Assignment SB025

Semester 2
2021/2022
Success of Insects in Biodiversity
Nur Dania Binti Mohd Yusoff MS2117119795

Insects are the largest phylum of arthropods and the most common life form on the
planet. On Earth, there are an estimated ten quintillion individual insects. On the earth, there
are over 60,000 vertebrate species. However, there are a million recognised bug species and
many more that haven't been classified. In fact, these creatures account for almost 75% of all
animals on the planet. Insects are the primary eaters of plants among all living things on the
planet. They also serve an important part in the decomposition of plant and animal matter, as
well as being a key food source for a variety of other species. Insects are extremely versatile
creatures that have evolved to thrive in a wide range of habitats, including deserts and the
Antarctic. Insects can be found in practically every environment, albeit just a few species live
in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans. Insects come
in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and behaviours. The insects do have a distinct set of features
that, taken together, have given them a distinct survival edge. In brief, these attributes include
an exoskeleton, small body size, the ability to fly, a high reproductive potential, complete
metamorphosis, and adaptability in an ever-changing environment.
The supporting skeleton of an insect, unlike those of vertebrates, is placed on the
exterior of the body. This amazing structure not only gives shape and support to the body's
soft tissues, but also protects them from attack or damage, reduces bodily fluid loss in both
desert and watery conditions, and gives muscles a mechanical edge for strength and agility in
movement. The exoskeleton protects small creatures from predators and provides desiccation
or waterlogging, which is vital for survival, as well as numerous places of muscle attachment
for flexibility. The exoskeleton, on the other hand, limits the size of arthropods. The
exoskeleton's weight, which would be necessary to support a larger body, would limit mobility.
The exoskeleton, as a "suit of armour," can withstand both physical and chemical attacks. It
is protected from desiccation by an impermeable wax coating. Chitin, a polysaccharide that
interacts with multiple protein molecules to produce a body wall that may be as flexible and
elastic as rubber or as hard and stiff as some metals, makes up a large portion of the
exoskeleton. It is also resistant to a wide range of chemicals. Membranes and joints in the
exoskeleton allow for freedom of movement. Muscles that join directly to the body wall have
the best of both worlds: maximum strength and near-optimal mechanical advantage
(leverage). As a result, an ant can lift up to 50 times its own body weight.

Figure 1. Cicadoidea (Cicada)

 In general, insects are small in size. Small size is a distinct benefit for an animal with
an exoskeleton. Compared to bigger insects, to sustain greater mass of body tissue, insects'
exoskeletons would have to be thicker, meaning it would be heavier and more cumbersome
to move around. Even the most basic exercises would need more muscle volume and energy
expenditure. Another benefit of being small is that it requires fewer resources for survival and
reproduction. In certain situations, an insect's dietary requirements are so low that it can
survive its entire life on a single plant or animal and never run out of food. A leaf miner, for
example, spends its entire larval stage tunnelling between the top and lower epidermis of a
single leaf's paper-thin layer of cells (parenchyma). A complete colony of ants can live within
a single acorn or plant gall in some species. Finally, insects that must avoid predation benefit
greatly from their small size. They can hide in cracks in the rock, beneath the bark of a tree,
behind a flower petal, or beneath a blade of grass. They can burrow between individual grains
of sand because to the exoskeleton's hardness, but it's also flexible enough to allow them to
fit through even the slightest cracks. Many species' small size, combined with modifications in
body shape and coloration, allows them to blend in so well with their surroundings that they
are nearly undetected.

Furthermore, the only invertebrates that can fly are insects. The ability to fly provided
these insects with a highly effective means of evading predators. It was also a highly-effective
mode of movement, allowing communities to quickly spread into new areas and exploit new
resources. Some insects can fly large distances or stay airborne for long periods of time due
to their efficient use of energy. Moths, dragonflies, flies, and beetles are among the more than
200 species known to migrate large distances by air. The migratory locust, Schistocerca
gregaria, can fly for up to 9 hours without stopping. Large swarms occasionally traverse the
Mediterranean Sea. In North America, annual migrations of monarch butterflies (Danaus
plexippus) wing their way from summer feeding grounds to overwintering sites in California
and Mexico. (Meyer, 2007). Some species are surprisingly fast for their size. Over level
ground, large hawker dragonflies (family Ashnidae) have been timed at a top speed of 58 km/h
compared to human sprinters, reach speeds of around 36 km/hr. A huge insect's wings can
generate a significant amount of lift. Green darner dragonflies (Anax junius) can carry a burden
up to 15 times their body weight and still fly. Smaller-winged insects must strain much harder
to stay airborne. Biting midges, such as Forcipomyia spp., can beat their wings over 1000
times per second.

Figure 2. Anisoptera (Dragonfly)

One of the most important survival traits is its reproductive success. Female insects
generate huge quantities of eggs which most of the eggs will hatch, and the life cycle is very
short in insect populations (often as little as 2-4 weeks). These three qualities combine to allow
insects to produce a huge number of progenies. In its lifetime, the average female lays 100-
500 eggs, however thousands are not uncommon. During its 20–25-year of its lifespan, the
queen of an African termite colony may give birth to over 10 million workers. Because most
insects die before they have a chance to breed, a species with a high reproductive potential
has the best chance of surviving. Also, a single mating can provide enough sperm for a female
to fertilise all of her eggs in its lifetime. Another strategy to enhance reproductive potential is
to have an uneven sex ratio, in which females exceed males. Finally, several species (such
as aphids, scale insects, thrips, and midges) lack males totally; all members of the population
are female and contribute progeny through an asexual reproduction mechanism. This will
increase the success of reproduction of insects.

As insects age from immatures to adults, which is known as metamorphosis. It may

include physical, physiological, and/or behavioural changes that aid in the species' survival,
dispersal, and reproduction. Majority of the primitive insects, changes gradually throughout
juvenile stages and only become functional in adults. This is called as incomplete
metamorphosis, which immatures and adults share many similarities, such as living in
comparable environments and eating similar foods. More evolved insects, on the other hand,
go through complete metamorphosis, which involves a drastic change in form and function
between the juvenile (larval) and adult phases of life. A larva is primarily adapted for eating
and growth. When a larva reaches adulthood, it moults into a transitional stage known as the
pupa, where it undergoes extensive internal and exterior rearrangement. After emerging from
the pupal exoskeleton, an adult insect with little or no resemblance to its larval form, emerges.
Each stage of the life cycle has complete autonomy in terms of adapting to its ecological
purpose. This means that immatures and adults may eat different foods, use distinct
environmental resources, and even live in different habitats in some situations.

Figure 3. Lepidoptera (Caterpillar) to Rhopalocera (Butterfly)

Most insects have the genetic resources to adapt swiftly to changing environments due
to a mix of huge and diversified populations, strong reproductive potential, and relatively short
life cycles. They've been through 400 million years of climatological and geophysical change,
including the evaporation of inland seas, the construction of mountain ranges, continental plate
shifts, the advent of ice ages, and cosmic impact fallout. Adaptation is a continuous procedure.
As new resources become available and old ones become scarce, populations must adapt.
The rapidity with which pest populations have developed resistance to a wide spectrum of
chemical and biological pesticides is perhaps the most astonishing example of insect
adaptation in this century. Pesticide resistance has now been found in over 500 insect species,
with many of these creatures being resistant to chemicals from multiple chemical families.
Potato growers on Long Island, for example, are dealing with a population of the Colorado
potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) that is resistant to not only organophosphates,
carbamates, and synthetic pyrethroids, but also to several insect growth regulators and
microbial pesticides.

To summarise, insects are the most successful species that have ever existed because
they are the most adaptable and resilient creatures. All insects on Earth are known to make
up half of all animal species on Earth, as evidenced by various factors such as exoskeletons,
small size in general, the ability to fly, efficient reproduction, metamorphosis, and adaptability
to ever changing environments. Insects have survived for hundreds of millions of years,
surviving numerous global upheavals and disasters that would have killed off much larger and
grander creatures, and insects will continue to be an important part of the Earth's fauna for
many more millennia.
References:

Ådnanes, J., H., (2015). The Secret to The Success of Insects.

Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150806102249.htm

Brothers, D., J., (n.d.). Insects And Other Hexapodous Arthropods.

Retrieved from https://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/C03/E6-71-07-05.pdf

Cornell University., (n.d.). Insect Biology and Ecology: A Primer.

Retrieved from https://biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/bio.php

Meyer, J., R., (2007). A Class of Distinction (Reasons for Success).

Retrieved from https://projects.ncsu.edu/cals/course/ent425/text01/success.html

TED-ed. (2016). Why Are There So Many Insects? – Murry Gans.

[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2ivZ6GSaK1M

TEDx Talks. (2017). Insect Metamorphosis: Success through Reinvention.

[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/kMUGe-DcDMc

Thijs, (2020). Why Are Insects the Most Successful Animals?

Retrieved from https://keepingbugs.com/why-are-insects-the-most-successful-animals/