Maryland Cooperative Extension Understanding Insects and Spiders

1
Maryland Cooperative ExtensionUnderstanding
Insects and Spiders

• Terry E. Poole
• Extension Agent
• Frederick County, MD

Welcome, now sit back and enjoy the show.
2
Unfortunately most of us are terrified of insects
and spiders.
3
Parts of the Insect
4
You all know what the cricket looks and sounds
like.

• 4

5
1
6
2
3
Insects have six legs lets count them on this
cricket.
5
This carpenter ant clearly shows the three body
parts of the insect.
Abdomen
Thorax
Head
6
Complete Life Cycle
Larva and adult are different
7
Imported Cabbage Worm

• This is an example of a complete life cycle.
• You have seen, and eaten this worm in broccoli,
  cabbage, and kale.
• Larva Adult

8
This monarch butterfly shows the stages of its
life.
See the butterfly?

• Pupa

Larva Caterpillar
Adult
9
This is a common butterfly in our area. Do you
know it?

• Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

10
The colors of this butterfly are a clue to its
name.

• Baltimore Butterfly
• Note the Baltimore oriole colors of black,
  orange, and white.

11
These caterpillars can really spoil your dinner.

• These caterpillars are common insect pests of
  corn.
• They will eventually turn into moths.

European Corn Borer
Corn Earworm
12
These insect larvae will make a silk nest in
trees in the spring.

• Eastern Tent Caterpillar

13
This insect is another web builder in our trees.

• Fall Webworm
• It builds its nests in late summer at the end
  of tree branches.

N E S T
14
This is a serious pest of our forests in the
region.

• Gypsy Moth
• People often confuse the tent caterpillar with
  the gypsy moth. The gypsy moth doesnt spin a
  silk nest. The newly hatched caterpillar will
  climb to the top of a tree to live until it grows
  larger. Sometimes the young caterpillars will
  spin a single thread of silk and blow in the wind
  (called ballooning) to travel to a new site. The
  adult male butterflies are attracted by a
  females scent and will fly to her to mate. The
  female moths cannot fly very far, perhaps 20 to
  25 ft. They rely on their pheromones (scent) to
  attract a mate.

Adult
Larva
Egg Mass
15
Incomplete Life Cycle
Nymph and adult look the same.
16
This insect has an incomplete life cycle. What
is it?

• Grasshopper
• Newly hatched grasshoppers look
  just like the adults.

17
Have you seen this relative of this grasshopper.
What is it?

• Katydid

Its here!
18
Insects can look scary, but most are harmless.
19
How long have insects been here on Earth?

• Insects were here long before the dinosaurs, over
  250 million years ago.
• Fossils of insects show many different types of
  insects. Some can still be found today.

20
These are some of the oldest insects in the
world. What are they?

• Cockroaches

21
Fossil records show that this insect has been
around a long time. What is it?

• Dragonfly
• (some had wingspans of 3 ft.)

22
This insect only shows up every seventeen years.
What is it?

• Seventeen Year Cicada
• There is also a periodical cicada that shows
  up every summer. It looks very similar.

23
Termites can be a big problem.They are often
confused with ants when swarming.

• Ants will have more distinct body parts termites
  look more broad-bodied.
• An easy way to tell them apart is looking at the
  antennae. Termite antennae are like a string of
  beads and ants have jointed antennae.

24
This common insect can really annoy you. What is
it?

• House Fly

25
This is another common annoying summer pest. Have
you seen it?

• Green Bottle Fly
• They are about the same size as the house fly,
  but their shiny, green color makes them stand out.

26
Have you ever seen these tiny flies fly out of a
piece fruit when you picked it up?

• Fruit Fly
• They like to feed on ripe fruit fruit.

27
Talk about annoying, this insect is a real pest.
What is it?

• Mosquito
• They will suck blood from their victims and
  can carry disease.

28
This caterpillar wears a Do Not Touch sign on
its back.

• Saddle Back Caterpillar
• The hairs are poisonous and will cause a
  painful rash where touched.

Note hairs
29
This is a very common bug in area with a painful
bite.

• Assassin Bug
• It is a beneficial predator of other insects and
  bites from it are rare and not serious.
• Some species are all gray and a have wheel-like
  structure sticking up out of their back. These
  species are also called Wheel Bugs.

30
Some of our more favorite insects are beneficial.
What is the orange beetle below?

• The ladybird beetle adult and larvae will eat
  aphids, helping to control this plant pest.

Ladybird Beetle Larva
Ladybird Beetle Adult
Aphids
31
This is another beneficial insect, what is it?

• Praying Mantis
• It is a master predator and will feed on other
  insects and small vertebrates.

32

• Frogs and spiders do try to keep the population
  of insects down for us.

33
This insect is hard to see and confusing to
predators.

• Tomato Horn Worm
• Its coloration and body pattern help it to
  hide among the plants leaves.
• The false eyes along its body confuse predators

34
These insects are the master of disguise. Can
you see them?

• Bagworms

This is one here.
The male bagworm will turn into a fly, while the
female will always remain a worm.
35
Would you believe that these are insects?

• Scale
• After hatching, scale crawlers will look for a
  place to live on a plant. Once they find it,
  they cover themselves with a shell and live there.

36
This is an important insect that everyone should
recognize.

• Honeybee
• They are important to the pollination of plants.
  We also like to eat their honey.
• Honeybee numbers are currently down due to a
  mite infestation.

37
These insects look like honeybees, but they are
in the wasp family.

• Yellow Jackets
• They dont make honey.

38
Wasps feed on other insects.

• The paper wasp below has captured a fly.

39
Arachnids include spiders, ticks, scorpions, and
mites.

• Ticks suck blood from their victims and can
  spread diseases such as Lyme Disease
• Brown Dog Tick

Abdomen
1
5
2
Arachnids are different from insects in that
they have eight legs and two body parts.
6
3
4
7
8
Head
40
These are our two problem ticks.

• Deer Tick Wood Tick

41
Mites are Arachnids too!
42
Im sure that you recognize this beautiful
spider.

• Black Widow Spider
• This is a very venomous spider that can
  inflict a very painful bite.

Red Hourglass
43
This is the other dangerous spider besides the
black widow in the USA.

• Brown Recluse Spider
• They are found in the southern states and are
  brought here when items are moved or shipped
  north.
• They are shy and reclusive, preferring closets
  and out-of-the-way places.

44
This is a beautiful spider commonly seen in late
summer.

• Garden Spider

45
This little spider has a name that fits its
appearance.

• Crab Spider
• It prefers to ambush its prey rather than trap
  it in a web.

46
Everyone should recognize this very common spider.

• Daddy Long Legs
• This is a spider that prefers to run down its
  prey rather than trap it in a web.

47
Its a bird, its a plane, its a ...

• Jumping Spider
• This spider doesnt use a web it prefers to
  pounce quickly onto its prey.

s p i d e r
fly
48
Spiders are excellent hunters.

• This honeybee is sweet meal for a spider.

49
Large spiders will feed on other things in
addition to insects.
Ouch! Thats got to hurt!
50
What would you do now if you saw a bug?
51
I guess that I should call Maryland Cooperative
Extension at [phone], so that I can learn
how to get rid of that ugly spider.

• The End