INSECTS
The Gang of Billions

[NOTE: Some of these pictures are "thumbnails": when you click on one, it takes you to an enlargement, for a closer look. Clicking on the enlargment will bring you back to the thumbnail.

Other pictures are entrances to special exhibits, each showing one order of insects. A link at the bottom of the exhibit will bring you back to its entrance.]

 

cicada Cacama valvata Male cicadas possess sound producing organs to attract a mate. Several species are common in the Sonoran Desert, each having a distinctive call. The nymphs feed on plant roots for one to three years, depending on the species. As adults, they are around only long enough to mate and lay their eggs.

 

Coleoptera Concourse (Beetle Ballroom, if you prefer.) When you've seen one beetle, you've seen them all, right? Well, no, not really. At last count, there were nearly 221,500 known species, and some estimates say millions more are waiting to be noticed. Come see a few from the Sonoran Desert.

 

Hymenoptera Hangout Wasps, Bees, Ants, and such Everyone is familiar with hymenoptera -- we just don't normally call them that. We know them because they hang around picnics (furnishing that country ambience which we treasure), make honey, pollinate fields, make hives or hills, and are often admired for their hard-working habits. Actually, these insects have many ways of life. Come see a few.

 

giant mesquite bug Thassus acutangulus This large true bug is commonly found feeding on the sap of mesquite trees. The bright red and white nymphs cluster together as a means of protection, but disperse when they become the more somberly-colored adults. Like many plant bugs, they emit a harmless but offensive odor when molested.

 

kissing bug Triatoma rubida Kissing bugs feed on the blood of reptiles and mammals, including humans. Bites normally cause swelling and itching but some people experience more severe allergic reactions. Primarily associated with wood rats, this species is found throughout our region at lower elevations and is most active in May and June.

 

Lepidopteran Lookout Butterflies and Moths Butterfly gardening is a popular hobby, while moth closeting has never really caught on. Butterflies and moths are in the same insect order, however, and some moths are surprisingly pretty. Click on the link or on the picture to visit the Lepidoptera.

 

Odonata Odeum Odonata are dragonflies and damselflies. An odeum is a small theater. Odonata are generally found near water, so imagine that the stage is swampy.

 

Orthopteran Outpost Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets, plus Roaches and Mantids Many orthopterans -- katydids and crickets in particular -- go out of their way to be heard and not seen. Others prefer not to be noticed at all. Come in and notice some.

 

desert lac insect Tachardiélla sp. Lac insects in the Sonoran region are most commonly seen on wolfberry (Lycium). The wingless female insect lives in cells of resin it exudes from its body for protection. Millions of pounds of this material produced by a relative, the Indian lac insect, is harvested and used in the preparation of shellac and varnishes.

 

antlion Myrmeleontidae Ant lion larvae, or doodlebugs, are strange looking creatures with long sickle-like jaws. Most species live at the bottom of a small conical pit in fine dry soils. Ants and other small insects which fall into the trap are seized, injected with digestive enzymes and drained of their fluids.

 

termites Pterotermes, Marginitermes, Gnathamotermes Using mud and fecal material to make a protective covering to prevent desication, termites feed on the old, oxidized bark at the base of saguaros. Lacking the ability to digest the cellulose in wood, termites have symbiotic microorganisms in their guts that produce enzymes that break down the cellulose.

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Start of Zoo | More Arthropod Pages (outside zoo)

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