Dr.

Habibur Rahman
Associate Professor, Dept. of ENT

Lecture 1: The origin of insect and concept of pest

Phylogeny of Arthropods
 The ancestry of this phylum has been a subject of much discussion for over a century. In
the absence of any direct fossil record the subject has largely been speculative.
 Some believe the phylum as of clearly monophyletic origin having evolved from a
common ancestor.
 Others argue that the arthropods are polyphyletic group and that many of their
similarities have arisen as result of convergent evolution.
 The fossil record does not yield any direct information about the possible mono- or
polyphyletic state of various groups.

The origin of insect

 Insects form the largest group of Arthropoda. They survived from Palaeozoic to the
present day.
 Their ancestry is still not known with certainty. It is believed that the earlier ancestors of
the insects might have taken their origin on some swampy tropical shore of a Silurian
continent.
 Since the complete subject of evolution of insects in linked with the evolution of plants,
some workers assume even their origin somewhat associated with the plant kingdom.
 Based on Carpenter’s four major evolutionary stage in insects, the class insecta may be
divided into groups as follows: (VVI)
 Apterygotes ---- Primitively wingless insect
Pterygotes ------ winged insect
 Paleopterous exopterygotes -- wing flexion mechanism lacking;
simple metamorphosis
 Neopterous exopterygotes -- wing flexion mechanism present;
simple metamorphosis
 Neopterous endopterygotes -- wing flexion mechanism present;
complete metamorphosis
The concept of pest
 The term pest has been derived from the Greek word “Pestis” which means, “to
annoy”.
 Organisms that become “pest” are not limited to any class, phylum, or even kingdom.
 Insects (75% of the world’s animal species) are frequent pests; other invertebrates
including mite, tick, nematode, mollusk; vertebrates including rodents, deer, coyotes,
and birds; pathogenic microorganism; weeds are pest.
 Organisms designated “pest” compete with people for food, fiber, shelter, transmit
pathogens, feed on people; or otherwise threaten human health, comfort, or welfare.

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  Thus previous to the appearance of humans, there were no pests; the arrival of
humans and the continuing development of the human life-style have provided the
sole basis for labeling an ever-increasing number of the surviving organisms “pest”.
 Broadly, a “pest” is an organism that reduces the availability, quality, or value of
some human resource.
 Thus the definition of “pest” is totally human-oriented.
General types of pest
Pests can be placed into four main categories:
 Insects and closely related animals

 Pathogens
 Weeds, and
 Vertebrates

1. Insect pests
A. Insects destroy or damage growing crops & other plants
i) By chewing leaves, stems, flowers, fruits e.g. Grasshopper; locust; red pumpkin beetle
ii) By sucking the sap from the leaves, buds, stems e.g. Aphids, Red cotton bug, rice bug
iii) By boring into the stem and fruit e.g. Rice stem borer, Mango fruit weevil
iv) By mining in the leaves e.g. Citrus leaf miner
v) By attacking roots and underground parts of the plants e.g. Termites, ant, cutworm
vi) By causing galls in the plant e.g Litchi mites, Mango gall insects
vii) By disseminating disease organism in plants e.g. Aphids, plant hopper carry viruses

B. Insects destroy or damage food and other products in the storage by actual
feeding
i) By destroying books, furniture, buildings e.g Termites, Ghoon insect
ii) By destroying food products in storage e.g. Red flour beetle, pulse beetle, rice weevil

C. Insects annoy and injure men and other animals

i) By direct annoying e.g. House fly, Mosquito
ii) By emitting bad smell e.g. Cockroach, bug
iii) By contaminating food with their excreta e.g. Cockroach
iv) By stinking e.g. Honey bee, wasp
v) By piercing and biting e.g. Bed bugs, lice
vi) Causing damage by poisonous hairs e.g. Caterpillars
vii) As external and internal parasite e.g. Lice, house fly
viii) By disseminating disease like Dengue, Diarrhoea, dysentery e.g. Aedes mosquto

2. Plant diseases: Diseases are caused by biological agents called pathogens. e.g. bacteria,
fungi, viruses and nematodes can produce spot, blight, lesion, wilt, gall on plant or plant may
stunted or discolored.

3. Weeds: Any plant can be considered a weed when it is growing where it is not wanted.
 Dr. Habibur Rahman
Associate Professor, Dept. of ENT

4. Vertebrate Pests: Vertebrate animals all have a jointed backbone. There are situations
when vertebrates can be pests. Sometimes birds, rodents, raccoons, or deer may damage
crops or ornamentals.