Giant Asian Hornet

Giant Asian Hornet

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta

7 Essential Functions:

Wasps and Hornets are more or less similar, with only a few changes.

                                                                      Body Structure: 

 

 

Digestion (Feeding):

They have a complete digestive system, meaning that they have a long tube-like structure running down their body, from mouth to anus. The digested food usually travels in one direction. Feeding habits vary amongst the Hornets.

 

 

Circulatory System:

Have Open circulatory system, meaning that the blood within the body moves freely throughout the entire organism. The circulatory system is responsible for movement of nutrients, salts, hormones, and metabolic wastes throughout the hornets body. Usually have hearts to help with blood flow etc.

 

Respiratory System:

All insects are aerobic organisms, meaning they must obtain oxygen from their environment in order to survive. Air enters the insect's body through valve-like openings in the exoskeleton, called spiracles.

 

Excretion:

In insects, a system involving Malpighian Tubules is used to excrete wastes. These wastes diffuse or are actively transported into the tubule, which transports the wastes to the intestines. The wastes are then released from the body along with fecal matter. Wastes exit through the anus, like almost any organism.

 

Movement:

Insects tend to have many different forms of movement. The hornet shows some of that variation because it has wings and feet. Using the wings, it can propel itself forward, up, down and all around, going great distances. When it's in it's nest or simply landing on a surface, it uses it's legs to walk around.

 

Reproduction:

Have 3 main types of Hornet; The Queen, worker and drone.

The Queen is the only one able to lay eggs, so protecting her is vital. Queen mates with the drones. The workers essentially keep the hive nice and 'tidy'.

 

Hornets are Bilaterally symmetrical. And have 3 germ layers; Ectoderm, Mesoderm and Endoderm. Other organisms found in this phylum are Spiders, Scorpions, Lobster, Millipedes and Centipeds, etc.

 

Scorpion

Lobster

Ecology:

Hornets don't seem to have a purpose in the world, but they do in fact serve society and nature.

 

Hornets are classified as Protosomes.

 

INTERESTING FACTS:

The Giant Asian Hornet is the largest hornet in the world, reaching up to 2 inches in length, with a wingspan of 3 inches. The stinger is 1/4 inches in length, and can produce lethal stings.

 

The stinger can inject a dangerous poison, which can cause death to those who are not even allergic. They can bite at the same time, so that basically means twice the pain.

 

Nests are built out of wood and paper found in the trash or on the ground

 

 

The hornets can devastate a colony of honey bees: a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honey bees per minute thanks to its large mandibles which can quickly strike and decapitate a bee. The honeybee stings are ineffective because the hornets are five times the size and too heavily armoured.

 

Hornets can't eat their prey, so instead chew them up and feed them to larvae. The larvae then spew up liquids that the adults eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squid Dissection

On friday, I was kind of surprised to find that my class was dissecting a squid, mostly because I kind of forgot. Nevertheless, it was awesome to dissect something larger than an earthworm! To start off, we were to go with our partners and get supplies consisting of Scissors, forceps and other items that would all help with the procedure. Before anything, I went to the front of the class, where some sheets were set up so I could do a small pre-lab activity of naming certain body parts of a squid. Then, my teacher opened up a container full of squids, which may I say, did not smell too good. But once I received a single squid, the smell was unnoticeable, and my partner and I were able to get to work. Our objective was to find and observe the exterior parts of the squid, and then after careful cutting, view the internal organs of the squid. During all of this we were to locate the body parts that perform functions, and then analyze how those functions would be performed. By making these connections, the brain can have a better and easier time remembering and retaining the knowledge learned. You can learn more by first hand cutting than by reading large paragraphs. For example, one could look at the beak and see how it opens and closes, and also find where the food comes and goes, and by doing that observing learn more than reading 5-6 sentences on the subject.
To begin the dissection, we first had to look at all the external parts of the squid, like the tentacles and arms. Just seeing these was awesome, because they looked like how I'd always seen them in movies and t.v; were long and had suckers, although, only some had suckers. After careful observation of the exterior, we began to cut. Some groups were too hasty and directly went to cut up the squid, which took away from the first few steps on the hand-out we were given. Aside from this, my partner and I made a good, clean cut, and carefully spread apart the squid to see it's insides. Unlike the earthworm, we didn't have guts fall out or soil. In fact, everything seemed to stay in place, which was good. We then carefully observed it's insides and what parts were which. Some if it kind of looked like an egg to me, but the thought didn't last very long considering I could see a whole bunch of other things as well. All in all, this was a great and fun learning experience, and I hope to do something similar again in class!

1.) How many arms does your squid have? How many tentacles?
The squid I had dissected had 8 arms, and only 2 tentacles with suckers. This picture isn't very good, but it does have all the feet shown.

2.) Based on the structure of the arms and tentacles, describe how their purposes differ. What do the arms do and what do the tentacles do?
This is a close up of the suckers of a squid, located on the tentacle. The tentacle is better for grabbing prey that swims by, and holding onto them, as well as latching onto surfaces like rocks. (Look below for Arms)

This is a close up of just a regular arm of a squid. The arms are much better for the locomotion of the squid, for they are shorter and can move quicker.

3.) Draw arrows on the squid (above) to indicate the direction that water comes out of the funnel and the direction that the squid moves

4.) Name two external features that are adaptations for the squids predatory life. How do these adaptations help the squid?
One of these adaptations, is the suckers on the tentacles. These suckers attach onto prey and hold them down from escaping. This leads to the 2nd adaptation, which is the beak. The beak can pick apart prey, making it easier for digestion. Since there is already a picture of the suckers up above, I only used this close up of the beak.

5.) Do you remember the general traits of mollusks we discussed in the lecture? Name two traits that the squid shares with other mollusks.
A.) The visceral mass is the soft bodied portion of mollusks that contains the internal organs, and in this case, is the mantle of the squid (shown above).
B.) Feet are also found in all mollusks, and in this case, are the arms and tentacles of the squid. (Shown Below)

1.) How many pairs of gills does the squid have?
The squid that my partner and I dissected had 2 pairs of gills

2.) Where does the ink sac empty into and what is it's function?
The ink sac (shown above) empties into/ out of the funnel, and the ink itself serves as a distraction to help get away from predators. The funnel works to dispel the ink and propel the squid forward.

3.) What is the function of the pen? What would happen if the squid didn't have the pen?
The pen serves as structural support for the squid, holding the organs together and stabilizing the squids body. Without it, the squid itself would be a floppy mess. The pen is shown above and below.

4.) How do you think wastes exit the squid?
I believe that larger, more solid wastes exit through the anus, and smaller wastes exit through the funnel (shown above).

Annelid Dissection

On friday in class, we were allowed to dissect an earthworm as a part of group assignment. This was one of the coolest things we've done all year, apart from the Aquarium trip! The purpose of this dissection was to get a hands on experience of the external and internal structures of an annelid. With experiences such as dissecting, one can retain information better from the things they see, and it can provide a better learning environment. Our class had just finished learning about Annelids, and what better way to keep that information than being active! From the start of the class, we were given some brief precautions and instuctions, and the we were able to get started. Using scalpels, forceps, pins and other various tools, my group and I began our dissection, starting with the head of the worm and lightly slicing toward the centre. Once we had done this, black ooze (soil) fell out from inside of the worm, along with blood, which did kind of disgust me, considering it's not something I see everyday. There was a faint odor that didn't smell too good either, but you had to lean in close to really breathe it in. At this point, you could see the insides of the worm, and under a microscope could see he internal organs of it, all of which looked squishy and sticky. Following all of this, we then cut further down, and sliced open the bottom half, revealing the excretory and reproductive systems. There wasn't much there besides the ovaries, testes and nephridia, and some soil as well. This whole lab was an amazing new experience that I hope everyone else enjoyed as much as myself! Although touching the worm wasn't exactly an option for me, because I have cuts on my fingers, it was still an awesome lab to participate in. Using a scalpel and slicing open something is always a cool experience, so I was glad to be there on friday!

1.) What is the name of the pumping organs of an earthworm?

The name of the pumping organs of an earthworm is called the Aortic Arches.

Although I couldn't get a clear picture of them, hopefully these "hearts" (black orbs) will suffice.

2.) Trace the parts of the digestive tract through which food passes.

This is a picture of an Annelids digestive tract, that I drew myself.

3.) Which parts of the earthworm serve as it's brain? How are these parts connected to the rest of the body?

The brain is made up of many nerves, all through cephalization. The brain rests above the gut, and is connected to 2 large nerves which are, in turn, connected to a pair of ganglia. These ganglia are then connected to a ventral nerve cord which runs the length of the body.

4.) Which parts of the worms body that you saw included the excretory system?

This was the only close up picture I could get of what the excretory system looks like. There appears to be a lot of soil in the mix, as well as some reproductive organs.

5.) How can you find out whether an earthworm eats soil or not?

The black muck that surrounds the pin is the undigested soil, that was once travelling through the worms digestive tract.

6.) Among the earthworms structural adaptations are it's setae. How do you think the earthworms setae make it well adapted to its habitat?

I couldn't get a picture of the Annelids setae because they were too small. As for the question, The earthworms setae make it well adapted to it's environment because they help it feel around the soil, as well as for vibrations in the surrounding area, essentially helping the, escape predators. The setae also help with avoiding obstacles.

7.) How is the earthworms digestive system adapted for extracting relatively small amounts from large amounts of ingested soil?

The food ingested goes through the digestive tract, going down the esophagus until it reaches the crop and gizzard. The crop stores some food, while the gizzard grinds it up into smaller pieces. These small pieces are then finally digested. This process shows how worms digestive systems are adapted for extracting small amounts of food from large amounts of soil. This picture is of the Crop, unfortunately I couldn't get one of the gizzard.

8.) Your dissection of the earthworm did not go beyond segment 32. What will you observe if you dissect the remainder of the worm to it's posterior end?

If I had dissected beyond segment 32, I would find digested food, blood and the ventral nerve cord, which runs the length of the body. I would then find the anus and nephridia. This picture is of the lower half of the dissected earthworm, whose guts and soil were splattered around it, and inside it.

9.) During mating, two earthworms exchange sperm. Fertilization is external, and cocoons are produced from which the young eventually emerge. Refer again to steps 5 and 11, where you located the Earthworms reproductive organs. Use a reference to identify the role of each organ in the reproductive process of the earthworm. On a separate paper, summarize your findings.

Summary: To reproduce, earthworms attach themselves to one another, and then excrete sperm into each other. The sperm is then stored in special sacs, awaiting for the eggs to be ready for fertilization. When the eggs and sperm are ready, the clitellum secretes a sticky ring, in which both the eggs and sperm can fertilize in. If you look closely at the end of the worm, you can see the reproductive organs, or whats left of them.