Insects in the School Garden

What is An Insect? • Insects are invertebrates (they do

not have a backbone or internal skeleton. Instead, they have a hard exoskeleton on the outside of the body.)

• Insects have three distinct body parts: the head, the thorax (the middle section), and the abdomen.

• Insects have two antennae and six legs

• Insects hatch from eggs

Photo From: Home Science Tools

How Many Insects are on Earth?

• There are nearly one million known species of insects.

1,000,000

Why Don’t We Want Insects in the Garden?

• They Eat Our Plants and Vegetables

• They Spread Disease and Virus

Can You Identify These Pesky Insects?

Looper

Aphids

Leaf-footed Bug

Stink Bug

Are All Insects Bad for the Garden?

NOBeneficial Insects Eat Insects that Eat Our

Garden Plants!

Photos From: Alhamamsy

Am I a Beneficial?

Examples of Beneficial's…

Do Insecticides Kill Only the Insects We Don’t Want in the Garden?

NO They Hurt Beneficial's Too!

So What Do We Do Before We Spray an Insecticide?

1. Identify the Pest

2. Decide if it is it Really Hurting Our Plants?

3. Can We Bug Stomp? or Are the Insects Too Small?

4. Do We Really Need the Plant? Or Can We Take it Out of the Garden?

OK, So We’ve Decided to Kill the Insect Because it is Bad for Our Plants…. What Do We Do?

First ask… Does it have a Small or Large, Hard or Soft body?

Small and Soft Bodies… Smoother

Large and or Hard Bodies, Stomp or Spray

Contact The School’s IPM Coordinator BEFORE Spraying Insecticides!

• Vegetable and Insect MUST Be on the Label• Use Recommended Rates• Wear Protective Clothing

Insects Don’t Always Look The SameAs They Grow They Change!

Can You Name This Insect?

Photos from:UC Davis.edu IPM online

Terminology• Complete Metamorphosis

Terminology• Incomplete Metamorphosis

Check Out The Activity Sheet!