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Glossary
- Abdomen
-
- The posterior section of the three sections (head-thorax-abdomen)
of an insect's body. The abdomen contains the reproductive and
excretory organs, and the bulk of the digestive system. The abdomen
bears no functional legs in the adult stage.
- Antenna (pl. antennae)
- The paired sensory organs, borne one on each side of the head.
- Anteroangular
- Occurring on the anterior portion of a body segment
where the angle of the surface turns from a horizontal to a vertical
position.
- Anteromarginal
- Occurring on the anterior margin of a body segment.
- Aphid (Aphididae)
-
- A family of insects
related to whiteflies and planthoppers.
Aphids are soft-bodied, sometimes called plant lice, and feed
by sucking juices of plants. See Honeydew.
- Bacterium (pl. bacteria)
-
- Minute living organisms which are neither animals nor plants.
Bacteria is a plural word, the singular is bacterium. Newspaper
reporters commonly, but wrongly, use the plural (bacteria) as
if it were singular. There are large numbers of species.
Some bacteria are entomopathogens.
- Beetle
-
- Many families of 4-winged insects (including
hundreds of species worldwide) in which only
the second pair of wings is used for flying. The first pair is
toughened and shortened and used only as covers for the second
pair. When beetles are not flying, the second pair of wings is
folded under the first pair of wings.
- Campaniform sensillae
-
- A sensory receptor visible externally as an area of thin cuticle,
domed and usually oval in shape.
- Contact pesticide
-
- A compound that causes death or injury to insects
when it contacts them. It does not have to be ingested. Often
used in reference to a spray applied directly to the pest.
- Entomopathogen
-
- An organism (generally a bacterium, virus,
protozoan, or fungus)
causing disease in insects.
- Family
-
- Part of the system of biological classification: a group of
closely-related genera. All thrips possessing
a tubular-shaped, terminal abominal segment
belong to the family Phlaeothripidae. The name of a family of
animals (e.g., Phlaeothripidae) always has a capital initial letter
and always ends in -idae. The family name is not placed in italics
and is not underlined.
- Formulation
-
- The pesticide product as purchased,
containing a mixture of one or more active ingredients, carriers
(inert ingredients) and other additives making it easy to store,
dilute, and apply.
- Fungus (pl. fungi)
-
- Living organisms which are neither animals nor plants, the
singular is fungus. There are large numbers of species. Mushrooms
and molds are fungi. Some fungi are entomopathogens.
- Generalist natural enemy
-
- A natural enemy with a broad range of diet. Cattle egrets,
for example, eat many kinds of insects, and are not specialized
natural enemies of any of them. Generalist enemies are not used
nowadays in classical biological control though some such uses
did occur, especially in the 19th century, before biological control
became a profession. Generalist natural enemies may, however,
be purchased commercially and released to provide biological control
of some pests.
- Genus (pl. genera)
-
- Part of the system of biological classification: a group of
closely related species. The word is singular
(a genus), and its plural is genera (two genera). The genus name
is usually place in italics or underlined, and it has a capital
initial letter.
- Grub
- Legless insect larvae.
- Honeydew
-
- A mixture of sugars and other plant-derived chemicals excreted
by some species of aphids and by some species
of insects in families related to aphids.
When these insects feed on plants, honeydew
drips from them onto plant leaves or onto the ground. Fresh honeydew
may be fed upon by other insects as an energy source. Ants of
many species are avid feeders on honeydew, and they may even guard
the aphids against predators and parasitoids
to protect this energy source. Unconsumed honeydew on plant leaves
promotes the growth of a black fungus called
sooty mold, which may become so dense that it interferes with
the metabolism of the plant. Contrast with nectar.
- Host
-
- An organism (animal or plant) fed upon by a parasite
or parasitoid. When insects
or nematodes feed upon plants they are
considered parasites of those plants, and the plants are referred
to as host plants.
- Insect
-
- Small animals with three pairs of jointed legs and one pair
of antennae, at least in the adult phase.
Mole crickets, tachinid flies, and sphecid wasps all have this
arrangement in the adult phase. However, some insect larvae
(grubs) are legless. Spiders and ticks have
four pairs of jointed legs, centipedes and millipedes have many
more pairs, and these are not insects.
- Insecticide
-
- A pesticide used specifically to manage or prevent damage cause by insects.
Sometimes generalized to be synonymous with pesticides.
- Instar
-
- The period or stage between molts, numbered
to designate the various periods; e.g. the first instar is the
stage between the egg and first molt.
- Interocellar
-
- One of the setae occurring in a row between the compound eyes.
- Larva (pl. larvae)
- One of the phases in the life cycle
of some insects, such as wasps and flies. A young insect which
hatches from the egg in an early stage of development and differs
fundamentally from the adult; e.g., a maggot is the larval form
of a fly. Many insect larvae are very different n appearance from
the adults. Insect larvae do not have wings. Insect larvae feed,
and grow, and molt several times.
- Leafminers
-
- Several very different insects can be
leafminers: flies, beetles, or moths. In
all cases it is the immature that bores through the leaf usually
leaving a noticeable trail. One beetle is a very serious pest
of black locust, while one mote is a serious pest of citrus.
- Life cycle
- There are two basic kinds of life cycles in insects. Some
(for example mole crickets) have three phases: egg-nymph-adult.
Others (for example sphecid wasps and tachinid flies) have four
phases: egg-larva-pupa-adult.
(Thrips life cycle diagram)
- Mandibles
-
- The first pair of jaws in insects, stout
and tooth-like in chewing, needle- or sword-shaped in piercing-sucking
insects, the upper lateral jaws of a biting insect.
- Molt
- the process in which an immature insect
casts its skin in order to grow. A new skin (which develops under
the old skin) is a larger size.
- Natural enemy
-
- A predator, parasite,
parasitoid or pathogen.
- Nematode
-
- Many families of long, legless, worm-shaped
animals, including tens of thousands of species worldwide. Some
species are aquatic, in freshwater or the
sea. Some species are parasites of birds,
mammals, or other vertebrate animals. Some species are parasitoids
of insects. Others feed on plant roots.
- Nymph
- One of the phases in the life cycle
of some insects, such as thrips. Insect nymphs look quite similar
to the adults, but are small and lack wings. Insect nymphs feed,
and grow, and molt several times.
- Ocellus (pl. ocelli)
-
- One of two (or one of three) very small, simple eyes on the
top of the head of some adult insects.
- Order
-
- One of the primary divisions of the classification system.
Consists of several to many families.
- Oviposition
-
- Egg-laying. To oviposit means to lay eggs. This is an activity
of all adult female insects.
- Parasite
-
- An organism that lives in or on the body of its host without
killing the host, but usually debilitating the host to some extent.
Dog fleas are examples of parasites; note how they feed as parasites
of dogs during their adult phase, while in the larval
stages they are not parasitic (and are not on dogs). Lice, on
the other hand, are parasites from the time they hatch from eggs
throughout their lives. See parasitoid
- Parasitoid
-
- An organism that, during its development, lives in or on the
body of a single host individual, eventually killing that individual.
Larra wasps, Ormia flies, and Steinernema
nematdoes are examples of parasitoids;
note that the wasps and flies feed during their larval
stages, while in the adult stages they feed on the nectar of plants.
Many people use the word parasite when they
really mean parasitoid; this is unfortunate because it obscures
the lethal effect of parasitoids.
- Pathogen
-
- A disease-causing organism.
- Pedicel
-
- A stalk or stem supporting an organ or other structure for
example, the second segment of the insect
antenna.
- Pesticide
-
- A substance or agent used to kill pests. Comes in many different
formulations and types. There are residual,
and non-residual (contact) pesticides. Pesticides
are also described as insecticides, herbicides,
fungicides, nematicides, and rodenticides depending upon the class
of pests they are being used to control.
- Predator
-
- An organism that, during its development, consumes more than
one prey individual. Tiger beetle larvae
are examples of predators; note that their adults, too, feed as
predators.
- Prothorax
-
- The first segment of the thorax, it
bears the anterior or first pair of legs but no wings.
- Protozoan (pl. protozoa)
-
- Minute animals whose entire body consists only of a single
cell. Protozoa is a plural word, the singular is protozoan. There
are large numbers of species. Some protozoa are entomopathogens.
- Postocular
-
- One of the setae occurring in a row along
the posterior margin of the compound eye.
- Posteroangular
-
- Occurring on the posterior portion of the body segment
where the angle of the surface turns from a horizontal to a vertical
position.
- Posteromarginal
-
- Occurring on the posterior of the body segment.
- Pupa (pl. pupae)
- One of the phases in the life cycle
of some insects, such as moths, flies, beetles,
wasps, and bees. It is the intermediate stage between the larva
and the adult. Insect pupae do not feed.
- Pyrethroids
-
- These are synthetic compound produced to duplicate or improve
more or less successfully on the biological activity of the active
principles of the pyrethrum plant. Pyrethrum is a natural botanical
insecticide the active principles of which
are extracted from the flowers of the pyrethrum plant, and are
known collectively as "pyrethrins".
- Residual
-
- Refers to property of a substance (pesticides
are one example) that allows it to remain in an area for an extended
period.
- Segment
-
- A ring of subdivision of the body or of an appendage between
areas of flexibility associated with muscle attachments.
- Seta (See-Ta) (pl. setae (See-Tay))
- A hardened, hairlike projection surrounded at the base by
a small ring.
- Species
-
- The basic unit of classification in biology. Examples are
the bald eagle, the polar bear, the monarch butterfly, and the
tawny mole cricket. The word is both singular (a species) and
plural (two species). Species are grouped into genera,
and genera are grouped into family. The words
kind, sort, type, strain, and variety are
not part of this classification even though newspaper reporters
often use them as if they were.
- Spider mite
-
- These arthropods are not insects, but are in the same order
as ticks. They are very small and require strong hand lens to
see. Most are plant feeders and can do considerable damage. Some
are important predators of other spider mites.
- Stage
-
- Any definite period in the development of an insect;
e.g. egg stage, larval stage, etc.
- Strain
-
- A word used to label some pathogens (including insect pathogens)
according to their geographical origin. For example, in the last
few years a Hong Kong strain and a Beijing strain of human influenza
have been labelled. Strains of the insect
pathogen Beauveria bassiana likewise have been labeled.
Strain does not mean the same things as species.
- Thorax
-
- The middle section of the three sections (head-thorax-abdomen)
of an insect's body. The thorax is packed
with muscles for the wings and legs which arise
from that section. The thorax itself consists of three parts named
in order: prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax.
- Virus
-
- Simple organisms which are neither animals nor plants, consisting
of a nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) and a protein coat (singular
virus). Some viruses are entomopathogens.
- Vector
-
- The intermediate host, of disease-producing
organisms, which conveys them.
- Whitefly
-
- These are very small insects, seldom
more than 2 or 3 mm in length, that resemble tiny moths. The adults
of both sexes are winged and are usually covered with a white
dust or waxy powder. First instars are active
and called crawlers. Later instars are sissile and look like scales.
They have piercing-sucking mouthparts which they use to suck sap
from the leaves of plants. They also excrete large mounts of honeydew
which sooty-mold grows upon. Some whitefly species are serious
pests of cultivated plants. See Honeydew.