Module 4

Internal Anatomy of Insect and It’s Life Cycle

A Learning Module for

Entomology 111 (Principles of Entomology)

Name of Student:_________________________________________________
Course, Year & Section: ____________________________________________
Semester and School Year:_________________________________________
I. Rationale

Insects are invertebrate which have an external and internal anatomy which is
structured and functions widely differently from vertebrate species.
In this module you will learn the basic insect body specifically the internal
structures and some of the major variations of the different body parts and the
functions of its body parts. Wings are the primary tools for insect taxonomic studies,
and for the identification of insects. Understanding an insect’s anatomy (structure) and
physiology (how their body works) allows us to realize how insects have evolved to live
on the planet and teaches us how to control insect problems which may arise.

II. Specific Learning Outcomes

Students:
1. Identify and discuss the internal structures of a typical insect and functions of its parts
2. discuss the change in growth and development and life cycle of insects

III. Pretest
Instructions: Answer the scheduled test in Google classroom using the Class code as
follows:
1. BSAB1 A – n5qquiv
2. BSAB1 B – uba4utm
3. BSAB1 C – 4jvtmuf
4. BSAB1 D – fgfdant
5. BSAB1 E - dvpztwz

IV. Materials
Reading materials, internet connection, laptop/smartphone

V. Learning Activities

Lesson 1: Internal Structures of Insect

Key Concepts:

1. Digestive System
• An insect uses its digestive system for all steps in food processing: digestion,
absorption, and feces delivery and elimination.
• The main structure of an insect's digestive system is a long enclosed tube called
the alimentary canal (or gut), which runs lengthwise through the body. The
alimentary canal directs food in one direction: from the mouth to the anus.
• The gut is where almost all of insects' digestion takes place. It can be divided into
three sections;
a. Foregut or stomadeum
• It is the anterior part of the alimentary canal which starts with the mouth cavity
and ends with the gizzard (or) proventriculus
 Primary function is to begin the breakdown of food particles and transport them
to the next region the midgut or mesentron.
 Undigested food particles then pass into the third region, the hindgut or
proctodeum, which consist of ileum, colon,rectum and often rectal pads
1. Mouth: mandibles break down food to small pieces. inside mouth salivary glands
excrete enzymes to: 1. ) aid breakdown of food; 2) add moisture
2. Pharynx: region that is circled by muscles – force food from mouth to esophagus.
It is a narrow Simple tube of the foregut through which the foods get transported from
pharynx into the crop
3. Esophagus: a tube-like connecting the crop. It is a narrow Simple tube of the
foregut through which the foods get transported from pharynx into the crop
4. Crop: storage area for food. Insect eats beyond repletion, so need storage before
pushed into. In honey bees crop is called as honey stomach where nectar
conversion occurs
5. Proventriculus (gizzard): sometimes grinding organ (with small teeth; sometimes
only as a valve between fore & midgut. The last portion of midgut.

b. Midgut (Ventriculus or mesenteron or stomach),(Middle)

Once food leaves the crop, it passes to the midgut, also known as the mesenteron,
where the majority of digestion takes place

1. Ventriculus: Enzymes breakdown food chemically, initiate nutrient uptake

(absorption amino acid, carbo, lipids, vit., mineral)
 Single layer epithelial cells, convoluted & folded: provide absorption space
 The lining is peritrophic membrane: 1) as a sieve which allows enzymes &
b/down products to move thru it. 2) protect midgut
 Gastris caeca : involved in harbouring m/organisms

C. Hindgut (Proctodaeum) (Posterior)

 Water absorption and waste excretion
 Waste products are concentrated and packaged for excretion
 Hindgut is divided into 3 regions namely ileum, colon and rectum.
i. Ileum is a small intestine (or) tube like structure.
ii. Colon is a large intestine.
iii. Rectum - The rectum may sometimes get differentiated into rectal papillae
(or) pads which vary in number from 3-6. These are involved in reabsorption of
water, salts from the faecal (waste) matter
 Consists of 1) intestine (ileum+colon); 2)rectum; 3) anus
 From intestine pass to rectal pads: further salt & water retained

1. Malphigian tubules: junction of mid & hindgut

Function: kidneys of insect: absorbs salts, water and wastes from the surrounding
hemolymph. The wastes then are released from the organism in the form of solid
nitrogenous compounds.
Waste in form of uric acid (dry and nontoxic)
Feces Leaf chewing insects very distinctive – take the shape of the intestine
Function:
1) filter hemolymph
2) recover lost metabolites, water & salt
3) excrete waste

2. Respiratory systems
• Insect respiration is accomplished without lungs. Instead, the insect respiratory
system uses a system of internal tubes and sacs through which gases either
diffuse or are actively pumped, delivering oxygen directly to tissues that need it
via their trachea.

Since oxygen is delivered directly, the circulatory system is not used to carry oxygen,
and is therefore greatly reduced.

• The insect circulatory system has no veins or arteries, and instead consists of
little more than a single, perforated dorsal tube that pulses peristaltically.
Toward the thorax, the dorsal tube divides into chambers and acts like the
insect's heart.
• The opposite end of the dorsal tube is like the aorta of the insect circulating
the hemolymph, arthropods' fluid analog of blood, inside the body cavity. Air is
taken in through openings on the sides of the abdomen called spiracles.

Spiracle
 Air comes thru. Opening on the body.
 Open and close (have muscles) to minimize water loss
Mechanism:
 Co2 high in body muscles relax  spricales open Co2 escape + Oxygen in
O2 in body approx. outside  muscles recover 
• Aquatic adaptation
Some without spiracles, they have modified gills. The gills with thin layer of
cuticles with lots of tracheoles . Some have ‘snorkel’ : a tube with spiracles- the tube
above water for air intake
3. Circulatory system
• Unlike the “closed” circulatory system of humans, insect circulatory systems are
said to be “open”, meaning that they lack a complex network of veins and
arteries to help transport blood throughout the body.
 Hemolymph –insect blood flows “freely” throughout the hemocoel.
 No arteries, veins or capillaries
 The organ sits in open cavity filled with insect blood called ‘HEMOLYMPH’
Functions:
a. Transport of nutrient and hormones d. Water reservoir
b. Storage for substance like acid amino e.Hydrostatic pressure for movement
c. Protection from foreign organism which invade
Dorsal vessels
1. Aorta
• In front of the heart, lacks valves or muscle, continues forward to the head and
empties near the brain.
• Hemolymph bathes the organs and muscles of the head as it emerges from the
aorta then back over the alimentary canal, through the body until it reaches the
abdomen and re-enters the heart.
2. Heart-special pumping organ located dorsally in the insect body pumps blood
(hemolymph)
• divided segmentally into chambers that are separated by valves (ostia) to ensure
one-way flow of hemolymph.
• A pair of alary muscles are attached laterally to the walls of each chamber.
• Peristalsis: these muscles force the hemolymph forward from chamber to
chamber

4. Nervous system
• The nervous system functions as a link between the sense organs which respond
to various external and internal stimuli and the effectors organs such as muscles,
glands
• The sense organs include the structures with various sensilla that respond to
sounds, weather factors, smell etc.
 Nervous system consists of elongated cells which form the physiologically
functional elements that are known as neurons. These neurons carry the
information in the form of electrical impulses. It is a unit of nervous system.

Structure of a neuron
 • The nervous system of an insect can be divided into a brain and a ventral nerve
cord. The head capsule is made up of six fused segments, each with a pair
of ganglia, or a cluster of nerve cells outside of the brain. The first three pairs of
ganglia are fused into the brain, while the three following pairs are fused into a
structure of three pairs of ganglia under the insect's esophagus, called
the subesophageal ganglion.
 Insect simple creature?
 What happen when you attack the fly?

3 components:
1) brain central nervous system (CNS)
2) ventral nerve cord
3) peripheral nervous system (extend outside the central nervous system to serve the
limbs and organs
 Each of the components consists millions of neurons
WHAT IS NEURON?
-Nerve cell ; For information transfer
Composed of:
1) dendrite (enter the cell body) 2) cell body (nucleus found 3) axon( leaving the body)
-Repeating unit of neuron form a nervous system
-Individual nerve cells connect with one another through special junctions, called
synapses.
3 categories, depending on their function within the nervous system:
1) Afferent (sensory) neurons
-bipolar or multipolar cells ; -dendrites associated with sense organs or receptors.
-carry information toward the central nervous system.
2) Efferent (motor) neurons
-unipolar cells; -conduct signals away from the central nervous system ;
-stimulate responses in muscles and glands.
3) Interneurons
-unipolar cells (often with several collaterals and/or branching axons) that conduct
signals within the central nervous system.

Brain
 Nerve cord to the head is the BRAIN
3 pairs of ganglia region:
1)protocerebrum: associated with vision; they innervate the compound eyes and ocelli.
2)deotocerebrum: pair lobes with sensory pathway to antennae
3)tritocerebrum: lobes with connective to 1st ganglion of ventral nerve cord
Ventral nerve cord
1) subesophageal ganglion
-innervates mandibles, maxillae, and labium, hypopharynx, salivary glands, and neck
muscles
2) thoracic ganglia
- control locomotion by innervating the legs and wings.
3) abdominal ganglia
-control movements of abdominal muscles.

Peripheral nervous system

1) neuron of sensory organs (sensory neuron)
2) neuron attached to muscles (motor neuron)
-Function of insect nervous system critical in insect control

5. Reproductive system
• Reproduce: 1) SEXUALLY 2) ASEXUALLY
Mostly sexually 2 sex cells : 1) sperm 2) ovum

• Male reproductive system

 Sperm produce by testes
 From testes sperm stored in seminal vesicle
 During copulation discharge thru aedeagus (penis) along with secretion from
accessory glands

• Female reproductive system

Female insects are able to make eggs, receive and store sperm, manipulate sperm from
different males, and lay eggs. Their reproductive systems are made up of a pair
of ovaries, accessory glands, one or more spermathecae, and ducts connecting these
parts. The ovaries make eggs and accessory glands produce the substances to help
package and lay the eggs. Spermathecae store sperm for varying periods of time and,
along with portions of the oviducts, can control sperm use.
 Ovum produce by ovary
The ovaries are made up of a number of egg tubes, called ovarioles, which vary
in size and number by species. The number of eggs that the insect is able to
make vary by the number of ovarioles with the rate that eggs can be developed
being also influenced by ovariole design.
 Inside ovaries: OVARIOLES egg producing tubules
  Spermathecae – tubes or sacs in which sperm can be stored . That mate once
stored sperm for months/years
 Accessory glands : provide materials for egg to attach to substrate. They can
produce glue and protective substances for coating eggs or tough coverings for
a batch of eggs called oothecae.
Tasks:
1. Draw and label all parts of the following internal structures of insect in a separate
sheet of bond paper.
a. Digestive system b. Circulatory system c. Nervous system
d. Reproductive system -male and female

Lesson 2: Life cycle of insects

Key Concepts

1. Metamorphosis

• Metamorphosis is derived from Greek word ‘Meta’ = Change, ‘morph’ = form or

structure. It is the change in growth and development of an insect undergoes
during its life cycle from birth to maturity

Insect growth;
 Insects grow or increase in size by molting or ecdysis, that is the insect sheds off
its old skin, which after being shed off is called CAST skin or exuvium(exuviae).
 Ecdysis the process of molting in insects
 Molting is another word for the “shedding of one’s skin”
 INSTAR – the actual appearance of the insect after molting
 STADIUM (stadia) – the period of time that an insect is within a stage,
particularly in between two molts.

• Types of metamorphosis:
1. Ametabola (No metamorphosis)
E.g.: Apterygote e.g.: silver fish, springtails.
 Insects do not undergo any metamorphosis.
 These insects have only three stages in their life namely egg, young ones and adult.
 The hatching insect resembles the adult in all respects except for the size and called
as juveniles.
 Moulting continues throughout the life.
2. Hemimetabola: (Incomplete metamorphosis)
 E.g. Dragonfly, damselfly and may fly.
  These insects also have three stages in their life namely egg, naiads and adult.
Pupal stage is absent.
 The young ones are aquatic and are called as naiads.
 They are different from adults in habit and habitat.
 They breathe by means of tracheal gills.
 In dragonfly naiad the lower lip (labium) is called mask which is hinged and
provided with hooks for capturing prey. After final moult, the insects have fully
developed wings suited for aerial life.
3. Paurometabola: (Gradual metamorphosis)-
E. g. grasshoppers, cockroaches, termites, true bugs, cicadas, and hoppers.
 It is also called as simple metamorphosis.
 The life cycle includes egg, nymph and adult stages.
 The nymph resembles the adult in all the characters except wings. Nymphs
possess wing buds which transform in to fully developed wings in adult stage.
 Both nymphs and adults share the same habitat.
 In these insects, wings develop externally and hence are also called as
Exopterygota.
 Pupal stage is absent hence, development is said to be direct and simple.
4. Complete or Holometamorphosis or indirect development:
E.g. Butterfly, moth, Beetles, weevils, fly and bees.
 The life cycle includes four stages; egg, larva, pupa and adult.
 Larvae of butterflies are called caterpillar.
 Larva differs from the adult both in body structure and habits. Larva has both
thoracic and abdominal legs, sometimes legs may be absent in larva, whereas
adult has only thoracic legs.
 Compound eyes are absent in larva.
 Larva undergoes moulting to enter in to pupal stage from which the adult insect
emerges.
 Wings develop internally during the pupal stage and hence, they are called
Endoptreygota.
5. Hypermetamorphosis:
 This is a peculiar type of development which consists of two or more types or
forms of larvae in the life cycle of insects.
 In majority of the cases the first larval, instar is campodeiform and the
subsequent larval forms depends on type and mode of life of the larva. E.g.: In
blister beetle (Meloidae; Coleoptera), the first larval instar is campodeiform
followed by scarabeiform larval type.
Significance of metamorphosis;
i. It helps the insect to tide over unfavorable climate conditions by entering into
hibernation, aestivation and or diapauses.
ii. It helps the insect to accommodate growth by periodical shedding of their old cuticle
and by formation of new cuticle.
iii. It helps the insect to reduce or avoid competition for food amongst themselves by
either entering into inactive stage or by acquiring different feeding habits and habitats.
iv. It helps the insect as a protective adaptation by a way of mimicry. i.e. resembles to
the nature.
v. It also serves as an important aspect in classification of insects.

Stages of metamorphosis:
i. Egg – first stage of development in all insects.
II) LARVAE
 Larval Stage is the active growing stage. It is the immature stage between the
egg and the pupal stage of an insect having complete metamorphosis. This stage
differs radically from the adult.
iii) PUPA - it is the resting and inactive stage in all holometabolous insects. During this
stage, the insect is incapable of feeding and is quiescent. During this transitional stage,
the larval characters are destroyed and new adult characters are created.
iv. Adult or imago- the final instar in the development of an insect which all of the
external characteristics are well defined and the internal systems fully matured or
complete viz. reproductive organs.

Tasks:
1. Draw the stages in the life cycle of the following insects in a separate sheet of bond
paper.
a. grasshopper c. butterfly
b. silverfish d. dragonfly

VI. Posttest:
Instruction: Answer the scheduled test using the same class code per section.

VII. References:

Payne, J. (2017), Entomology,Study of Insects, Larsen and Keller Education

publications, New York, USA