Incomplete transformation of insects: features of development and life activity

Insects are the most diverse in the species composition of the class of animals, which differ from each other on various grounds. One of them is the type of transformation in the process of individual development.

Types of insect development

In all representatives of this class, the newborn is significantly different from adults. This type of development is called indirect. But in different groups of insects it can occur with complete and incomplete transformation. Often the larva and the adult are not only externally different, but also in ways of life. Thus, the butterfly larva feeds on green foliage, and the adult individual feeds on flower nectar. Insects, which are characterized by incomplete transformation, lead the same way of life at all stages of development.

The very term "transformation" means the existence of a larval stage in the process of individual development. Only the ontogenesis of insects can occur in different ways.

Complete and incomplete transformation

Some insects from the egg hatch a larva, in general terms reminiscent of an adult specimen - imago. These are individuals with incomplete transformation. Their larvae are immediately capable of independent feeding, growth and molting, after the last of which they turn into adult insects. For example, incomplete transformation is characteristic of cockroaches. During their development they pass through the following stages: an egg, a larva, an adult.

Various species of beetles, butterflies, bees, bumblebees, ants and mosquitoes develop with complete transformation. Their larvae are largely visually distinct from adults. This is primarily the absence of wings, complex eyes. In addition, the larvae have shortened or no limbs, and mouthparts are modified. After this stage, the pupation with complete transformation occurs pupation. This process is very important. At the pupa stage, insects do not feed and do not move much, which ensures the experience of unfavorable conditions. The duration of this period varies from 6 days to several months, depending on the species. In the photo you can see the larvae of the Colorado beetle, which, you will agree, hardly resemble an adult.

Insects with incomplete transformation

This group of animals includes the representatives of the Termite, Straightwing, Lice, Bedbugs, Praying Mantis, etc. Incomplete transformation means that the appearance and lifestyle of only the newly emerged larvae is no different from the adult. For example, in all parasitic bedbugs in different stages the body is flattened, and the wings are absent. And termites have very thin, and sometimes transparent covers, which persist throughout life.

Squad Orthoptera

Incomplete transformation is also a hallmark of all members of the squad. They are quite diverse: in total there are more than 20 thousand species in nature. It can be easily distinguished from other insects by leathery rear elytra. During the flight, they unfold in a fan-like manner. This device serves as a reliable protection for webbed thin wings. Also characteristic features of this detachment are the mouthpiece of the gnawing type and the hind legs, capable of making jumps of a sufficiently large height and length in relation to the size of the insect itself.

Incomplete transformation is characteristic of all Flovers. It's good for all the familiar grasshoppers. And the owners of gardens and gardens will surely remember the bear, which is the pest of the root systems of many cultivated plants. This insect is well developed digging legs, with which it makes in the soil long strokes.

The locusts are also herbivorous herbivorous insects with indirect development. They pose a significant danger to agriculture, because when traveling from place to place, everything is destroyed in its path. And first of all - the harvest of cultivated plants, because they are very hungry.

Order of Lice

Surely many have recognized the parasitic insects pictured in the photograph. It's lice. Attaching themselves to the hairs on the host's body with the help of the movable claws of each leg, they feed on his blood. To do this, lice have a characteristic oral apparatus of a piercing-sucking type.

These insects are very dangerous. The human louse is the carrier of such diseases as recurrent and typhus. For a long time, there was no medicine against them. During severe epidemics over the past century, about 30 million people died from typhus. To avoid infection with lice, you must adhere to the basic rules of hygiene: do not use other people's hairbrushes, towels, clothes, hats.

Thus, incomplete transformation is one of the types of indirect development of insects, in which the pupal stage is absent, and the larva morphologically and anatomically is similar to the adult imago.