Where are Strepsiptera found?

Where are Strepsiptera found?

Life History & Ecology. Most Strepsiptera (also known as twisted-wing parasites) live as internal parasites of bees, wasps, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and other members of the order Hemiptera.

Are Strepsiptera parasitoids?

Strepsiptera are obligate endoparasitoids that exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism and parasitize seven orders and 33 families of Insecta. The ability of strepsipterans to parasitize a wide range of hosts, in spite of being endoparasitoids, is perhaps due to their unique immune avoidance system.

What is the common name for Diptera?

Flies
Flies, gnats, maggots, midges, mosquitoes, keds, bots, etc. are all common names for members of the order Diptera. This diversity of names documents the importance of the group to man and reflects the range of organisms in the order. The order is one of the four largest groups of living organisms.

How many orders are there in class Insecta?

The class Entognatha is divided into 3 orders Protura, Collembola, and Diplura. Class Insecta is divided into three subclasses: Monocondylia, Apterygota and Pterygota.

How many species of Strepsiptera are there?

600
The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with nine extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches.

What is the difference between Exopterygota and Endopterygota?

Endopterygota (literally “internal winged forms”) develop wings inside the body and undergo an elaborate metamorphosis involving a pupal stage. Exopterygota (“external winged forms”) develop wings on the outside their bodies and do not go through a pupal stage.

How do you collect Strepsiptera?

As mentioned above, the males may be seen flying around flowers, but the easiest way to find these parasites is by collecting some of their host insects and trying to keep them alive while waiting for the parasites to emerge. Host insects likely to be parasitised look bloated and tired.

What order is Insecta?

Butterflies and moths belong to the order Lepidoptera. The Insects (Class Insecta) are divided into a number of Orders.

What are characteristics of Class Insecta?

Class insecta encompasses all insects, and is included in phylum arthropoda. Insects have three main body segments: the head, thorax and abdomen. They have six legs, one or two pairs of wings and specialized mouth parts.

What is the common name for Strepsiptera?

Twisted-winged parasites
Most Strepsiptera (also known as twisted-wing parasites) live as internal parasites of bees, wasps, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and other members of the order Hemiptera….

Taxonomic Category Scientific Name Common Name
Class Insecta Insects
Order Strepsiptera Twisted-winged parasites

What is a strepsipteran parasite?

Strepsiptera. Female Strepsiptera are unusually fecund. An insect infested with a strepsipteran parasite is often said to be “stylopized”. This often results in destruction of the hosts’ reproductive organs (parasitic castration), and in some cases a reversal of secondary sex characteristics (females look like males).

Are Strepsiptera and Meloidae related?

Strepsiptera were once believed to be the sister group to the beetle families Meloidae and Ripiphoridae, which have similar parasitic development and forewing reduction.

Are Strepsiptera free-living?

Only a few species that parasitize bristletails (Archeognatha) are known to be free-living in the adult stage. Strepsiptera share so many characteristics with beetles that some entomologists classify them as a superfamily of Coleoptera.

What is the most basal strepsipteran?

The most basal strepsipteran is the fossil Protoxenos janzeni discovered in Baltic amber, while the most basal living strepsipteran is Bahiaxenos relictus, the sole member of the family Bahiaxenidae.

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