BENEFICIAL INSECTS

1. BENEFICIAL INSECTS Amal (158190), Hafizh (156666), Aza (156519), Beth (156178)

2. What are beneficial insects?

3. Are they considered beneficial insects?

4. Definition: Beneficial insects are insects that play major roles in reducing and controlling populations of both plants and insects pests by acting as both predators and parasites to these detrimental organisms They pollinate plants, contribute to the decay of organic matter and the cycling of soil nutrients, and attack other insects and mites that are considered to be pests completely prevent or greatly limit pest problem

5. Why insects are beneficial? Decomposers / Recyclers Pollinators Pest Controller Food sources for another animal Provide products for human Help to maintain balanced levels of insect populations through parasitism and predation Attacking weeds and reducing the plant’s ability to spread and to withstand diseases Pollination of flowering plants, including honey, beeswax, silk, shellac, dyes and drugs

6. Example of beneficial insects

7. Weaver ants ( Oecophylla atavina )

8. Green lacewing ( Chrysoperla rufilabris )

9. Ladybug ( Vibidia duodecimguttata )

10. Paper wasp ( Polistes fuscatus )

11. Tachinid fly ( Tachina fera )

12. Dragon fly ( Sympetrum Flaveolum )

13. Firefly ( Photuris lucicrescens )

14. Elephant beetle ( Megasoma elephas )

15. Honey bee ( Apis mellifera )

16. Function of Beneficial insects helps to keep the population size and density of other insects within reasonable limits Predators are generally active in seeking out their prey and they usually consume many individual during their lifetime A parasitic insects on the other hand, generally attached to the body of a single host. A more extreme form of parasitism, common in many insects, is where the parasitizing insects is attached to or within the body of a host and grows along with the host to a certain point, eventually killing the host Predation and Parasitic Insects

17. Function of Beneficial insects Decomposers and Nutrient Cycling Dead logs and branches are attacked by termites, boring beetle larvae, and as assortment of other insects, millipede, and assorted invertebrate relatives. The nutrient recycling by insects often takes a more direct role insects play an important role in the degradation and ultimate consumption of plant material falling into headwater streams Scarabaidae consume great amounts of dung, up to 10 or 12 times their own weight per day, and also roll their eggs in balls of dung, so that the emerging larvae can feed on it. Usually the egg-bearing ball is rolled to a suitable location and buried by the scarab Insects also ‘ create forest gaps’

18. Function of Beneficial insects Insect Pollination Sexual reproduction in the higher plants is made possible by the process of pollination pollen being transferred from the stamens to the sigma; from the sigma a pollen tube grows down the style to the female germ cell Without the pollinating services of bees and other insects, we would have few vegetables, few fruits, little or no clover, no coffee, no tobacco, few flowers

19. Function of Beneficial insects Weed Management feed on weed plants that are undesirable from our point of view beneficial by destroying noxious weeds, cacti, or certain undesirable deciduous plants weed control has been the use of insects in controlling water plants that clog streams, ponds, and lakes thereby ruining boating, fishing and swimming

20. Function of Beneficial insects Commercial Products Honey and Beewax Honey is used extensively as a food and in the manufacture of many products Beewax is used extensively by industry in making candles, sealing wax, polishes, certain types of ink, models or various kinds, dental impressions, cosmetic and other products Silk - Silk, spun by larvae of the silkworm moth , was the “ ultrasheer ” fabric, used primarily for hose and a wide array of garment materials Shellac - Shellac is produced from the secretions of the lac insect, a type of scale insect occurring on fig and banyan Dyes – Insects have been the source of dyes and drugs, but synthetic products have essentially replaced them. The cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus Costa , a scale insect somewhat similar to the mealybugs , is used for the production of cochineal dyes

21. Conclusion: Beneficial insects are great indicators in determining the forest health To determine whether the insects are directly beneficial or indirectly beneficial are left to human to decide so that they can be appreciated and conserved.

22. Reference: 1. http :// pods.dasnr.okstate.edu / docushare / dsweb /Get/Document-2329/EPP-7307web.pdf 2. http:// www.ext.colostate.edu /pubs/insect/05550.pdf 3. http:// lancaster.unl.edu /pest/resources/339_BeneficialBugs.pdf 4. http:// www.uaf.edu /files/ ces /publications-db/catalog/ anr /PMC-10075.pdf 5. http:// ipm-dd.orst.edu /potato/ bigeyedbug.pdf 6. http:// edis.ifas.ufl.edu / pdffiles /IN/IN83100.pdf 7. http:// edis.ifas.ufl.edu / pdffiles /IN/IN85900.pdf 8. http:// edis.ifas.ufl.edu / pdffiles /IN/IN00200.pdf