Insects are a large group representing the type of arthropods. They have distinctive features relating not only to structural features, but also to development. In our article, we will consider the process of incomplete transformation and the insects for which it is characteristic.
Meet the insects
Translated from Latin, the name of this systematic unit means "animal with notches." Insects are one of the classes that belongs to the type of arthropods. Their body consists of a head, trunk and chest. The characteristic features of insects also include one pair of antennae, six pairs of segmented walking legs. Most members of the class are capable of flying due to the presence of wings, which are derivatives of their integuments.
Types of Insect Transformations
Insects are mainly dioecious organisms with internal fertilization. As a result, the females lay their eggs. They are covered with dense shells, and inside contain a sufficient supply of nutrients.
Their further development can occur in two ways. When completely transformed from an egg, a larva develops, which in appearance is significantly different from an adult - an adult. She molts many times and turns into a chrysalis. At this stage, the insect does not feed and does not move. Further, as a result of transformations, an adult insect is formed that has all the characteristic features of the class.
The opinion that bugs belong to insects with incomplete transformation is erroneous. Proof of this is the difference between their larvae and adults. Remember what an adult Colorado potato beetle looks like and its caterpillar-like larva.
Insects with incomplete transformation include Orthoptera, Diptera, bedbugs, dragonflies, cockroaches and other orders. What unites them? From the egg they develop a larva, which in general terms resembles an adult insect. Its growth is also accompanied by molting, because the covers of insects are not capable of stretching.
Thus, insects with incomplete transformation include orders whose representatives are characterized by the following stages of development: an egg, a larva, an adult organism (imago).
Diptera
The most famous representatives of this detachment are aphids and cicadas. They have webbed transparent wings and an oral piercing-sucking type apparatus. They live in large colonies, which number hundreds of individuals. Dipterans feed only on plant sap, which serves as their source of water and nutrients. In this case, insects cause significant damage to plants, causing the growth of their individual parts.
Bed bugs
Insects with incomplete transformation include bugs or semi-rigid bugs. Representatives of this squad are easily recognizable by the unpleasant odor that is released by substances of specialized odorous glands. The name of the detachment characterizes the structure of the wings of its representatives. Their front is dense and the back is soft.
Most Hemoptera are predators and blood-sucking. For example, a bed bug settles in the dwellings of a person, hiding in the afternoon in furniture, folds of linen, under skirting boards and wallpaper. At night, he sets off in search of food. Bedbugs pierce human skin, sucking blood. These injections are accompanied by itching and discomfort. The danger of bugs also lies in the fact that they are carriers of dangerous diseases: plague, typhoid, tularemia.
Dragonflies
"The dragonfly-hopper sang the summer red ...". Everyone knows these words from the famous fable of Ivan Krylov. But dragonflies are not so careless and harmless creatures, as the author presents to us. Many insects with incomplete transformation are predators. And dragonflies are no exception. They use their fast and maneuverable flight to catch flies, small butterflies and mosquitoes.
Predators are even dragonfly larvae. They live in small freshwater bodies with stagnant water or slow-flowing rivers. Larvae attack the prey passing by: crustaceans, fish fry, tadpoles. They do this with the help of a mask - the lower lip, which is capable of ejecting forward.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches also belong to insects with incomplete transformation. These “uninvited guests” love warmth and moisture. They feed on food residues, so they often settle in residential premises. Cockroaches can be recognized by the body flattened from the sides, the head lowered down and a pair of long antennae. Depending on the type, they can be black or red.
Cockroaches are quite prolific animals. They lay their eggs in special capsules. They are called ooteks. In one such structure, about 40 eggs can be simultaneously located. The rate of their development depends on temperature. The higher it is, the faster the larva and imago appear.
Mantis
Representatives of this squad are predators. Mantis have a masking color. They lurk their sacrifice in a pose reminiscent of a person during prayer with hands folded on his chest. From here comes the name of this species.
Mantis are very gluttonous. This is especially true for females. In search of food, they attack insects far exceeding their size. There are known cases of mantis eating their own larvae after hatching, as well as males after or during fertilization.
Mayflies
Insects with incomplete transformation include record holders for the short duration of their existence. Depending on the type of imago, mayflies live for several hours or days. But the larvae that live in the water develop up to three months, during this period they molt about 20 times.
Mayflies have another unique developmental trait. These are the only insects in which molting of adult individuals with already developed wings is observed.
Vesnyanki
These insects are found mainly in the spring, and therefore received this name. They belong to insects with incomplete transformation, because their larvae and adults lead a different lifestyle. They differ in their habitats. Larvae live in water and feed mainly on algae. At the stage of an adult insect, they do not feed.
Lice
A feature of lice is that they settle only on individuals of a certain type. These parasites of humans and animals have a flat body with short antennae, devoid of wings. On their walking legs are moving claws. With their help, they are attached to the hairs on the body of the owner, whose blood they feed on.
Orthoptera
Insects with incomplete transformation include grasshoppers, a bear, a locust, a cricket, and a horn. All of them are representatives of the orthoptera squad. Their common features are gnawing mouth organs and long hind legs providing jumping.
So, with incomplete transformation, insects go through the following phases: an egg, a larva similar to an adult, and an adult. In nature, they are represented by several orders. Insects with incomplete transformation include erect and isoptera, lice, cockroaches, dragonflies, mayflies and stoneflies.