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Entomology is the science that studies insects, their behavioral habits, anatomy, their importance in the animal kingdom, and the biological diversity at large. It is also a branch of zoology. A taxon (unit of classification) based category that deals with the insect world and focuses on every query related to them is widely known as entomology. It often correlates with other diverse scientific terms namely, biochemistry, physiology, systematics, molecular genetics, neuroscience, forensics, biomechanics, and a lot more.
Read Also: Organisms and Population
| Table of Content |
Keyterms: Entomology, Animal kingdom, Biological diversity, zoology, taxon, biochemistry, physiology, systematics, molecular genetics, neuroscience, forensics, biomechanics
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What is Entomology?
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Entomology, a branch of zoology, deals with the scientific study of insects and their world. Insects are found to have been living on the Earth from 400 million years ago and are a significant part of our biological environment. They belong to a huge class of animals that can live in almost every habitat. Insects come in various shapes, sizes, colors, and different characteristics which makes them versatile and therefore, can survive and thrive in various living conditions.
This wide number of insect groups resides in almost every nook and corner of our houses, society, and the world at large. Entomology refers to this class of insects that have a huge genetic diversity given their presence in every habitat and ability to breed in large numbers. Entomology is the study of all these behaviors, habitats, and the various types of insects that are found to date and yet to be discovered.
Read More: Difference Between Biology and Zoology
William Kerby is the father of entomology and the scientists who study the science the insects, their characteristics, importance, and details are known as entomologists. Insects belong to the kingdom Animalia and class Insecta. There are more than a quintillion insects discovered to date making them the largest phylum of Animalia. The ratio of these invertebrates to vertebrates would be almost a billion to one. It is known that over two-thirds of all known species on Earth are insects or belong to this category called arthropods.
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Significance of Entomology
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Entomology or the scientific study of insects is very crucial owing to the importance of different insect species. The insect group almost constitutes 75% of all the living animals on Earth. The sheer number of them leaves us astonished, had they been large beings it would have been quite dangerous we think. Insects are not always harmful, we perceive all insects to be harmful and useless but we do not consider those which are helpful. Insects are an integral part of our life and our environment.
- Insects feed on several kinds of food ranging from the flesh of other animals to being a herbivore, some insects are scavengers and feed off the dead bodies. This leads to insects breaking down a lot of waste that would otherwise cause havoc to clean up.
- Insects form an integral part of our food chain. They are food to other big insects, reptiles, and other animals.
- Insects are attracted to various flowers and plants and in turn pollinate several flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
- The study of Entomology also deals with the study of the relationship between insects, humans, food, biological diversity, pharmaceuticals, our environment, and other fields of science.
- Insects can survive in different ecosystems which provide entomologists with a great knowledge of living organisms and the living conditions required for an organism to survive.
Entomology: Characteristics
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The main focus of Entomology depends on studying the various characteristics and behavior of insects in different ecosystems. Several insects provide a large amount of genetic data for the entomologists to figure out and note, given how large the species are.
Some of the known characteristics of insects are listed below-
- Some insects are herbivores, some parasites who live on others’ bodies. Some insects are carnivores and some others are scavengers.
- Insects have impressive breeding ability owing to their number density in various species. Some insects even breed hundreds of offspring in their whole lifetime. Although some offspring cannot survive, the number of them that do are enough to reproduce some more while they mature. Insects also achieve maturity quickly so the reproductive cycle does not take much time. Hence, the abundance of insects.
- Insects also have the ability to undergo metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is the process in which insects or amphibians undergo the transformation from childhood form to an adult in two or more stages. The most common example around us is the metamorphosis of a butterfly. This process also helps insects maximize the resources in a certain surrounding.
- Insects are cold-blooded, this does not mean that their blood is cold. Cold-blooded animals are those who can adapt according to the temperature of their surroundings. If they are in a cold place their body temperature drops to that level, similarly in a hot surrounding their body temperature elevates to that temperature. Ever wondered why they do not need blankets to keep them warm at a freezing temperature? This is the reason.
Read More: Ecology and Environment
Anatomy in Entomology
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Insects have an organ-system level of organisation and are bilaterally symmetrical. They are triploblastic animals which means they are derived from 3 embryonic cell layers(ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm). They also have coelom which is the principal body cavity between the intestinal canal and the body wall.
The outer body of insects has a hard covering which is the exoskeleton made up of a substance called chitin. Their body consists of three main parts- head, thorax, and abdomen. Some insects have wings, while some do not. They have jointed appendages(projected body parts with a distinct function), sensory organs include antennae, eyes(compound and simple), balancing organs, statocysts.
Applications of Entomology
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Entomology is the type of study applied in various fields of science starting from medical sciences to the anatomy of a cockroach. Entomology is indeed a vast field and its applications are diverse.
The various fields where the application of Entomology lies are-
- Medical Research
- Evolutionary Biology
- Forensic Entomology
- Veterinary Medicine
- Environmental Science
- Agricultural Entomology
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Things to Remember
- Entomology, a branch of zoology, deals with the scientific study of insects and their world.
- Insects constitute almost 75% of all living beings on Earth. They belong to the largest phylum of Animalia.
- An insect, queen of a termite species, can lay approximately 40,000 eggs per day.
- Houseflies can detect sugar with their feet, which are known to be 10,000 times more sensitive than human tongues.
- The outer body of insects has a hard covering which is the exoskeleton made up of a substance called chitin.
Read Also: Energy Flow in Ecosystem
Sample Questions
Ques. What are the reasons that you can think of for the arthropods to constitute the largest group of the animal kingdom? (2019, 5 marks)
Ans: The following are the causes of the largest group of kingdom Animalia, arthropods.
- They have jointed legs to perform other functions using these jointed appendages.
- An exoskeleton made of chitin protects the body.
- They have different respiratory and reproductive systems.
- They have the ability to live in diverse conditions.
- In comparison to other phyla, they are pre-developed.
- They have more developed sense organs and a simple nervous system.
- Some insects release pheromones to enable communication.
Ques. What is the state of insects in a complete Metamorphosis stage? (3 marks)
Ans.In a complete metamorphosis stage, the larvae differ from the adult. The larvae stay in the feeding stage. The pupae vary distinctly. The pupal stage is quite inactive and finally at the molt stage, the insect transforms into an adult with wings. The adult stage is reproductive and an insect can only mate and lay eggs in this stage. At different stages, different feeding behaviours are noticed. Ants, mosquitoes, butterflies, and beetles undergo complete metamorphosis.
Ques. Bee-keeping practice is a good income-generating industry. Write the different points to be kept in mind for successful bee-keeping. Write the scientific name of the most common Indian species for this practice. [2019, 4 marks]
Ans. The points to be remembered for successful bee-keeping are-
- Learning about various characteristics of bees in detail.
- Catching and keeping a colony of bees in a wooden box called a hive.
- Selecting a proper location suited for bees.
- Managing the beehives during different seasons to maintain an optimum temperature.
The scientific name of the most common Indian species for bee-keeping practice is Apis indica.
Ques. How do organic farmers control pests? Give examples. [2016, 2 marks]
Ans. Organic farmers use natural predation or biological control to control pests in their farms since they do not use inorganic and harmful pesticides to get rid of pests. For example- dragonflies are used to kill mosquitoes, ladybirds are used to kill aphids, Bacillus thuringiensis used to kill caterpillars/butterflies.
Ques. State the difference between organic pest control and conventional pest control? [2016, 3 marks]
Ans.
| Organic pest control | Conventional pest control |
|---|---|
| Positive impact on the environment | Negative impact on the environment |
| Not harmful to anyone except target animals | Harmful to other animals as well |
| No use of chemicals | Use of chemical pesticides |
Ques. What is the scientific name of a fruit fly? Why did Morgan prefer to work with fruit flies in his experiments? State three reasons. [2014, 3 marks]
Ans. The scientific name of fruit-fly is Drosophila melanogaster.
Morgan preferred the use of fruit flies in his experiment due to these factors-
- They can be easily cultivated.
- They produce a huge number of offspring.
- They demonstrate contrasting features distinctly.
- They have a short lifespan.
Ques. What is insect development? (4 marks)
Ans. An insect's generation is from being an egg to its adult stage. They have 4 generations in a year. Insect development occurs by mating which happens only in the adult stage. The males do not specifically do anything but mate. So the lifetime includes they mate, lay eggs and then die. Insect development also includes overwintering. This depends on the type of species. Usually, they have to survive through the winter, the insect starts as an egg in spring and then develops into larvae, pupa, and finally to an adult. If they overwinter in their pupal stage then they become adults during spring and then lay eggs, so a new generation starts.
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