybird beetles
• spotted cucumber beetles
• whirlygig beetles

• small to medium sized
• four long, narrow wings
• long antennae
• larvae look like caterpillars
• larvae live in damp soil
• adults are seasonal in summer
• adults feed on insects

Diptera (true flies, mosquitoes, gnats, midges)
Characters

• winged or wingless insect
• two pair of membranous wings
• few feed on plant foliage
• some of the most beneficial insects

Examples of Hymenoptera

• ants - fire, carpenter, red harvester
• honey bee and bumble bee
• carpenter bee
• leaf cutting bee
• yellow jackets and hornets
• cicada killer
• mud dauber
• sawflies (larvae on foliage)

• soft-bodied
• two pairs of wings covered with silky hairs
• adults have long antennae
• adults resemble small dull-colored moths
• larvae are usually scavengers

Lepidoptera (moths, butterflies)
Characters

• four well-developed wings
• wings have overlapping scales
• caterpillars on leaves of plants

Examples of Caterpillars

• bollworm, corn earwom
• cutworms
• armyworms
• loopers
• woolly worms
• asps
• clothes moth
• peach tree borer

• small, wingless body
• flattened laterally
• larvae in nests of various animals

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