Adult insects emerge from a nonfeeding phase, or _________?
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Pupa- During the pupa phase, the insect is encased in a shell, similar to an egg-It is during this phase the metamorphosis occurs, when the insect changes it's morphology, or shape- This is the period, for example, between a caterpillar and butterfly\n*edit* Thanks jag-and you know, you don't really look much like Gil Grisolm to me...
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The length of these journeys far exceeds the lifetime of a Monarch (lives four days as egg, two weeks as caterpillar, ten days as chrysalis, and two to six weeks as a butterfly). \n\n\nMetamorphosis\nThe life cycle of a Monarch includes a change of form called complete metamorphosis. The Monarch goes through four radically different stages:\n\nThe eggs are laid by the females during spring and summer breeding months. \nThe eggs hatch, revealing worm-like larva, the caterpillars. The caterpillars consume their egg cases, then feed on milkweed, and sequester substances called cardenolides, related to the cardiac glycoside digitalis. During the caterpillar stage, Monarchs store energy in the form of fat and nutrients to carry them through the non-feeding pupa stage. \nIn the pupa or chrysalis stage, the caterpillar spins a silk pad on a twig, leaf, etc. and hangs from this pad by its last pair of prolegs. It hangs upside down in the shape of a 'J', and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton. At this point, hormonal changes occur, leading to the development of a butterfly. \nThe mature butterfly emerges after about two weeks.
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No insects sleep, in the traditional sense. They go into something called "diapause." What happens is at night in temperate climates, the air temperature drops to levels at which the insect can no longer function normally. They get sluggish, find a safe place to hide, and stay there, in a nearly "frozen" state, completely inactive until the sun rises and temperatures increase. \n\nFor ants in tropical climates, the air temperatures usually do not get chilly enough for them to go into diapause and they work throughout the night, never sleeping.\n\nSo the answer is true.
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The first step would be a really big die-off and a collapse of civilization.  Other than slowly acquiring some negative traits, not much will happen in terms of physical evolution in the mean time.\n\nAfter this die-off, we will find ourselves in a world without the megafauna alongside of which we initially evolved.  These animals have since gone extinct.  Our food will have to be smaller and more frequent instead of big and less frequent.  As a result, I would predict a reduction in body size to more efficiently utilize resources from small to medium sized prey.
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The adult mosquito is entirely terrestrial and is capable of flying long distances. Both females and males feed on nectars which they use for energy. Males and females mate during the first 3 to 5 days after they have emerged. Females mate only once. Males generally live for only a week. Only the females feed on blood, which is what is occurring when they are biting. Females evidently gain little nourishment from blood meals but need them in order to develop eggs. Many mosquitoes feed on any warm-blooded bird or mammal. However, some prefer cold-blooded animals. Some species also prefer birds and seldom feed on mammals, which is the case with Culex spp. mosquitoes which are known to transmit the West Nile virus (WNV). Unfortunately many species feed on a wide range of warm-blooded mammals and humans are often attacked. Once a female has completely engorged she flies to a shaded environment until her eggs are completely developed, usually 3 to 5 days. Once the eggs are developed the female is called a gravid female and she begins to search for a desirable place to lay her eggs. If a female survives her egg laying activities, she will very soon start searching for another blood meal after which she will lay another batch of eggs. She does not need to mate a second time. Generally a female will only live long enough to lay 1 to 3 batches of eggs. \n\nMost mosquito species are actively searching for a blood meal in the evening hours from just before dark until 2 to 3 hours after dark. During the daytime the females normally rest in cooler vegetated areas where the humidity is higher and they are protected from drying out. Females will often bite in the daytime if humans or animals invade the wooded areas where they are resting. However, Aedes albopictus is an aggressive biter which prefers to feed during the daylight hours and is often a nuisance in urban areas.
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Its called Ecdysis.Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle or the exoskeleton.Higher insects have only 4-5 moultings whereas lower insects have till 15.As the exoskeleton is hard its difficult for the insect to grow so it moults periodically to grow.They grow a new exoskeleton later.
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We can think in general terms of a food chain consisting of three main groupings, or trophic levels: plants, herbivores, and carnivores. Plants are at the "bottom" of the food chain—they are able to make their own food by using the energy from the sun (they are autotrophic). Because they produce their own food, they are called Producers. All other living things that can't make their own food must consumer the producers, so they are called consumers (and are heterotrophic). Consumers are higher up the food chain (at a higher trophic level) and are either herbivores (they directly consume the producers) or carnivores (they eat other consumers). Macroinvertebrates are heterotrophic and may be both herbivores and carnivores. \n\nBecause benthic macroinvertebrates eat and are eaten, they are smack-dab in the middle of the food chain, a position that is critical in a healthy stream ecosystem. Herbivorous stream bugs consume plants and algae (these bugs are the scrapers and shredders). \n\nThe benthic macroinvertebrates that eat small fish, small amphibians, and other stream bugs are the carnivores. These predaceous macroinvertebrates are the predators\n\nTo confuse matters slightly, there is another group in addition to the herbivores and carnnivores. Detritivores are sort of a combination of herbivores and carnivores. Detritivores shred and eat leaves and other organic matter that contain nourishing fungi, algae, and bacteria. They absorb the nutrients as they break down the material into smaller sizes that other bugs utilize. Detritivores are the shredders and collectors. \n\nStream bugs may get eaten by other macroinvertebrates and fish that depend upon them for food. For example, both juvenile and adult salmon eat macroinvertebrates. And not only do other consumers need them for food, but when the bugs die, they decay and leave nutrients behind that flow back into the food chain. \n\nSo without the stream bugs, organic materials won't be processed, nutrients won't get recycled back into the system, and many consumers won't have any food—in short, the system degrades until it is unhealthy or dead, then most bugs couldn't live there even if they wanted to.
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The word you are looking for is 'parthenogenesis', which is defined as the development of an egg into an embryo without the participation of a sperm.\n\nIn fact, many invertebrates, and even some vertebrates do this.
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It's true the ADULT Mayfile only lives a day or so, but the other stages of the life-cycle live the whole rest of the year. (Egg, Larva, Pupa) So, there are always "mayflies" around. They are beautiful, they feed fish and birds and bats, and they are a source of wonder and delight. That's enough reason to be around for me.
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insects have an ectoskeleton, it's on the outside.  It's like armour.  Now imagine if they were the size of humans, it would be very easy for them to take over the world.  They'd be unstoppable!
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"Until the second half of the nineteenth century, it was generally believed that life could arise spontaneously from nonliving matter, a process known as spontaneous generation. An early opponent of spontaneous generation, Francesco Redi, demonstrated in 1668 that maggots, the larvae of flies, do not arise spontaneously from decaying meat." (see source) In other words, life comes from life, cells come from cells, and it is generally thought that living matter cannot come from unliving matter.
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They all change once married, and are unrecognizable afterwards.\n\nIt's a bigger change than the pupae changing to an adult insect.  A cute little white inching bug climbs out of the cocoon as a digger wasp!  Ye Gods!
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there part of a group of insects that only live a short while, a few weeks or more. so they have to find a mate quickly and reproduce, just nature thats all.
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During the summer and autumn/fall, many fly species lay eggs in plants and things. The eggs hatch, and the larvae stay in the plant for the winter, developing into adults. In the spring they leave the plant and find a mate, and the cycle starts all over again.\n\nSome flies do not need to mate to reproduce, and their offspring are 'clones' of the mother. This is a very quick way of producing offspring, so the population increases very quickly when it becomes warm again.\n\nThe black flies you saw were probably lying dormant in some nooks and crannies somewhere. When the temperature drops, their body processes slow down and they 'hibernate'. When the temperature rises they become active again. Thats probably where you blackflies came from
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In insects that exhibit paurometabolous or hemimetabolous metamorphsosis (an 'incomplete' metamorhphosis in which there is no pupal stage), the juvenile stage (between egg and adult) is known as a nymph.  In aquatic forms, like dragonflies or mayflies, it is also sometimes referred to as a naeid.\n\nBTW:  Why is this in Earth Science?
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Not around here they aren't. I haven't heard any evidence to say they are, but it is possible. Not very likely however. I would say it is more likely that they are disapearing from a specific place, such as around you, because of changes in the climate, introducion of a new species that is competeing with or eating the bees, or something like that.
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Metamorphosis is the process in which an animal passes through different stages after being born or hatching.  It usually has three stages - larva, pupa, and adult.   The caterpillar becomes a pupa and then develops into the butterfly.\n\nThere is good information at these links.