INSECTS AND SOCIETY INSECTS AND SOCIETY Timothy D. Schowalter CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2020 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-367-34780-2 (Paperback) 978-0-367-41978-3 (Hardback) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data LoC Data here Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at www.crcpress.com Contents Preface xi The Author xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Why Study Insects? 2 1.2 The Scientific Method 6 1.3 Scope of This Book 8 2 What Makes Insects Different? 11 2.1 Insect Classification 12 2.2 Why Are Insects So Diverse? 29 2.2.1 Morphological Characteristics 32 2.2.2 Physiological Characteristics 33 2.2.3 Behavioral Characteristics 36 2.3 Summary 37 3 Insect Effects on Human History 39 3.1 Prehistoric Period 39 3.2 Historic Period 43 3.3 Summary 48 4 Nuisances 49 4.1 Household Nuisances 50 4.1.1 Filth Flies 50 4.1.2 Cluster Flies and Other Overwintering Pests 51 4.1.3 Roaches and Silverfish 52 4.1.4 Crickets 52 4.1.5 Clothes Moths and Carpet Beetles 52 4.1.6 Indianmeal Moths and Flour Beetles 53 4.1.7 Bed Bugs 54 4.1.8 Lice and Fleas 55 4.1.9 Mites 55 4.1.10 Spiders and Centipedes 56 4.1.11 Other “Bugs” 57 4.1.12 Delusional Parasitosis 58 4.2 Outdoor and Recreational Nuisances 59 4.2.1 Lovebugs 59 4.2.2 Biting Flies 59 4.2.3 Ants 60 4.2.4 Caterpillars 61 v Contents 4.2.5 Wasps and Bees 62 4.2.6 Spiders and Mites 64 4.3 Nuisances for Pets and Livestock 65 4.4 Summary 66 5 Structural Pests 67 5.1 Termites 67 5.1.1 Subterranean Termites 70 5.1.2 Drywood Termites 73 5.1.3 Dampwood Termites 73 5.2 Carpenter Ants 73 5.3 Carpenter Bees 74 5.4 Wood Wasps 74 5.5 Wood Boring Beetles 75 5.5.1 The Old House Borer 75 5.5.2 Powderpost Beetles 75 5.6 Summary 76 6 Venomous and Poisonous Arthropods 77 6.1 Arthropod Venoms 77 6.1.1 Stinging Hymenoptera 78 6.1.2 Stinging Lepidoptera 82 6.1.3 Other Insects 84 6.1.4 Other Arthropods 84 6.2 Arthropod Toxins 88 6.3 Summary 91 7 Parasites and Disease Transmission 93 7.1 Flies 94 7.1.1 Mosquitoes 94 7.1.2 Sand Flies 97 7.1.3 Biting Midges 97 7.1.4 Tsetse Flies 97 7.1.5 Screw-worm Fly 98 7.1.6 Other Parasitic Flies 98 7.2 Lice 98 7.3 Fleas 99 7.4 Hemiptera 99 7.4.1 Kissing Bugs 99 7.4.2 Aquatic Hemiptera 100 7.5 Mites 100 7.5.1 Ticks 100 7.5.2 Chiggers 103 vi Contents 7.6 Indirect Effects of Biting Insects 103 7.7 Factors Affecting Disease Epidemiology 103 7.8 Summary 105 8 Crop Pests 107 8.1 Specialists vs. Generalists 108 8.2 Major Agricultural Pests 108 8.2.1 Grasshoppers and Crickets 108 8.2.2 Lepidoptera 110 8.2.3 Coleoptera 113 8.2.4 Hemiptera 115 8.2.5 Diptera 118 8.3 Garden Insects 119 8.4 Management Strategies 121 8.5 Summary 122 9 Forest Pests 125 9.1 Bark Beetles 126 9.2 Defoliators 131 9.3 Wood Borers 136 9.4 Regeneration Insects 141 9.5 Sap-Suckers 142 9.6 Summary 143 10 Insects as Food 145 10.1 Insect Roles in Food Webs 145 10.2 Insects as Human Food 147 10.3 Insect Products as Food 152 10.4 Sustainability of Insects as a Source of Protein 154 10.5 Summary 155 11 Medical and Industrial Materials 157 11.1 Medical Uses of Insects 157 11.2 Industrial Uses 162 11.3 Summary 167 12 Cultural Value and Artistic Expression 169 12.1 Religious, Spiritual and Artistic Icons 169 12.2 Entertainment 172 12.3 Recreation 176 12.4 Summary 179 13 Crop Pollination 181 13.1 Pollination Mechanisms 181 vii Contents 13.2 Adaptations to Improve Pollination 182 13.3 Pollinators 184 13.4 Importance of Pollination for Agriculture 185 13.5 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 188 13.6 Summary 189 14 Decomposition 191 14.1 Decomposition Mechanisms 192 14.2 Detritivores 193 14.3 Value of Decomposition 199 14.4 Uses of Detritivores 201 14.5 Summary 202 15 Biological Control 203 15.1 Biological Control in Natural Ecosystems 204 15.2 Biological Control of Plants 208 15.3 Biological Control of Pests 208 15.4 The Value of Biological Control 212 15.5 Summary 213 16 Forensic Science 215 16.1 Collection of Entomological Evidence 216 16.2 Estimating Time Since Death 221 16.3 Summary 224 17 Insects as Indicators of Environmental Change 225 17.1 Environmental Monitoring 225 17.2 Indicators of Environmental Change 226 17.2.1 Indicators of Water Quality 227 17.2.2 Indicators of Terrestrial Changes 229 17.3 Summary 232 18 Why Do Insects Become Pests? 235 18.1 Population Fluctuation through Time 236 18.2 Factors Affecting Population Size 239 18.2.1 Abiotic Factors 239 18.2.2 Biotic Factors 240 18.2.3 Regulation of Population Size 240 18.3 Anthropogenic Effects 242 18.4 The Future under Climate Change and Land Use Change 242 18.5 Summary 244 19 Deciding When and How to Control Insects 247 19.1 Problems with Insecticide Use 248 viii Contents 19.2 Integrated Pest Management 250 19.2.1 Preventative Measures in Human Habitations 254 19.2.2 Manipulating Plant Abundance and Condition 254 19.2.3 Protecting or Augmenting Predators and Parasites 255 19.2.4 Remedial Measures 255 19.2.5 Two Case Studies 257 19.3 The Role of Science 259 19.4 Habitat Conservation 260 19.5 Social Responsibility 261 19.6 Summary 261 20 Concluding Remarks 263 Further Reading 265 Index 289 ix