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Insect ecology is the interaction of insects, individually or as a community, with the surrounding environment or ecosystem. [1] This interaction is mostly mediated by the secretion and detection of chemicals ( semiochemical ) in the environment by insects. [ 2 ]
Carrion insects are insects associated with decomposing remains. The processes of decomposition begin within a few minutes of death. [ 1 ] Decomposing remains offer a temporary, changing site of concentrated resources which are exploited by a wide range of organisms, of which arthropods are often the first to arrive and the predominant ...
Non-native invasive species can disrupt ecosystems because they do not have natural predators, or other ecological checks-and-balances. Thus, with less competition from native species, non-native populations can explode. [9] Invasive insects and pathogens have eliminated entire tree species from forests of the United States in as little as decades.
Insects play many critical roles in ecosystems, including soil turning and aeration, dung burial, pest control, pollination and wildlife nutrition. [133] For instance, termites modify the environment around their nests, encouraging grass growth; [ 134 ] many beetles are scavengers ; dung beetles recycle biological materials into forms useful to ...
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are insects in their nymph and larval stages, snails, worms, crayfish, and clams that spend at least part of their lives in water. These insects play a large role in freshwater ecosystems by recycling nutrients as well as providing food to higher trophic levels.
Insect biodiversity accounts for a large proportion of all biodiversity on the planet—over half of the estimated 1.5 million organism species described are classified as insects. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects
The "Spanish fly", Lytta vesicatoria, has been considered to have medicinal, aphrodisiac, and other properties. Human interactions with insects include both a wide variety of uses, whether practical such as for food, textiles, and dyestuffs, or symbolic, as in art, music, and literature, and negative interactions including damage to crops and extensive efforts to control insect pests.
The common orders of insects that are found in river ecosystems include Ephemeroptera (also known as a mayfly), Trichoptera (also known as a caddisfly), Plecoptera (also known as a stonefly, Diptera (also known as a true fly), some types of Coleoptera (also known as a beetle), Odonata (the group that includes the dragonfly and the damselfly ...