Insects In A Garden (1965)

almost everywhere on Earth even in a garden like this we can find many different kinds of plants and animals here we can observe a variety of small animals some of them are insects on a single rose bush we may find several kinds of insects such as ants a Green Lace Wing a ladybird Beetle and aphids aphids are also called plant lice an aphid is about as large as the head of a pin these tiny insects get their food by sucking juices from the stems and leaves of plants but sometimes aphids become food for other insects even though many aphids are destroyed in in this way some survive because aphids reproduce in large numbers here a young aphid is being born as the tiny aphid leaves its mother its skin hardens this hardened outer covering becomes the aphid skeleton what other animals have an outer skeleton reproduction such as that of the aphid is not common among insects most insects develop from eggs outside the mother's body this Green Lace wing for example lays its eggs on the underside of a leaf to lay its eggs the lacewing spins a fine thread with a liquid from its body then it attaches an egg to the thread the first stage of the lace swings development takes place inside the egg after several days the egg hatches and a juvenile form the larvae emerges how closely does this larvae resemble an adult lace Wing let us watch the lacewing larvae as it develops into an adult insect the larvae has specially adapted Mo parts and is able to feed itself as soon as it hatches how tiny the lacewing larvae is compared to an aphid yet the larvae is able to attack the aphid and feed on it although the aphid is much larger in size it cannot defend itself the lacewing larvae eats and grows rapidly soon it has grown many times larger than an aphid when the larvae is fully grown it is ready to begin a new stage of development now the larvae attaches itself to a leaf and Spins a soft protective covering called a cocoon inside the Cocoon the larvae will change into a pupa during this pupil stage the larvae will change into an adult insect this process of change is called metamorphosis the word metamorphosis means change nearly all insects undergo metamorphosis if this is an adult lace Wing where are its wings if we look closely we can see the wings expand as the lace Wing moves it pumps body fluid through the veins in its wings helping to expand the wings to their full size soon the adult lacewing is ready for its first meal of aphids nearby another insect a ladybird beetle is laying its eggs the ladybird Beetle also goes through a metamorphosis can you recognize the different stages for the ladybird larvae is now ready to become a pupa but instead of spinning a cocoon the larvae curls into a ball and gradually its outer skin hardens to form a pupil case this is different from the Cocoon spun by the lace wi but it serves the same function to protect the developing insect later the adult ladybird Beetle emerges from its pupil case gradually the color of its body will change and for its first meal what does the ladybird beetle eat at first it might seem that aphids serve only as food for other insects but watch closely and you will discover that aphids play another role in this community as they suck plant juices aphids give off a fluid that ser as food for ants in exchange for this food the ants protect aphids from other insects that might be harmful such as the ladybird beetle in this way ants and aphids help each other think of other animals that help each other we have looked closely at a few insects in this tiny community on a rose bush and have found that some insects are Plante eaters others feed on the Plante eating insects some insects are helpful to each other some insects like the aphid bear young that resemble the parent but most insects pass through a series of changes called metamorphosis there are more kinds of insects on Earth than all other kinds of animals no matter where you live you can discover many insects and observe their role in the world of living things for