INSECTS

STRUCTURE AND LIFE PROCESSES OF INSECTS

(INVERTEBRATES)
 Insects:
Insects are large group of animals that form about 70% of all known
species of animals. They are able to adopt all kinds of environments.
Examples of insects: cockroaches, housefly, butterfly, termite, aphid,
grasshopper, mosquito, beetle, lady bug, ants, tsetsefly etc.
 General Characteristics of Insects
 Their body divided into three main parts namely; head, thorax and
abdomen.
 The head bears a pair of compound eyes and a pair of antennae which
are sensitive to touch, smell and vibration.
 Features Cont’d
 The thorax is divided into three segments; prothorax,
mesothorax and metathorax.
 They have one or two pair(s) of wings attached to their
thorax especially the 2nd and the 3rd thoracic segments.
 They have hard exoskeleton made up of chitin.
 They have three pairs of walking legs.
 Life Cycles of Insects
There are two main life cycles of insects known as metamorphosis. The
two main metamorphosis of insects are;
i. Complete Metamorphosis: This is a complete change of form
involving 4 main stages i.e, the egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Examples; mosquito, weevil, ant, bee, beetle, housefly, butterfly,
tsetsefly etc.
ii.Incomplete Metamorphosis: This is a gradual development involving
only 3 stages i.e, the egg, nymph and imago (adult).
NB: The nymph closely resembles the adult but it is wingless and
sexually immature.
Examples: cockroach, termite, locust, grasshopper etc
The Metamorphosis Stages
 Egg: this is the fertilized ovum which develops into larva.
 Larva: this is worm-like in appearance. Has no wings, no compound eyes, no
well-developed head and sometimes no legs. It feeds actively and moults several
times and eventually becomes the pupa.
 Pupa: it is the resting immobile non-feeding stage in which the larval tissues are
broken down and re-organized to form adult structure.
 Imago (adult): this is the adult and sexually matured insect. It possesses wings in
winged insects.
 Nymph: this has no wings and sexually immature.
NB: The process of insects to moult themselves is known as moulting or ecdysis.
Ecdysis: this is the periodic shedding away of the exoskeleton of insects to enhance
growth and development.
STRUCTURE AND LIFE PROCESSES OF
COCKROACH
Biological Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
Order Dictyoptera / Blattaria
Family Blattidae
Genus Periplaneta
Species americana
Scientific name Periplaneta americana
Habitat
• Found at cracks and crevices in walls, drawers, toilet, dustbin, septic
tanks, dark corners, cupboards etc
NB: They are mostly nocturnal and run away from light.
Structural Features
• They are dorso-ventrally flattened and about 4cm long.
• The body is covered by a dark brown hard exoskeleton made up of
chitin.
• The body is divided into three regions; the head, thorax and
abdomen.
• Individual segments of the thorax and abdomen are made up of
upper dorsal plate called tergum(terga) and a corresponding lower
ventral plate called sternum(sterna) and two small lateral plates
called pleural
Various Tagmata of Cockroach

Head
• The head is triangular shaped.
• It is attached to the thorax by a short narrow neck
• The head bears a pair of large compound eyes (a collection of small
eyes called Ommatidia) and antennae (Filiform antennae).
• The antennae are long, mobile and have whip-like feature. It is
sensitive to touch, smell and vibration.
• The lower part of the head bears the mouth parts which are used for
biting and chewing food.
• The mouth parts consist of the labrum (upper lip) and the three pairs of
jaws (I.e, mandibles, maxillae and labium)
Thorax
• The thorax is also made up of three segments: prothorax, mesothorax
and metathorax.
• Each thoracic segment bears a pair of jointed legs (cursorial legs) all
similar in structure, made up of the Coxa, Femur, Tibia and Tarsals.
• The tarsals end in claws with a hairy pad called arolium (arolia)
between them to prevent slipping.
• Each of the meso and meta thorax bears a pair of wings.
• The fore-wing is dark and covers two-thirds of the abdomen. These are
known as tegmina(tegmen) and are used to protect the hind wing.
• The hind wings are membranous and are folded up like a fun. They
arise from the metathorax and primarily used for flying
Abdomen
• It consists of 10 segments but only the first 7 can be seen.
• The tergum of the tenth segments in both sexes bear a pair of
jointed appendages; circus(circi), which is sensitive and also
aids in copulation.
• In males however, the sternum of the ninth segment bears a
pair of short styles to form the genitilia (aedeagus) while in
females, the sternum of the seventh segment projects
backwards to form the pouch in which egg-case(ootheca) is
stored.
Posterior ends of the Ventral
Surface of a Cockroach
 Differences between a male and a female Cockroach

Male Female
 Has a narrow abdomen  Has a broader abdomen
 Lacks ootheca  Has ootheca which develops
after fertilization.
 Has rod-shaped structures  Has no anal styles on the 9 th

called styles on the 9th abdominal segment.

abdominal segment.
 Has no podical plates  Has podical plate for carrying
eggs.
Nutrition
• Cockroaches are omnivorous. Hence, they feed on fellow dead cockroaches,
clothing, papers, dead insects and leather.
• However, they prefer sweets and starchy foods.
• They seize, cut and chew the food using the mouth parts.
• During chewing, saliva is secreted onto the food from salivary glands. This moistened and
lubricated the food. Thus, making swallowing easier.
• The food passes down the oesophagus into the crop.
• Inside the crop, three digestive enzymes are secreted from the mid-gut. These are;
Proteolytic: converts proteins to amnio acids
Lipolytic: converts fats into glycerol
Amylase: converts maltose to glucose
• The gizzard further grinds the food.
• Absorption of digested food takes place in the eight finger-like digestive caeca and the mid-
gut.
• The faeces (undigested food) are temporary stored in the rectum and later egested through the
anus, a small opening in the tergum of the 10th segment.
Respiration
• Cockroaches like all insects have air tubes called tracheae which branch
repeatedly to form a network known as trachea system.
• Trachea open to the atmosphere by paired spiracles on the lateral sides of the
pleura of each segment excluding the head.
• The trachea terminates or ends in minute subdivisions (tracheoles) which are
fluid-filled and brings air directly to the cells and takes CO 2 in the reverse
manner.
• The walls of the trachea but not the tracheoles are lined by spiral chitin to
prevent it from collapsing.
• O2 moves through the spiracles into the trachea and finally diffuses into the fluid-
filled tracheoles into the cells. This is aided by abdominal muscles contraction.
• CO2 diffuses out in the reverse. Some also diffuse through the entire body
surface.
Excretion
• The main nitrogenous waste is uric acid which is removed from the body by the
excretory organs called malpighian tubules.
• These are long, very slender tubes which float in the blood of the body cavity and
open to the ileum(midgut) of the alimentary canal.
• These tubules absorb nitrogenous waste from the blood and convert it into uric
acid which is passed into the ileum where they are discharged together with their
faeces through the anus.
• It also excretes CO2 after respiration.
Irritability
• The large compound eyes are light sensitive organs which are used for vision
during the day.
• The antennae are sensitive to touch and smell. Most of the touch receptors in the
cockroach are located in the antennae.
• The antennae as well as the anal cerci can also detect vibration.
Movement
• Cockroaches can walk slowly, run rapidly and fly but only over short distances.
• In each case, the claws and arolia assist in gripping the surface.
• Movement in Cockroaches is brought about by the contraction and relaxation of
the leg muscles: the flexor muscle (bend legs) and extensor muscle.
Growth
• The cockroaches grow and increase in size immediately after the process of
ecdysis or moulting. This occurs 7 times.
• During ecdysis, the exoskeleton splits longitudinally and the next stage (nymph)
crawls out of it.
• A soft new cuticle develops to cover the body before the old one is shed off.
• Within the new exoskeleton, the nymph grows rapidly as the new cuticle
thickens and hardens.
• The rate of increase in size slows down and then stops until the next ecdysis.
• The adult cockroach does not moult and therefore does not grow.
• The process of changing from one stage to another stage in cockroach is called
instar.
 Reproduction
• Cockroaches mate facing away from each other with their genitals in
contact.
• During mating, the male introduces sperm into the posterior part of the
female abdomen through the genital opening (genital pore).
• The sperms are stored in the sperm pouch in the body of the female.
• The sperms later fertilise the eggs as they pass towards the exterior; the
cockroach therefore undergoes internal fertilization.
• The eggs are laid and stored in an egg-case called ootheca which is a
hard chitinous structure in nature, about 1cm and looks like a purse.
• There are 10 to 16 eggs in one egg-case and these are arranged in 2
roles of 5 to 8 eggs per role.
Reproduction Cont’d
• The female carries the ootheca about, for a number of days in her egg case and
later, deposit it in a dark warm and humid place such as underneath tables and
chairs or inside kitchen cupboard.
• After 6 weeks, the eggs hatch out into young wingless and colourless
cockroaches called nymphs.
• After 2 weeks, they turn brown and resemble the adult but these are immature,
smaller and lack wings.
• The nymph grows and undergoes ecdysis which occurs 7 times.
• The nymph at each stage between 2 ecdysis is called instar.
• After the last ecdysis, the nymph becomes an adult called imago.
NB: cockroaches therefore undergo incomplete metamorphosis.
Adaptive Features of a Cockroach
• Cockroaches have dorso-ventrally flattened body to fit in
narrow places.
• Have dark brown body to camouflage well against dark
background.
• They are smooth and greasy to escape easily from predators.
• they have a pair of antenna and compound eye for sensitive.
• The shape and disposition of the legs enables swift running in
confined places where flight is impossible.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
• They destroy food, clothes, shoes, papers, and books.
• They contaminate food when deposit their faeces on them.
• It has been found to carry the parasite of certain tropical diseases such as; leprosy, dysentery,
cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis on its body as well as alimentary canal.
• It distributes dirt and germs as it runs from one place to another.
• They serve as food to some organisms such as birds.
• They are used in biological studies as specimens.
Control Measures
• Improve personal and public hygiene.
• Used of environmentally friendly insecticide.
• Used of biology control method by introducing domestic fowls to feed on them.
• Polish the walls of the house to close the small crevices.