Insects Of North Carolina
Here we have taken pictures of some of the diversity of insects in North Carolina and offered their scientific names. These photos do not include all the insects found here, only a few that have been captured on camera.
Why are insects important?
Insects play an important role in the environment and in everyday life, which should be common knowledge as they make up around 80% of all animal life on the planet (Florida Museum 2022). Their reproductive success contributes to this as most of their adult lives are focused on producing offspring (Culin et al. 2022). Most of all insects sexually reproduce, whereby the male fertilizes the eggs of the female via impregnation. The attraction of mates is especially interesting as it can be different depending on the species. For example, male crickets use their songs made by the chirping to attract their female mates, whereas male mosquitoes are attracted to their female counterparts based on the sound of their flight (Culin et al. 2022).
While different species have different ways of attracting mates, most male insects are attracted to scents, called pheromones, which are released by the female insects. Odor can also play an important part in attracting females as male insects can also release certain scents that can entice female insects. The entire class (Insecta) is divided into different species based on the differences and/or similarities in their head, thorax, and abdomen (Culin et al. 2022). These can be seen in their physical characteristics such as wing structure, mouth size, head size, presence or absence of antenna, etc. An example of identifying insects using these characteristics can be found in the African goliath beetle. Interestingly, while most insects are quite small, (less than 0.2 inches), a few ‘giants” exist, such as the African Goliath Beetle, which can grow up to ten inches in length (Wigglesworth 2022).
Culin, J., Herbert W. Levi, and Lorna R. Levi. 2022. "spider." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/spider-arachnid.
Florida Museum. 2022. “The Insect Effect: Insect Decline and the Future of Our Planet.” https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/the-insect-effect/.
Wigglesworth, Vincent. 2022. “Insect | Definition, Characteristics, Types, Beneficial, Pest, Classification, & Facts | Britannica.” https://www.britannica.com/animal/insect.
What are aquatic insects and why are they important?
Aquatic insects are classified as insects that spend some fragment of their lifetime in water (Valerie 2021). These insects are usually found along the pond and riverbeds. There are some insect species that hunt in water where other competing species can not engage. Many aquatic insects consist of larvae and nymphs of dragonflies and mayflies (Valerie 2021). Aquatic insects play an important role in their ecosystem. These insects are great nutrient recyclers as their diet consists of algae, detritus, plants, and even other insects (Valerie 2021). Other aquatic life depends on these insects to feed on. Many of these aquatic insects preyed upon in all stages of life by multiple aquatic species. They are important to their ecosystem because they are indicators of healthy ecosystems (Valerie 2021). Aquatic insects are highly susceptible to water pollution. Scientists sample the variety of aquatic insects to understand the health of the water and the life within, and the more insects the healthier the ecosystem. This is because many other species depend on the survival and plentifulness of the insects for their survival.
Valerie 2021. Aquatic Insects: identification, examples, and use as bioindicators. https://wildearthlab.com/2021/06/27/aquatic-insects-identification/ . Wild Earth Lab.
Insect biodiversity
Insects are the most important, diverse, and abundant group of organisms (Nayak et al. 2021). It is estimated that there are roughly 30 million species of insects globally, with about only 1.4 million of those species discovered/named, and of those the order Coleoptera (beetles) is the most successful and diverse. Insects are most abundant/diverse near the equator/tropics “tropical latitudes” (The Biodiversity Group 2022). There are about 30 orders of insects, mostly characterized by their distinguishing body segmentation (head, thorax, and abdomen) (The Biodiversity Group 2022). The ecological roles of insects are connected to natural aspect of the environment, suggesting that they help create the “biological foundation” of nature, for without them there would be an absence of agriculture, medicine, knowledge/research, and culture to accommodate the world (Nayak et al. 2021).
Nayak, Sudhanshu Bala, Elango Kolanthasamy, and Sankar Kavadana. 2021. “Insect Biodiversity and Their Conservation for Sustainable Ecosystem ...” ResearchGate. Agriculture and Environmental Science Academy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355583803_Insect_biodiversity_and_their_conservation_for_sustainable_ecosystem_functioning.
The Biodiversity Group. 2022. About Insects. https://biodiversitygroup.org/insects/.