Classification of Bugs

June 9, 2018 Naeem Javid Muhammad Hassani

Spread the love

Classification of Bugs

A guide to the Classes & Orders of insects and other arthropods.

The Insecta (insects) are a Class of the large animal Phylum called ARTHROPODA (arthropods) – a name that refers to the jointed limbs. The other major Classes of living arthropods (i.e. animals related to insects) include the Crustacea (crabs, lobsters, shrimps, barnacles, woodlice, etc.), the Myriapoda (millipedes, centipedes, etc.) and the Arachnida (scorpions, king crabs, spiders, mites, ticks, etc.). In addition there are several minor Classes, the Onychophora (velvet worms), Tardigrada (water bears), Pentastomida (tongue worms) and Pycnogonida (sea spiders), all of which contain somewhat aberrant living forms of uncertain affinities to the any of the preceding groups, and finally a Class of extinct arthropods, the Trilobita (trilobites), known only from their fossil remains. All these animals are characterised by a tough outer body-shell or exoskeleton, with flexible joints between the skeletal plates to allow the animal to move.

<<< GO STRAIGHT TO A CLASS OF ARTHROPODS >>>

CRUSTACEA	MINOR & EXTINCT CLASSES Onychophora Tardigrada Pentastomida Pycnogonida Trilobita
MYRIAPODA
ARACHNIDA
INSECTA

The main external body features which distinguish each of the four major Classes of living arthropods, Crustacea, Myriapoda, Arachnida and Insecta, are shown below (with those that separate the insects from all other groups highlighted in red).

CLASS	MAIN BODY REGIONS	PAIRS OF LEGS	PAIRS OF ANTENNAE	WINGS
CRUSTACEA	two – cephalothorax* and abdomen (some with head and trunk)	five or more	two	absent
MYRIAPODA	two – head and trunk	many – one or two per trunk segment	one	absent
ARACHNIDA	two – cephalothorax* and abdomen	four	none (though palps may resemble antennae or legs)	absent
INSECTA	three – head, thorax and abdomen	three	one	usually present (but many wingless forms)

Each of the Classes of arthropods, including the insects, are split into a number of smaller groups, which reflect progressively more detailed structural similarities between the group members. These smaller groups follow a strict hierarchy. The major class divisions in descending order of size are called Subclass, Order, Suborder, Family, Subfamily and Genus. A Genus is the smallest group of any real importance in the naming of individual species, although in some classifications generic groups may be further split into Subgenera. The scientific name of a species includes, first, the Genus to which it belongs and, second, its specific name, e.g. the European Violet Ground Beetle is called Carabus violaceus, meaning the species violaceus in the genus Carabus (by convention, generic and specific names are always printed in italics; the generic name spelt with a capital letter and the specific name with a small letter). The full classification of this insect would be as follows:

PHYLUM:
CLASS:
SUBCLASS:
ORDER:
SUBORDER:
FAMILY:
SUBFAMILY:
GENUS:
SPECIES:

Arthropoda
Insecta
Pterygota
Coleoptera
Adephaga
Carabidae
Carabinae
Carabus
Carabus violaceus L.

arthropod
insect
winged insect
beetle
carnivorous beetle
ground beetle
–
–
violet ground beetle

Class Crustacea

Excluding one or two very small groups of shrimps, the crustaceans are split into 9 main Orders, as listed below. They nearly all live in water and range from minute planktonic shrimp-like creatures, such as water fleas, to the large, more familiar, crabs and lobsters. Some members of the Isopoda are the only forms that have really invaded the land and most of these are largely confined to damp places. Follow the available links for further details.

ORDER	COMMON NAME
1. Branchiopoda	Water Fleas (Daphnia), Fairy, Brine, Tadpole and Clam Shrimps
2. Copepoda	Water Fleas (Cyclops), Fish Lice, Gill Maggots and Anchor Worms
3. Ostracoda	Seed Shrimps
4. Cirrepedia	Barnacles
5. Stomatopoda	Mantis Shrimps
6. Mysidacea	Opossum Shrimps
7. Decapoda	Shrimps, Prawns, Lobsters, Crayfish and Crabs
8. Amphipoda	Freshwater Shrimps (Gammarus) and Sand Hoppers
9. Isopoda	Sea Slaters, Water Slaters, Water Lice and Hog Lice
Isopoda: Oniscoidea (part)	Woodlice

Class Myriapoda

There are four groups of centipede-like creatures known collectively as myriapods. These are listed here as Orders of the Class Myriapoda, but in many arthropod classifications, they are given the status of separate Classes.

ORDER	COMMON NAME
1. Pauropoda	–
2. Symphyla	–
3. Diplopoda	Millipedes
4. Chilopoda	Centipedes

Class Arachnida

The arachnids are usually split into 8 main Orders, as listed below. Follow the available links to see examples of some of these groups.

ORDER	COMMON NAME
1. Xiphosura	King Crabs or Horseshoe Crabs
2. Pseudoscorpiones (= Chernetidea)	Pseudoscorpions or False Scorpions
3. Scorpionidea	Scorpions
4. Pedipalpi	Whip Scorpions
5. Solifuga (= Solpugae)	Wind Scorpions or Barrel Spiders
6. Opiliones (= Phalangidea)	Harvestmen or Harvest Spiders
7. Acari (= Acarina)	Mites and Ticks
8. Araneae	True Spiders

Class Insecta

The insects are generally sub-divided into 29 Orders. These are listed below with links to pages describing general characteristics, recognition features and examples of each Order. You can also follow the link at the bottom of this page for a simply identification key to most of these Orders.

ORDER	COMMON NAME	SUBCLASSES & FEATURES
1. Thysanura	Bristletails	APTERYGOTA These are wingless insects and their body structure suggests that they have never had wings during their evolutionary history. Young stages resemble the adults – little or no metamorphosis.
2. Diplura	Two-pronged Bristletails
3. Protura	–
4. Collembola	Springtails
5. Ephemeroptera	Mayflies	PTERYGOTA Division EXOPTERYGOTA These are winged insects, although some have lost their wings during the course of evolution. When present, the wings develop externally and there is no marked change (metamorphosis) during the life cycle. The young stages, called nymphs, resemble the adults except in size and in lacking fully-developed wings – simply metamorphosis.
6. Odonata	Dragonflies
7. Plecoptera	Stoneflies
8. Grylloblattodea	–
9. Orthoptera	Crickets, Grasshoppers and Locusts
10. Phasmida	Stick and Leaf Insects
11. Dermaptera	Earwigs
12. Embioptera	Web-spinners
13. Dictyoptera	Cockroaches and Mantids
14. Isoptera	Termites
15. Zoraptera	–
16. Psocoptera	Psocids or Booklice
17. Mallophaga	Biting Lice
18. Siphunculata (= Anoplura)	Sucking Lice
19. Hemiptera	True Bugs
20. Thysanoptera	Thrips
21. Neuroptera	Alder Flies, Snake Flies and Lacewings	PTERYGOTA Division ENDOPTERYGOTA These are winged insects, although some have lost their wings during the course of evolution. When present, the wings develop internally (i.e. inside the body of the immature insect) and there is a marked change (metamorphosis) during the life cycle. The young stages are very different from the adults and are called larvae. The change from larva to adult takes place during a non-feeding stage called the pupa (or chrysalis) – complex metamorphosis.
22. Coleoptera	Beetles
23. Strepsiptera	Stylopids
24. Mecoptera	Scorpion Flies
25. Siphonaptera	Fleas
26. Diptera	True Flies
27. Lepidoptera	Butterflies and Moths
28. Trichoptera	Caddis Flies
29. Hymenoptera	Bees, Wasps and Ants

———-

For Correction and Improvements please use the comments section below.

Naeem Javid Muhammad Hassani

Naeem Javid Muhammad Hassani is working as Conservator of Forests in Balochistan Forest & Wildlife Department (BFWD). He is the CEO of Tech Urdu (techurdu.net) Forestrypedia (forestrypedia.com), All Pak Notifications (allpaknotifications.com), Essayspedia, etc & their YouTube Channels). He is an Environmentalist, Blogger, YouTuber, Developer & Vlogger.

https://forestrypedia.com/

admin@forestrypedia.com

Forestrypedia

Classification of Bugs

Classification of Bugs

One thought on “Classification of Bugs”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply