4-H Entomology Manual Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Insects and Their Relatives ............................................................................................................................ 4 How Insects Grow and Develop (Metamorphosis) ........................................................................................ 8 How Insects Feed—Mouthparts ..................................................................................................................... 9 Other Important Features—Wings and Antennae ........................................................................................ 11 Importance of Insects ................................................................................................................................... 13 Insects in the Natural Recycling of Nutrients .......................................................................................... 13 Insects as Pollinators ................................................................................................................................ 13 Bees and Beekeeping ............................................................................................................................... 14 Insects in Food Webs of Wildlife............................................................................................................. 14 Insects as Biological Controls of Pests ........................................................................................................ 15 Spiders .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Insects as Pests ............................................................................................................................................. 22 Managing Pest Insects .............................................................................................................................. 23 For More Information about Local Insects .............................................................................................. 26 Try Out Your Own Insect Control Experiments ...................................................................................... 26 Classification of Insects ............................................................................................................................... 27 Classification for Your 4-H Project ......................................................................................................... 27 Classification of Two Common Insects ................................................................................................... 28 Common Name or Scientific Name? ....................................................................................................... 29 The Insect Orders ......................................................................................................................................... 31 Outline of the Insect Orders ..................................................................................................................... 31 Summary of Features of the Most Common Insect Orders...................................................................... 33 Insects with No Apparent Metamorphosis ........................................................................................... 33 Insects with Simple Types of Metamorphosis ..................................................................................... 33 Insects with Complete Metamorphosis ................................................................................................ 41 Features of Immature Insects from Orders with Complete Metamorphosis ............................................ 46 History of Entomology ................................................................................................................................. 49 Starting Your 4-H Entomology Project........................................................................................................ 52 The Record Book ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Insect Collections ......................................................................................................................................... 53 Collecting Kit ........................................................................................................................................... 54 The Insect Net .......................................................................................................................................... 54 How to Make an Insect Net .................................................................................................................. 55 The Killing Jar.......................................................................................................................................... 56 How to Make a Killing Jar ................................................................................................................... 57 Pinning Insects ......................................................................................................................................... 59 Preserving Small and Fragile Insects ....................................................................................................... 61 Storing Insects in Alcohol ........................................................................................................................ 62 Preservation of Insect Specimens ............................................................................................................ 63 Insects ................................................................................................................................................... 63 Arthropods That Are Not Insects ......................................................................................................... 64 Spreading Insects ..................................................................................................................................... 64 How to Make a Spreading Board ......................................................................................................... 65 How to Properly Spread Insects for Display ........................................................................................ 66 Relaxing Dry Specimens .......................................................................................................................... 67 How to Make a Relaxing Jar ................................................................................................................ 67 1 Labeling Insects ....................................................................................................................................... 68 Arranging Insects in a Collection ............................................................................................................. 69 Storing and Displaying the Collection ..................................................................................................... 69 Protecting the Collection .......................................................................................................................... 69 Observing and Rearing Insects..................................................................................................................... 70 Type of Container .................................................................................................................................... 71 Substrate and Shelter ................................................................................................................................ 72 Water ........................................................................................................................................................ 73 Food ......................................................................................................................................................... 73 Getting Insects to Overwinter .................................................................................................................. 74 Sources of Insects for rearing ................................................................................................................... 75 Rearing an Insect through Its Life Cycle ................................................................................................. 76 Some Easily Reared Insects ..................................................................................................................... 76 4-H Beekeeping ............................................................................................................................................ 77 The Colony and Its Organization ............................................................................................................. 77 Bee Development ..................................................................................................................................... 79 Beekeeping Equipment ............................................................................................................................ 79 4-H Bee Essay Contest ............................................................................................................................