Insect study merit badge
On Saturday May 9th I began working on my insect study merit badge. Professor Moon from the University of Minnesota came to teach us about insects. He is 1of 2 entomologists in Minnesota.
Requirement 1
Insects are different from other animals because they have 6 jointed legs, exo skelitons, abdomen, head, antenna, and a thorax. They also have compound eyes. Insects are different than a centipede because the insect has less legs. They have less body parts. insects are different from spiders because spiders have 8 legs and have two main body parts.
Requirement 2
Point out and name the main parts of an insect
1. Head
2. Thorax
3. Abdomen
Below I put a copy of the insect study workbook page I worked on at Woodlake nature center to complete requirements 1 and 2.
Requirement 3 tell about the different orders of insects.
1.Thysanura-Wingless and usualy a scaly body
2.Ephemeroptera- net - veined wings that fold over the body
3.Odonata- two very large compound eyes
4.Orthopetra-chewing mouthparts and two pairs of wings
5.Isoptera-small and mostly white bodied
6.Hemiptera-usually two pairs of wings
7. Homoptera-those with wings hold them arched over the abdomen, make loud buzzing sounds
8.Neuroptera-long slender antennae, two pairs of veined wings
9.Coleopterap-hard shelled front wing
10.Lepidoptera-sucking mouth parts
11.Diptera-swift and agile fliers, two small sets of wings
12. Siphonaptera-jumping insects with no wings
13.Hymenoptera-one of the highest orders of insect bees, wasps and ants
Requirement 4
a) Observe 20 insects in their habitat. I observed over 20 insects at Woodlake nature center, around my house and in the patch of woods by my house.
b) Srapbook of the insects observed in requirement 4 a.
The following page is drawings of 9 insects I drew at Woodlake nature center. They are a ladybug, grasshopper, moth, bee, wasp, ant, butterfly, spider and a hissing cocroach.
The following are pictures of the rest of the insects I obserbed.
10.wood tick
11.
a little knat.
12.
a misquito.
13.
a beetle that I found in the water.
14.
sand beetles.
15.water bug.
16. fly from my photos below. 
17.
Dragonfly
18.Boxelder bug
19.
leaf cutter ants
20.
Red ant
Requirement 5
Part A list 3 species of insects helpful to humans and 5 that are not helpful to humans.
Three species helpful to humans.
1. Dragonfly eats misquetos
2. Bees make honey that we can eat
3. Red ants eat bugs
Five species harmful to humans.
1. Ticks carry lyme disease
2. Mosquetos carry malyria
3. Knats are annoying
4. Boxelderbugs can get into your house
5. Wasps sting people and they may cause an alergic reaction
Part B list general methods of insect control.
We put the insects that eat the harmful insects into the places that are having problems with the bad insect. We sterilizing the male insects so they can not make more insects. Another way is to be smart about where we put our garbage so pests do not get attracted to where people are.
Requirement 6
Compare the life histories of a butterfly and grasshopper.
A butterfly starts out as an egg. As it matures it turns into a caterpiler insted of an pupa. The caterpiler eats until it becomes a cocoon. When the butterfly hatches it sucks the nector out of plants. A grasshopper starts out as an egg. Over time it turns into a smaller verson of the parent. It molts its skin a number of times before it becomes a full adult with wings.
Requirement 7
I am going to raise an insect through all of metamorphosis. from larval stage to adult.
I am going to write each day about the change that the larva go through to reach adult hood. I will also put a picture each day so you can see the change.
Day 1 these are the little pupa. It looks like they have little heads and butts at the ends of their shells.
Day 1 this is the little eggs of the fly. The eggs are little white circles in the food.
Day 2 no change in the pupa.
Day 2 no change in the eggs.
Day 3 no change in the pupa
Day 3 no change in the eggs
Day 4 no change in the eggs.
Day 4 Pupa one seems slightly bigger today,
Day 5 no change in the eggs.
Day 5 One of the Pupa appears a little darker.
Day 6 Dad got a new camera so better pictures. No real change to the Pupa.
Day 6 eggs no changes.
Days 7 and 8 was away at scout camp so no pics.
Day 9 one of the eggs hatched into a maggot. The long white maggot is by my thumb.
Day 9 couple more black spots on the Pupa.
Day 10 eggs could not find the maggot saw yesterday though poked through the rotting food.
Day 10 one of the pupa is geting black so that probably means it is going to hach soon.
Day 11 the magget turned into a pupa. He is the black one.
Day 12 one of the pupa started to hach today. This photo is the one hatching next to the new Pupa.
The little fly tried to get out of his shell. After a few days of trying really hard to get out of its shell he died. After he died I took a knife and cut the rest of the shell off but i cut some of his body off as well.
Requirement 8
observe a beehive tell what you see.
I saw hundreds of bees working hard to make honey at Woodlake nature center. The bee keeper showed us the combs. The combs are used to put the babies in. The male bees work hard all summer but when winter comes the female bees kick them out of the hive.
Requirement 9
Tell the things that make a social insect different from a solitary insect.
A social insect works with other insects to get food and build a good home. Some examples are ants, bees, and wasps. A solitary insect is an insect thet works and lives on its own. Some examples are Cricket,dragonfly, and butterfly.
Requirement 10
Tell how insects fit into the food chain.
Insects are in the middle of the food chain this means they eat things and are eaten. Many frut trees depend on the insects for pollination. Song birds eat insects. Bats eat insects.
Requirement 11
Some insects are helpful in solving crims. They can help by determining how old the corpse is. People can learn this because the bugs that live in them go through the different stages in there life. A job like this is called a forensic entomologist.
Conservation entomologists help save endangered insects. They do this by studying the enviroment in which they live. They help rebuild the ecosystems. They also encourage people to respect insects.
Beekeepers produce honey for human consumption.