Insects, General Applicable Terms

An organism; such as, an insect that has jointed legs, a body divided into several parts, and a skeleton on the outside.

The process by which a limb can be voluntarily shed if grabbed by a predator.

It is found in spiders and grasshoppers, where the leg is shed by the sharp contraction of muscles acting on a special fracture point or area of weakness.

The use of natural predators, parasites, or disease organisms to reduce the number of pest insects or weed plants.

The breathing area in some arachnids, resembling a book lung but on the outside of the body.

The "book lung" is the breathing organ in spiders and other arachnids, with membranous tissue arranged in folds that resemble the leaves of a book.

A terrestrial respiratory organ characteristic of arachnids; such as, scorpions and primitive spiders.

Each book lung consists of hollow flat plates and air goes over the outer surface of the plates and bodily fluid circulates within them, facilitating the exchange of gases.

In most species, adequate gas exchange occurs without any muscular movement to ventilate the lungs.

A specially-prepared space or structure in the nests of bees and wasps in which food is stored, an egg is laid, and the larva completes its development.

A row of hairs on the back legs of certain spiders, which are used to comb out silk produced by the cribellum or spinnerets in some spiders, through which the emerging silk is combed.

Spinnerets are any of various tubular structures from which spiders and certain insect larvae, such as silkworms, secrete the silk threads from which they form webs or cocoons.

In colonies of social insects, any group of individuals which are structurally and/or behaviorally distinct and perform specialized tasks; for example, the "soldiers" of termites and ants and the workers of hornets and honeybees.