Insects Of The World and how they work

Insects Of The World

Spiders are the most abundant arachnids, totaling about 30,000 species. They play an important role in the balance of nature by eating insects. Spiders have the ability to produce silk, a strong, elastic protein of many uses. They use it to make webs for trapping prey, to provide shelter, to protect the eggs, and for the tiny young to “balloon” along on wind currents on a delicate strand of web. The silk is produced as a liquid in abdominal glands, spun out of tiny spinnerets below the back end of the body, and hardens as it comes into the contact with the air.

The spiders have eight legs and eight simple eyes. Few spiders have poison dangerous to humans.

Black Widow is a dangerously poisonous spider that lives in warm parts of the world, but other widow spiders are found in colder climates. Female black widows are about half an inch long; the male is smaller. In most parts of the United States the red hourglass on the underside of its abdomen is the recognition mark of this species, but in other places marking vary from irregular strips to dots. The female black widow builds her irregular web in dark niches under objects near buildings or dumps.

Tarantula belongs to Theraphosidae family. These largest spiders are often called bird spiders in other places, and monkey spiders in South Africa. The tarantula of the Mediterranean area is not in this group, but belong to the wolf spider family. The largest, a South American species has a body 31/2 inches long and a 10-inch leg spa. Most of these spiders live on ground and a few in trees. The tarantulas are nocturnals. They hunt prey by sensing their vibrations. Though insects are their usual diet, occasionally large tarantulas captures a small snake, lizard, or nesting bird. Tarantulas, except for a few kind in Australia, are not dangerously poisonous to humans.

Sowbugs  are also called woodlice or pillbugs. They are sometimes mistaken for insects or millipedes. But they are crustaceans like lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish. Sowbugs differ from insects in having 14 instead of just six legs. Sowbugs are medium-sized, usually flattened animals with a shiny, hard covering over the back. The covering is divided into about 10 flexible plates, and some sowbugs, like armadillos, can roll up into a ball when disturbed. We find them usually under stones, boards, and other debris. They feed on decaying matter and fungi. They are usually harmless, but sometimes they damage the roots of cultivated plants.

Millipedes : None of the “thousand-leggers” – as millipedes are sometimes called – really has thousand legs. Most have fewer than 200. The newly hatched young ones may have six legs, and more are added each time they mould until they mature. There are two pairs of legs on most segments of the long, cylindrical body. Inspite of many legs, millipedes move slowly. Some species roll up when disturbed. These animals cannot bite or sting. Rarely, they become pests in localized areas by feeding on living plants. Millipedes live outdoors in damp, dark places such as leaf mould, and rotting logs, and they feed on decaying plant matter.

Centipedes, or Hundred-leggers are fast, active, nocturnal predators of insects and spiders. The house centipede is found in buildings in temperate climates and frequents damp places under sinks or tubs or around water pipes. It is harmless to humans and is probably beneficial in eating pest insects, but it startles people because of its unusually long legs. Tropical centipedes can inflict painful bites.

Springtails are tiny arthropods with a forked spring on the underside of the abdomen. It enables them to flip into the air when disturbed. They are often abundant on the surface of fresh water or sometimes on snow, when they are commonly called “snowfleas”. Others live on shores of oceans, lakes and ponds, but most are in moist humus or soil. They are common on the soil of house plants, where they are quite harmless, but they can become minor pests of agricultural crops by feeding on germinating seeds or living plants, and they sometimes infest mushroom cultures. Usually they eat moulds and decaying organic matter. Springtails are wingless.