FOUNDER of the POD

A wise person once said:
"All bugs are insects but not all insects are bugs "

Insects are among the oldest organisms to inhabit the earth. The first insects evolved during the Devonian period. Unlike many insects of today, the first insects were wingless and earthbound. They were joined during the Carboniferous period by the first winged insects over 300 million years ago. Some early dragonflies had wingspans of over 2 feet. Pennsylvanian age insect wing St. Clair, PA The wet climate of the Carboniferous gave way to the drier climate of the Permian. Like many other organisms, most orders of these early insects did not survive the extinction of the Permian. Those survivors were later joined by the evolving orders of modern insects. The Cretaceous saw the rise of flowering plants and continued evolution of the modern orders of insects. Pennsylvanian age insect wing Hazelton, PA The oldest insects found in amber come from the Cretaceous of Lebanon. These insects are over 120 million years old. Other Cretaceous ambers which have yielded insects come from Japan, Siberia, Canada, and New Jersey (USA). Significant deposits of Tertiary ambers with insects can found in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and in areas along the shores of the Baltic Sea. Insects are classified in the phylum Arthropoda (Arthropoda: arthro, joint or segment; poda, foot or appendage). The arthropods include spiders, millipeds, and centipeds. All arthropods share these characteristics:

The body is segmented with the segments grouped into 2 or 3 distinct regions Appendages are paired and segmented The body is bilaterally symmetric There is an exoskeleton which is shed and renewed as the organism grows

What specifically seperates insects from the rest of the arthropods? The head bears the eyes, mouth parts, and antennae The thorax bears 3 pairs of legs and generally 2 pairs of wings The abdomen has no locomotive appendages but may have an appendage at the tip

Here are ways to identify some insects of different orders

Order	General identifying characteristics
Diptera (Flies)	The second pair of wings are reduced
Coleoptera (Beetles)	The front pair of wings are hardened
Hemiptera (Bugs)	A beak arises from front of head with the front wings usually thickened at base and membranous at tip
Hymenoptera (Ants..Bees..Wasps)	The abdomen is constricted at base
Lepidoptera (Moths, Butterflies)	Wings covered with scales

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Cretaceous insects from New Jersey, USA>
Barklouse
Scale insect	Wasp
Midge

State Insects of the United States

Alabama - Monarch butterfly Alaska - Four-spotted skimmer Arizona - Two-tailed swallowtail (state butterfly) Arkansas - Honey bee California - California dogface butterfly Colorado - Colorado hairstreak butterfly Connecticut - Praying mantis Delaware - Convergent ladybird beetle Florida - Zebra longwing butterfly Georgia - Honey bee (insect); Tiger swallowtail (butterfly) Illinois - Monarch butterfly Kansas - Honey bee Kentucky - Viceroy butterfly Louisiana - Honey bee Maine - Honey bee Maryland - Baltimore checkerspot butterfly Massachusetts - Ladybug Mississippi - Honey bee (insect); Spicebush swallowtail (butterfly) Missouri - Honey bee Nebraska - Honey bee New Hampshire - Ladybug New Jersey - Honey bee New Mexico - Tarantula hawk wasp New York - 9-spotted ladybird beetle North Carolina - Honey bee Ohio - Ladybug Oklahoma - Black swallowtail Oregon - Oregon swallowtail butterfly Pennsylvania - Firefly South Carolina - Carolina mantis South Dakota - Honey bee Tennessee - Ladybug and firefly Texas - Monarch butterfly Utah - Honey bee Vermont - Monarch butterfly Virginia - Tiger swallowtail butterfly Washington - Common Green Darner Wisconsin - Honey bee Wyoming - Western swallowtail butterfly

Language Entomology Language entomology is a humorous look of how insects have infested our everyday language.
Busy as a bee Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee Like a moth to a flame Ants in your pants As snug as a bug in a rug A fly in the ointment Butterflies in the stomach Attracted like a bee to honey Attracted like wasps to a barbecue As predictable as ants at at picnic A fly in your ear Angry as a hornet You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar Like a duck on a junebug Roaches check in but they don't check out You're bugging me You're ticking me off Don't let the bedbugs bite Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly A fly on the wall There's a fly in my soup Your fly is down Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana -- Groucho Marx You sound like a bumblebee fartin' in a holler log A bee in your bonnet Cute as a bug's ear It's the bee's knees Ill as a hornet Go to the ant, thou sluggard To have "bee stung" lips Sweet as honey to a bee Wasp waist Bugs in the system Cute as a bug's ear Don't bug me! I'll be all over you like a duck on a june bug I'll squash you like a bug on a windshield Bug OFF! Sometimes you're the windshield... Sometimes you're the bug Y'all making me crazy as a bedbug!
Do you have any more expressions, send them to me

-------------------- More Websites on ENTOMOLOGY

• Gordon's Entomological Home Page
• Record Holding Bugs!
• Entomological Society of America

Do you know of a good Entomology website? Tell me about it.

Meander back to the DEAD BUG CLUB

Swamee, tell me more about AMBER

Explore the fares at the AMBER BAZAAR

e-mail address of: Yale Goldman Snakefly99@hotmail.com