Insect and Related Topics

Pupa

Adult Hercus fontinalis emerging from cocoon

Mating in pierid Catopsilia pyranthe of male with newly emerged female.

Common crow butterfly (Euploea core) chrysalis illustrating the Ancient Greek origin of the term: χρυσός (chrysós) for gold

The tough brown cocoon of an emperor gum moth

Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) pupa

An emperor gum moth caterpillar spinning its cocoon

Luna moth emerging from pupa within silk cocoon

Specimen of an eclosing Dryas iulia butterfly

Pupae of Japanagromyza inferna, a gall fly, in gall of Centrosema virginianum

Pupa of Baron Butterfly Euthalia aconthea

thumb|Papilio_polytes_common_Mormon_pupa on curry leaves.

A pupa (pupa, "doll"; plural: pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages.

Diagram of biramous leg of a trilobite; Agnostus spp.

Arthropod leg

Form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking.

Diagram of a spider leg and pedipalp – the pedipalp has one fewer segment

The leg of a squat lobster, showing the segments; the ischium and merus are fused in many decapods

Seven-segmented legs of Scutigera coleoptrata

Zabalius aridus showing full leg anatomy, including plantulae under each tarsomere

Acanthacris ruficornis, legs saltatorial, femora with bipennate muscle attachments, spines on tibiae painfully effective in a defensive kick

Robber fly (Asilidae), showing tarsomeres and pretarsi with ungues, pulvilli and empodia

Webspinner, Embia major, front leg showing enlarged tarsomere, which contains the silk-spinning organs

Bruchine with powerful femora used for escape from hard-shelled seed

Expression of Hox genes in the body segments of different groups of arthropod, as traced by evolutionary developmental biology. The Hox genes 7, 8, and 9 correspond in these groups but are shifted (by heterochrony) by up to three segments. Segments with maxillopeds have Hox gene 7. Fossil trilobites probably had three body regions, each with a unique combination of Hox genes.

The legs of insects and myriapods are uniramous.

Two Schistocerca gregaria nymphs beside an adult

Nymph (biology)

In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis (hemimetabolism) before reaching its adult stage.

The pollinating wasp Dasyscolia ciliata in pseudocopulation with a flower of Ophrys speculum

Coevolution

In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection.

Honey bee taking a reward of nectar and collecting pollen in its pollen baskets from white melilot flowers

Purple-throated carib feeding from and pollinating a flower

A fig exposing its many tiny matured, seed-bearing gynoecia. These are pollinated by the fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes. In the cultivated fig, there are also asexual varieties.

Pseudomyrmex ant on bull thorn acacia (Vachellia cornigera) with Beltian bodies that provide the ants with protein

Brood parasite: Eurasian reed warbler raising a common cuckoo

Predator and prey: a leopard killing a bushbuck

Sexual conflict has been studied in Drosophila melanogaster (shown mating, male on right).

Long-tongued bees and long-tubed flowers coevolved, whether pairwise or "diffusely" in groups known as guilds.

Charles Darwin mentioned evolutionary interactions between flowering plants and insects in On the Origin of Species (1859).

Bee

Long-tongued bees and long-tubed flowers coevolved, like this Amegilla cingulata (Apidae) on Acanthus ilicifolius.

The lapping mouthparts of a honey bee, showing labium and maxillae

Head-on view of a male carpenter bee, showing antennae, three ocelli, compound eyes, and mouthparts

Willing to die for their sisters: worker honey bees killed defending their hive against yellowjackets, along with a dead yellowjacket. Such altruistic behaviour may be favoured by the haplodiploid sex determination system of bees.

Western honey bee nest in the trunk of a spruce

A bumblebee carrying pollen in its pollen baskets (corbiculae)

A leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, cutting circles from acacia leaves

A solitary bee, Anthidium florentinum (family Megachilidae), visiting Lantana

The mason bee Osmia cornifrons nests in a hole in dead wood. Bee "hotels" are often sold for this purpose.

Honeybee in flight carrying pollen in pollen basket

Karl von Frisch (1953) discovered that honey bee workers can navigate, indicating the range and direction to food to other workers with a waggle dance.

The bee-fly Bombylius major, a Batesian mimic of bees, taking nectar and pollinating a flower.

Bee orchid lures male bees to attempt to mate with the flower's lip, which resembles a bee perched on a pink flower.

Bombus vestalis, a brood parasite of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

The bee-eater, Merops apiaster, specialises in feeding on bees; here a male catches a nuptial gift for his mate.

The beewolf Philanthus triangulum paralysing a bee with its sting

Gold plaques embossed with winged bee goddesses. Camiros, Rhodes. 7th century B.C.

Beatrix Potter's illustration of Babbity Bumble in The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse, 1910

Squash bees (Apidae) are important pollinators of squashes and cucumbers.

Bee larvae as food in the Javanese dish botok tawon

Fried whole bees served in a Ukrainian restaurant

Nest of common carder bumblebee, wax canopy removed to show winged workers and pupae in irregularly placed wax cells

Carpenter bee nests in a cedar wood beam (sawn open)

Honeybees on brood comb with eggs and larvae in cells

Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their role in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey.

Larva

Distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults.

Eurosta solidaginis Goldenrod Gall Fly larva

The larvae of the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) are among the largest of any species of insect

Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.

A dragonfly in its radical final moult, metamorphosing from an aquatic nymph to a winged adult.

Moulting

Manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer layer or covering), either at specific times of the year, or at specific points in its life cycle.