MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF

FOREIGN LANGUAGES - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION



SUBJECT: READING 1

THE INSECTS

Lecturer : Nguyen Ngoc Hai

Group members :
Nguyen Thi Bich Ngan – 21DH121018
Tran Thi Yen Nhi – 17DH491354
Nguyen Hong Phan – 21DH123294
Dang Thi Hong Phuc – 21DH123296

HCMC – 18 December, 2021

Table of Contents
1. BEE ......................................................................................................................1

1.1 Evolution: ......................................................................................................1

1.2 Sociality .........................................................................................................2

1.3 Ecology ..........................................................................................................3

1.4 Products from honey .....................................................................................4

2. DRAGONFLIES..................................................................................................4

2.1 Life cycle .......................................................................................................4

2.2 Larval characteristics .....................................................................................5

3. COCKROACHES................................................................................................5

3.1 Behaviour ......................................................................................................6

3.2 Sound .............................................................................................................7

3.3 Reproduction .................................................................................................7

4. ANTS ...................................................................................................................8

4.1 Ant life cycle .................................................................................................9

4.2 Habits and ecological characteristics of ants ..............................................10

4.3 Self-defense and nest protection .................................................................11

1. BEE
Bees are insects with wings closely related to wasps and ants, known for
their role in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western
honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the
superfamily Apoidea. Bees are classified into seven biological groups with about
16,000 species. Some species, such as honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees,
live in colonies, although the majority (>90 percent) of species, such as mason
bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees, live alone.

Class: Insect

Kingdom: Animalia

Order: Hymenoptera.

Phylum: Arthropoda.

Speech: 21-28 km/h

Diet: nectar, pollen.
Life span: 34-42 days (Winter),
Picture 1. : A bee is sucking nectar.
152 days (Summer)
1.1 Evolution:
The ancestors of bees were wasps in the family Crabronidae, which were
predators of other insects. The switch from insect prey to pollen may have resulted
from the consumption of prey insects which were flower visitors and were partially
covered with pollen when they were fed to the wasp larvae. This same evolutionary
scenario may have occurred within the vespoid wasps, where the pollen wasps
evolved from predatory ancestors.

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Coevolution:
The earliest animals-pollinated flowers were shallow, cup-shaped blooms
pollinated by insects such as beetles, so the syndrome of insect pollination was well
established before the first appearance of bees. The novelty is that bees are
specialized as pollinations agents, with behavioral and
physical modifications that specifically enhance
pollination, and are the most efficient pollinating
insects. In a process of coevolution, flowers developed
floral rewards such as nectar and longer tubes, and
bees developed longer tongues to extract the nectar.
Bees coevolved not only with flowers but it is believed
that some species coevolved with mites. Some provide
Picture 2. A bee on a flower
tufts of hairs called acarinaria that appear to provide lodgings for mites; in return, it
is believed that mites eat fungi that attack pollen, so the relationship in this case may
be mutualistc.

1.2 Sociality
Bees may be solitary or may live in various types of
communities. Eusociality appears to have originated
from at least three independent origins in halictid
bees. The most advanced of these are species with
eusocial colonies; these are characterised by
cooperative brood care and a division of labour into
reproductive and non-reproductive adults, plus

Picture 3. The labour bee. overlapping generations. This division of labour

creates specialized groups within eusocial societies which are called castes. In some
species, groups of cohabiting females may be sisters, and if there is a division of

2
labour within the group, they are considered semisocial. The group is called eusocial
if, in addition, the group consists of a mother (the queen) and her daughters. When
the castes are purely behavioural alternatives, with no morphological differentiation
other than size, the system is considered primitively eusocial, as in many paper
wasps; when the castes are morphologically discrete, the system is considered highly
eusocia.

1.3 Ecology
Floral relationships

Most bees are polylectic (generalist) meaning they collect pollen from a range
of flowering plants, but some are oligoleges (specialists), in that they only gather
pollen from one or a few species or genera of closely related
plants. Specialist pollinators also include bee species which
gather floral oils instead of pollen, and male orchid bees,
which gather aromatic compounds from orchids (one of the
few cases where male bees are effective pollinators). Bees
are able to sense the presence of desirable flowers through
ultraviolet patterning on flowers, floral odors, and even
Picture 4. A close up of a
bee on a flower. electromagnetic fields. Once landed, a bee then uses nectar
quality and pollen taste to determine whether to continue visiting similar flowers.
Predators, parasites and pathogens

Vertebrate predators of bees include bee-

eaters, shrikes and flycatchers, which make short
sallies to catch insects in flight. Swifts and swallows
fly almost continually, catching insects as they go.
The honey buzzard attacks bees' nests and eats the
Picture 5. A bee is perched on food.
larvae. The greater honeyguide interacts with humans
3
by guiding them to the nests of wild bees. The humans break open the nests and take
the honey and the bird feeds on the larvae and the wax. Among mammals, predators
such as the badger dig up bumblebee nests and eat both the larvae and any stored
food.

1.4 Products from honey

Picture 8. Cosmetics. Picture 7. Functional foods. Picture 6. Soaps.

2. DRAGONFLIES
2.1 Life cycle
Odonata (Odonata) is a class of
insects. There are about 4,500 species
known to be divided into two categories:
dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies
(Zygoptera). The main difference between
them is the position of the wings and the
shape of the larvae. Dragonflies belong to

Picture 9. Common bluetail damselfly. the class of the Arthropod Insecta. They
have a round head, a large body, and two large compound eyes on both sides. They
have legs that can easily catch prey when flying. The two wings are similar, long
and thin, almost transparent, and move independently of each other. Dragonflies are
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completely metamorphic insects. Dragonfly larvae live in water and live on land as
adults. Therefore, adult dragonflies usually live near ponds and lakes, but many
species live far away from the aquatic environment.

2.2 Larval characteristics

Dragonflies lay their eggs in the
water near ponds, lakes, damp places, or
on aquatic leaves or plant tissues in the
water, and then hatch into larvae that feed
on the nutrients contained in the eggs.
They continue to metamorphose into
pupae, molting about 9-14 times (in most
species). The pupae continue to change
Picture 10. Orthetrum cancellatum.
and molt, usually at dusk, and continue to develop into flightless species, although
the color is still undetermined. These insects then become fertile adults.

The largest dragonflies in the world today are the Chinese giant dragonfly,
Megaloprepus coerulatus and Anax strenuus. The latter is a dragonfly endemic to
the Hawaiian Islands. In the past, there was a dragonfly with a wingspan of 60 cm,
whose fossils date back to 285 million years ago. In Vietnam, there are more than
500 kinds. Most dragonflies are beneficial insects and natural enemies, eating all
kinds of insects, flies and mosquitoes.

3. COCKROACHES
According to Eiseman, C. (2009), Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects of the
order Blattodea, which also includes termites. About 30 cockroach species out of
4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as pests.
The cockroaches are an ancient group, with ancestors originating during the
Carboniferous period- some 300-350 million years ago. They are common and hardy
5
insects capable of tolerating a wide range of climates, from Arctic cold to tropical
heat. Tropical cockroaches are often much larger than temperate species.
Cockroaches have appeared in human culture since classical antiquity. They are
popularly depicted as dirty pests, although the majority of species are inoffensive
and live in a wide range of habitats around the world. Beccaloni, G. (2014) provided
that the word “cockroach” comes from Spanish “cucaracha”, in 1620s has
transformed English folk etymology into "cock" and "roach". The scientific name
derives from the Latin blatta, "an insect that shuns the light", which in classical Latin
was applied not only to cockroaches, but also to mantids.

Most species of cockroach are about the size of

a thumbnail, but several species are larger. The world's
heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing
cockroach Macropanesthia rhinoceros, which can
reach 8 centimetres (3 in) in length and weigh up to 35

Picture 11. Megaloblatta longipennis. grams. While Guinness World Records proved
that the world's largest winged cockroach is Megaloblatta longipennis found in Peru,
Ecuador and Panama.

3.1 Behaviour
Costa, J. T. (2006) supplied that
cockroaches thought to be aggregated
because they were reacting to
environmental cues, but it is now believed
that pheromones are involved in these
behaviors. Pheromones produced by the
cuticle may enable cockroaches to
Picture 12. German cockroach. distinguish between different populations

6
of cockroach by odor and German cockroaches leave fecal trails with an odor
gradient. Other cockroaches follow such trails to discover sources of food and water,
and where other cockroaches are hiding. Thus, cockroaches have emergent behavior,
in which group or swarm behavior emerges from a simple set of individual
interactions.

3.2 Sound
Some species make a buzzing noise while other cockroaches make a chirping
noise. In the former species, several different hisses are produced, including
disturbance sounds, produced by adults and larger nymphs; and aggressive,
courtship and copulatory sounds produced by adult males (Nelson, M. C., 1979).

Several Australian species practice acoustic

and vibration behaviour as an aspect of
courtship. They have been observed producing
hisses and whistles from air forced through the
spiracles. Furthermore, in the presence of a
potential mate, some cockroaches tap the

Picture 13. Australian cockroach.

substrate in a rhythmic, repetitive manner.
Acoustic signals may be of greater prevalence amongst perching species,
particularly those that live on low vegetation in Australia's tropics (Rentz, D., 2014).

3.3 Reproduction
Like many insects, cockroaches mate facing away from each other with their
genitalia in contact, and copulation can be prolonged. A few species are known to
be parthenogenetic, reproducing without the need for males. In addition, female
cockroaches are sometimes seen carrying egg cases on the end of their abdomens,
the German cockroach holds about 30 to 40 long, thin eggs in a case called an
ootheca. They drops the capsule prior to hatching, though live births do occur in rare
7
 instances. The egg capsule may take more than
five hours to lay and is initially bright white in
color. The eggs are hatched from the combined
pressure of the hatchlings gulping air. The

Picture 14. Cockroach egglaying. hatchlings are initially bright white nymphs and
continue inflating themselves with air, becoming harder and darker within about four
hours. Their transient white stage while hatching and later while molting has led to
claims of albino cockroaches (Hoell, H. V., Doyen, J. T., & Purcell, A. H., 1998).

Development from eggs to adults takes three to four months. Cockroaches live
up to a year, and the female may produce up to eight egg cases in a lifetime. In
favorable conditions, the female cockroaches can produce 300 to 400 offspring.
Other species of cockroaches, however, can produce far more eggs, in some cases a
female needs to be impregnated only once to be able to lay eggs for the rest of their
life.

4. ANTS
Ants - the most crowded insect in the world . Extremely social ants belong to
the family Formicidae, related to bees, order Hymenoptera. There are about 12,500
species of ants in the world, they are present almost everywhere in the world except
icy regions and oceans, concentrated mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Ants
are a miniature social insect of humanity, living in groups and extremely social. Ants
know how to protect each other, exchange information, "raise" insects and fungi for
food, as well as exploit or capture slaves.

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 4.1 Ant life cycle

Picture 15. Ant life cycle.

The life cycle of ants:

The life cycle of an ant begins with an egg. Queens usually lay eggs that hatch
into workers, but at a certain time of the year they lay eggs that give birth to male
ants and silk queens. The life cycle of the ant is "completely metamorphosed" and
must go through 4 stages: egg -> larva -> individual pupa -> adult ant. As a larva,
because it has no legs, the ant larvae are completely dependent on other ants in the
nest.

The larval stage lasts several weeks before it pupates. Some types of larva release
silk on their own and encase themselves in a silvery-white cocoon before pupating.
Ant pupae are transparent, non-eating and motionless young ants that become ants
after about 2 to 3 weeks.

The adult worker ants will perform the same tasks as other worker ants, finding
food for the queen and her young larvae. At the same time, they take care of the
eggs, larvae and pupae while the queen continues to lay eggs. After this time, the

9
worker ants will switch to burrowing, looking for food sources, and protecting the
Ant nest from enemies. Job changes are often sudden or are called seasonal jobs.

However, with some species, the level of Ants is high or low depending on the
size. Worker ants will evolve into different sizes: small, medium, and large.

The large Ant species will evolve irregularly with a large head, and a pair of large,
solid jaws. They can be called Soldier Ants because the bigger and stronger the pair,
the more weapons they use to protect the nest. Soldier ants are originally worker ants
and their mission is not much different from that of smaller worker ants.

Each ant society can have many queens, but usually only one ant per nest. The
queen ant's sole job is to reproduce. Queens lay eggs throughout their lives, and most
hatch into workers. At the right time, the queen and male ants will fly out of the nest.
They mate while in flight. After that, the male ants will drop their wings and die,
and the queen will find a place to make a whole new ant colony. In addition, when
there are many sour ants in the nest, the separation of a queen from the nest will
bring a number of loyal workers to a new suitable habitat and build a new empire.

Queen ants have the longest lifespan, about 10 to 20 years. Worker ants have a
much shorter life span, living only 1 to 5 years. Male ants are even shorterlived,
living weeks to months and dying after mating. An ant colony has a fairly long
existence.

4.2 Habits and ecological characteristics of ants

"Ants use pheromones to mark their way"

There is a special chemical that helps ants communicate with each other called
a pheromone. The long antennae of ants have the same function as many other
insects such as locating the taste and location of food. The antennae is also a place
to collect information about the external environment for ants.
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 When moving, ants secrete pheromones along the way to help other ants in
the colony find their way and follow them. Along the way, if the track is cut, the ant
will actively find a new path to the location of the food. If successful, they will again
mark the trail on this path for other 3 ants to follow. Interestingly, the location of the
anthill is determined based on memory of the terrain and the direction of the
sun.Pheromones are especially important during the breeding season, as pheromones
help the queen attract males.Another use of pheromones is as a warning. When an
individual ant is seriously injured in the process of defending the nest, it will secrete
a higher concentration of pheromones than normal to warn other individuals to
realize that the enemy they are facing is extremely dangerous. dangerous. In
particular, in some other ant species, pheromones are also used as a distraction.

In addition, the health status of an individual ant can also be detected by the
pheromones left on the food.

4.3 Self-defense and nest protection

Picture 16. A nest of many black ants in the dirt.
Ants use their strong jaws to
attack enemies, to defend themselves
and to protect the nest from
encroachment.In addition to using strong
jaws, many ants are also capable of
injecting poison through stingers or
bites. In addition to selfdefense, ants
have another obligation to protect the 5
nests from infectious diseases.

Some of the ants will be assigned to clean up, keep the nest clean, clean up
and bury the dead ants as mentioned above.

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 Nest structure:

Ant nests can be built in the ground or placed on trees depending on the
species. The ant nest has a complex structure with many paths, and nomadic ants
often change the location of the nest. Nesting materials are things that ants can easily
find such as soil, leaves, roots, etc. The location of the nest is also carefully
researched and select.

Foods:

The food of ants is very diverse. Some

Picture 17. Ants enjoying junkfood.
eat seeds, hunt small animals or even
mushrooms… but most of them prefer the
sweet nectar of aphids. Most of what they do
is by instinct. Ants find food everywhere,
sometimes snatching it from.

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