Be a Garden Insect Sleuth

1. Be a Garden Insect Sleuth What do you see? The Good, Bad, Ugly and Beautiful Insects in Your Garden Kate Yturri, SJC Master Gardener October, 2019

2. Hummingbird Moth

3. Insects are by far the most numerous and successful animals on the earth.

4. There are 9 million different species of living creatures on earth and most of them are Insects.

5. A least 1 million different species of insects have been documented, but estimates of the total number of insect species range from 5 million to 80 million.

6. Only one to three percent of insects are ever considered pests, defined as causing harm to people or the things we care about like plants, animals and buildings. Mosquitos are pests that spread disease to humans. Robber flies are voracious predators that eat lots of insect pests.

7. Insects can live in the most inhospitable places on the Earth from the frozen Antarctic to the burning hot deserts of South America, and even live in • the ocean. Arctic wooly bear moth

8. Insects were around long before dinosaurs arrived. Ant lion larva

9. We know this because the oldest insect fossil was a set of jaws that goes back 400 million years, suggesting insects were among the first animals to transition from sea to land.

10. The heaviest insect found today is New Zealand's giant weta which looks like a cricket and can weigh more than a pound.

11. Chan’s megastick is the longest insect measuring 22 inches long and native to the island of Borneo.

12. 10 mm = 1 cm • The smallest insect, is the fairy fly named after Tinkerbell (Tinkerbella nana) and from Costa Rica. This small wasp is less than 1 mm in length and could land on the tip of a human hair!

13. Insects have compound eyes, consisting of many individual hexagonal visual units called ommatidia. These allow the inset to see a panoramic 360-degree field of view, good for catching flying insect prey.

14. Insect Compound Eye

15. Insects also have many “ears” which are not usually on their heads. Lacewings have ears at the base of their wings. Crickets have thin sound-sensitive membranes on their legs. Grasshoppers' ears are on their abdomens.

17. Ears?

18. Scientists classify organisms into groups based on common structural similarities. These categories are as follows: Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species There are sometimes intermediate categories as well.

19. Insects are classified as in the Kingdom Animalia PhyllumArthropoda Class Insecta or Hexapoda. Insects are then divided as to Order Family Genus and Species.

20. The most specific classification is species and individual insects are typically classified with genus and species. Insects often also have common names that we know them by.

21. An Example ~ Western Bumblebee (common name) Classification Kingdom – Animal Phylum – Arthropoda (jointed legs) Class – Hexapoda or Insecta Order – Hymenoptera Family – Apidae Genus - Bombus Species - occidentalis

22. What is an INSECT? Insects have segmented bodies, jointed legs, and external skeletons called exoskeletons.

23. They are distinguished from other arthropods (like spiders) by their body, which is divided into three major regions.

24. The head which bears the mouthparts, eyes, and a pair of antennae. The three-segmented thorax which usually has three pairs of legs in adults and usually one or two pairs of wings. The many-segmented abdomen which contains the digestive, excretory, and reproductive organs.

26. Common Insect Orders Beetles – Order Coleoptera Leaf beetle

27. Beetles – Order Coleoptera includes many well known beetles. Ground beetles Long horned beetles Leaf beetles Ladybird beetles Firefly beetles Stag beetles And others

28. Golden Buprestid Wood boring beetle Three banded Ladybird beetle Red milkweed beetle Bombadier ground beetle Staghorn beetle

29. True Bugs – Order Hemiptera Ambush bugs Assassin bugs Stink bugs Seed bugs Squash bugs Small milkweed bug

30. Ambush bug Harlequin bug Green stink bug

31. How to distinguish between beetles and true bugs Milk weed bug Beetles have: Round to oval body shape; Hard, leathery forewings and thinner, hidden hind-wings; Wing covers (elytra) meet at a straight line down the middle of the abdomen; Visible antennae of different lengths and shapes with 10-11 segments; Chewing mouthparts. Bugs have: Shield, round or oval body shape; Two sets of wings, the forewings often thickened but the hind-wings membranous and not hidden; Wing covers form a large X on the back with their medial edge and triangular scutellum; Visible antennae with 4-5 segments; Sucking mouthparts with long proboscis that folds between legs. Bombadier beetle

32. Flies – Order Diptera Crane flies Flower or Syrphid flies Fruit flies House flies Parasitic flies Spotted wing drosophila

33. Flower fly Tachnid parasitic fly Robber fly

34. Wasps, Ants and Bees – Order Hymenoptera Ants Braconids – small parasitic wasps Bumble bees and honey bees Cimbicid sawflies Digger wasps Gall wasps Horntails Ichneumonflies Digger wasp Ant

35. Rose leaf gall made by gall wasp Ichneumonfly White-Faced hornet California horntail

36. How to distinguish between flies and bees/wasps Spotted wing fruitfly Bees and wasps have: Eyes that are long, oval and at side of face; Long, easy to see antennae often with kink/elbow; Hourglass body shape with “waist” and cylindrical thorax and abdomen; Two pairs of wings shorter than body and often rest on back; Head triangular or tear-shaped. Flies have: Large, round eyes that cover face; Short antennae that are hard to see; Stout body shape without a waist; One pair of wings longer than body; Head large and round; But often mimic bees and wasps. Mason bee

37. Cicadas, Leafhoppers and Allies – Order Homoptera Adelgids Aphids Cicadas Leafhoppers Spittlebugs Tree hoppers Leafhopper

38. Treehopper nymph and adult Cicada

39. Butterflies and Moths – Order Lepidoptera Spring azure butterfly

40. So many Butterflies So many Moths Cabbage white butterfly Green caterpillar larvae eat brassicas in our gardens Anise swallowtail Great spangled fritillary

41. Cinnabar moth and larva that feeds on noxious weed Tansy Ragwort Western tent caterpillar and larvae that feeds on many plants

42. How to distinguish between a butterfly and a moth Butterflies have: Tent shaped wings held high above body; Antennae with knob at end; Typically more brightly colored; Generally fly during day. Sheep moth Moths have: Wings held flat along body; Antennae simple, and feathery ending in a fine point; Typically dull or iridescent colors; Generally fly at night. Island marble butterfly

43. Lacewings and Snakeflies – Order Neuroptera Lacewing adult and larvae(antlion) Snakefly

44. Dragonflies and Damselflies – Order Odonata Blue-eyed Darner Cardinal meadowhawk dragonfly Pacific forktail damselfly

45. Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids – Order Orthoptera Cockroaches Crickets Grasshoppers Katydids Mormon cricket Mourning cloak grasshopper Orange-winged grasshopper

46. The Good, Bad and Ugly Insects in Your Garden

47. The Good - Predators • We all know many “good” insects – lady bugs, bumble bees and the like. The insects discussed in this presentation are the ones we may not be as familiar with. Many of these predators play an important role in flower pollination as well as predation. Strategies for attracting and keeping beneficial insects in your garden include: • Avoid broad spectrum pesticides, although infrequent use of narrow spectrum insecticides may not affect beneficial populations; • Reduce lawn as it does not attract beneficial insects; • Plant a diverse collection of plants and flowers; and • Create a riparian environment with fallen trees, water and native environments to encourage them to stay.

48. The GOOD Bugs!

49. Predatory Bugs • Stink bug – shield shape body and range in size from ¼ - 1 “, discharge a disagreeable odor when handled and only occasionally feed on plants though recently introduced brown marmorated mostly eats plants.

50. Damsel bug – slender insects up to ½ “ long with elongated head, long antennae and enlarged front legs, mostly yellowish, gray or dull brown, emerge in spring and eat lots of the bad guys.