Unit II Kansas Arthropods Information

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Unit II Kansas Arthropods Information
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Introduction to Arthropods

• Insects and spiders belong to a larger Phylum
  Arthropoda, which means jointed leg.
• Insects are characterized by having 6 legs with
  joints, and 3 body parts head, thorax and
  abdomen. Most have either one or two sets of
  wings.
• Most insects go through various life stages,
  where they change in form and appearance. There
  are many variations, but these changes are called
  metamorphosis.
• Very few insects are harmful to humans or crops.
• Many insects are very beneficial, especially the
  ones that pollinate plants.

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Arthropods, cont.

• Spiders are characterized by having 8 legs and 8
  eyes. They have two body parts cephalothorax
  and abdomen.
• Identification of most insects is very difficult.
  Some of the more showy insects, like most of the
  ones in this unit, are easy to learn the species.
  Learning which Order insects belong in is the
  first step to being able to find the species in
  field guides.

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Monarch
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Monarch
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Monarch

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies
• Only migratory butterfly that has a migration
  similar to birds.
• When they breed, they lay eggs on milkweed
  plants, and the breeding adults live for about
  one month.
• About 4 generations are hatched in a summer, and
  the ones that hatch out in August and September
  are the ones that will fly to Mexico for the
  winter, and there they will congregate by the
  millions, and live for about 8 months. They are
  not in a breeding state.
• As they fly back north, they breed and die. The
  next generations continues going farther north,
  breeding and dying, until the end of the summer
  and the migratory cycle continues.
• Monarch Watch tags the monarchs with special
  stickers and records the data to keep track of
  migration. See www.monarchwatch.org for more
  information.

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Monarch cont.

• Monarch butterflies are poisonous (not
  venomousyou have to eat them to get sick).
• Their black and orange colors are a warning to
  would-be predators that they are poisonous. If a
  bird eats one, it gets sick and throws it up, its
  heart beats very fast and it remembers those
  colors and does not eat it again.
• Monarch caterpillars live on the milkweed plants,
  which have a cardiac glycoside in the milk that
  is poisonous to most animals. The caterpillars
  can eat it and not get sick, and that is what
  makes them poisonous to other predators.

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Viceroy
Note this black bar across the hind wing. The
Monarch does not have this straight line.
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Viceroy

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies
• NOT poisonous, but it mimics the monarch
  butterfly, which provides it protection from
  predators.
• Note the hind wing of the viceroythe black cross
  vein forms a line across the hind wing. The
  monarch does not have this line.

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Hackberry Butterflies
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Hackberry Butterflies
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Hackberry Butterflies

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Caterpillars feed on hackberry leaves.
• Butterflies fly from July to September.
• Often found in huge clouds around puddles of
  water near hackberry trees.

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Red Admiral
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Red Admiral

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Not likely to be confused with any other
  butterfly.
• Can be found all across the U.S. in nearly any
  habitat. Very common.

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Question Mark
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Question Mark
This is the question mark.
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Question Mark

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Belongs to a group of butterflies called Commas
  (also called anglewings), and named for the
  silvery comma shape on underneath of the hind
  wing. This species has a break in the shape
  that makes it look more like a question mark.
• Wide ranging and fairly common in woodland
  openings.
• Elms and hackberries are among their host plants.

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Buckeye
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Buckeye

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Common in southern regions but familiar across
  the U.S.
• Favors open habitats.
• Named for large eyespots on the wings.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• One of the most familiar eastern butterflies.
• Common in forests, along streams and gardens.
• Called a swallowtail because of the two tails
  trailing off of the hindwings.

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Sulphurs
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Sulphurs

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Sulphurs in are usually some shade of yellow,
  orange or white.
• There are several species, and they are
  challenging to tell apart.
• Perch with closed wings.
• Often you can see two flying together, around
  each other going higher in the airthese are
  often males fighting.

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Fall Webworms
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Fall Webworms
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Fall Webworms

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• Makes large webs across host plant branches in
  the fall.
• Host plants walnuts, cottonwood, hickory,
  mulberry.

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Red Carpenter Ants
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Red Carpenter Ants

• Order Hymenoptera, the ants, wasps, and bees.
• Lives in hollow trees and tree limbs.
• More likely found in woodland than urban areas.

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Honey Bee
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Honey Bee

• Order Hymenoptera, the ants, wasps, and bees.
• Imported from Europe.
• Well known as a mild-tempered bee.
• This is the bee common to bee keepers.

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Grass Spider
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Grass Spider

• Order Araneae, the spiders
• Common names are grass spider, wolf spider and
  funnel-web weaver.
• Makes a flat, dense web with a funnel off-center.
• Webs located on ground or heavy brush.
• Typically have two dark bands on abdomen.

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Wheel Bug
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Wheel Bug
Stink Glands
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Wheel Bug

• Order Hemiptera, the true bugs
• Named for the cog-like wheel on thorax.
• Predacious and beneficial
• Not aggressive towards people, but the bite is
  extremely painful.

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Snowberry Clearwing
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Snowberry Clearwing
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Snowberry Clearwing

• Order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies.
• It is a bumble bee hawk moth that visits flowers
  in the daytime.
• Named for clear section of wing without scales.

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Silver-bellied Cicada
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Silver-bellied Cicada

• Order Homoptera, the aphids, leafhoppers, and
  cicadas
• Incorrectly referred to as locusts (locusts are
  grasshoppers)
• Many species, and adults can be ½ inch long to 2
  ½ inches long.
• Their sounds, especially in July and August, are
  familiar to nearly everyone.
• Females can cause damage to some trees, as they
  lay eggs in the twigs. When the eggs hatch, the
  nymphs fall to the ground and develop in the
  soil. They feed on the roots of the host plant.
  When the emerge, they molt into adults, and their
  empty skins are common sights for most people.
• Some species occur every year, while the
  periodical cicada is also called the 17-year
  cicada and occurs every 17 years. It last
  occurred in May, 1998.

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Black Widow
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Black Widow
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Black Widow

• Order Araneae, the spiders
• A relatively shy spider that typically seeks
  nesting sites under stones and embankments.
• Shiny, black spider up to 3/8 inches in length
  with a red spots above and a red hourglass shape
  on the underside of their abdomen.
• Neurotoxic venom causes severe abdominal cramps,
  pain, nausea, sweating, and trembling.
• Rarely causes death except in very small children
  or the elderly.

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Garden Spider
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Garden Spider
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Garden Spider

• Order Araneae, the spiders
• Several species of the Argiope genus.
• Very common in Kansas, especially in late summer
  and fall. They die in the fall after
  reproducing.
• Quite large and beautifully marked with black,
  yellow and silvery-white.
• Webs have a thick, zig-zag line of webbing woven
  in. Possibly as a way for birds to see the web
  and not fly though it.
• It is fun to catch bugs and toss them into the
  web and watch the spider attack and wrap them in
  silk.

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Spittlebug
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Spittlebug

• Order Homoptera, the aphids, leafhoppers, and
  cicadas
• Also called froghoppers or spittle insects.
• The nymphal stages (pre-adult) life in masses of
  white froth on the leaves or stems of plants
  during May and June.
• They make this froth by sucking the juices out of
  the stem and churning it up into what looks like
  spit.

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Praying Mantis
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Praying Mantis

• Order Mantodea, the mantises
• Medium to large, green or brownish, slender
  insects with front legs adapted for catching and
  holding prey.
• Head moves around on a neck.
• They feed on other insects and spiders, although
  once in a great while the large ones might catch
  a hummingbird.
• They are very beneficial insects, harmless to
  humans, and should not be destroyed.

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Brown Recluse
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Brown Recluse

• Order Araneae, the spiders
• Also referred to as the fiddle-back or violin
  spider.
• One of two Kansas spiders (the other is the very
  shy and uncommon black widow) that is dangerous
  to humans.
• Its venom can impose a very serious injury,
  although not deadly. The bite may ulcerate and
  require removal of tissue by a doctor.
• Common in outbuildings, under boards and boxes,
  found in little-used closets, attics and garages,
  where it is dry and warm.

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Scorpion
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Scorpion
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Scorpion

• Order Scorpiones, the scorpions
• Lives under stones on sunny hillsides.
• Hunts insects at night and stings with their
  tail.
• Sting is similar to that of a bee.

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Dung Beetle
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Dung Beetle
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Dung Beetle

• Order Coleoptera, the beetles.
• A type of Scarab beetle.
• Helps with the decomposition of animal manure and
  adds nutrients to the soil.
• Consumes large amounts of dung.

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Common Skimmer
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Common Skimmer
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Common Skimmer

• Order Odonata, the dragonflies and damselflies.
• One of the most common and best known dragonflies
  in Kansas.
• Found over ponds and meadows.

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Green Darner
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Green Darner

• Order Odonata, the dragonflies and damselflies.
• One of the largest dragonflies in Kansas.
• Flies low at dusk to catch insects near ponds.

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Eastern Pondhawk
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Eastern Pondhawk

• Order Odonata, the dragonflies and damselflies.
• Lives over quiet waters, likes mats of duckweed
  and floating plants.
• One of the most ferocious dragonflies attacks
  all kinds of prey including each other.

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Paper Nest Wasp
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Paper Nest Wasp
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Paper Nest Wasp

• Order Hymenoptera, the ants, bees, and wasps.
• Valuable insects that eat large number of
  caterpillars.

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Obscure Bird Grasshopper
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Obscure Bird Grasshopper

• Order Orthoptera, the grasshoppers and katydids.
• Light yellow line down its back.
• Hind legs have bright yellow spikes.

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Daddylonglegs
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Daddylonglegs

• Order Opiliones, the harvestmen.
• Especially common in fall.
• Feeds on dead insects and sometimes wet dog food.
• Very easy to identify.
• Also called harvestmen.
• Harmlesshas a lot of venom, but teeth are too
  small to penetrate human skin.

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Lone Star Tick
Lone-star tick, easily identified by white spot
on back.
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Ticks (various species)

• Order Acari, the mites and ticks
• Family Ixodidae
• Several species of ticks in Kansas
• Lone star tick, has white spot in center of back
• Gulf coast tick, looks similar to Dog tick, with
  pale netting mark behind head.
• American Dog tick, large tick with U-shape behind
  head.
• Black-legged tick, the one in Kansas that is
  often the transmitter of Lyme Disease. Not a
  deer tick, but people call it that because it is
  similar.

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References

• Insects in Kansas, by Kansas Department of
  Agriculture, Nov. 2000
• Kaufman Focus Guide to Butterflies of North
  America, by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman
• Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America,
  by Eric R. Eaton.
• Dragonflies through Binoculars, by Sidney W.
  Dunkle, 2000