CPP 202 Lecture Note

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION

NAMING AND CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS

Scientists everywhere, irrespective of their native language, require that there is a formal scientific,
system of naming insects for unambiguous communication among themselves. This is because
common (vernacular) names cannot fulfil this need. Even among people that speak the same
language, the same insects even may have different vernacular names. For example, the British
refer to members of the Coccinellidae as “ladybirds”, whereas the same coccinellid beetles are
“ladybugs” to many people in the USA. Worse still, many insects have no vernacular name, or one
common name is given to many species as if only one is involved. Therefore, a set of
nomenclatural rules have been developed for all animals (plants have a slightly different system)
to facilitate the formal naming of insects.

The Linnaean system which is the accepted system of naming animals today by most scientists
categorizes animals in a hierarchical order. The animal kingdom is divided into several phyla and
each phylum is further separated into classes. The insects belong to the Phylum Arthropoda
because they are invertebrates (i.e. without a backbone) and have jointed appendages. In the
Phylum Arthropoda is the Class Insecta that is further divided into other categories. The categories
commonly used for insects are listed in decreasing rank:

Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Arthropoda
Subphylum – Mandibulata
Class – Insecta
Subclass/Superorder – Apterygota and Pterygota
Order
Suborder
Superfamily
Family
Tribe
Genus
 Species
Subspecies

The Linnaean system provides every described species with two given names (a binomen). The
first is the generic (genus) name, used for a usually broader grouping than the second name, which
is the specific (species) name. These latinized names are always used together and are italicized or
underlined if written with longhand. It is the combination of generic and specific names that
provides each organism with its own unique name. Thus, the name Aedes aegypti is recognized by
any medical entomologist, anywhere, whatever the local name (and there are many) for this
disease-transmitting mosquito. Also, the house fly consist of the generic name (Musca) and the
specific name (domestica): thus, the species name for house fly will be Musca domestica. The
generic name and those of higher categories begin with a capital letter but the specific name does
not.

It is important to note that besides the “binomen” are “uninomen” (one-word name) and
“trinomen” (three-word name). Names above species level are uninomial. In the case of trinomial
names, these are used to designate subspecies names (e.g. Papilio polyxenes asterius, a swallowtail
butterfly).

In scientific publications, the species name often is followed by the name of the original describer
of the species and perhaps the year in which the name first was published legally. It is not unusual
to find an author’s name in parentheses. This simply implies that the genus to which that author
placed the species he/she described is no longer valid for that particular species and thus has been
transferred to another genus by another person (e.g. Argolis calabarensis Stal is now Caunus
calabarensis (Stal)). In publications, after the first citation of the combination of generic and
species names in the text, it is common practice in subsequent citations to abbreviate the genus to
the initial letter only (e.g. A. aegypti). However, where this might be ambiguous, such as for the
two mosquito genera Aedes and Anopheles, the initial two letters Ae. and An. are used.

The abbreviation “sp.” refers to a single, unnamed species while “spp.” refers to more than one
unnamed species. The name “fly” is written as a separate word (e.g. house fly) if the fly belongs
to the order (of the two winged flies) Diptera. If not, it is written as a word (e.g. butterfly, mayfly,
and dragonfly). Similarly, the name “bug” is written separately if the insect belongs to the suborder
of true bugs, Heteroptera (e.g. stink bugs) else, the word is not separated (e.g. ladybug).

Various taxonomically defined groups, known as taxa (singular: taxon), are recognized amongst
the insects. As it is for all other organisms, the basic biological taxon, lying above the individual
and population, is the species, which is both the fundamental nomenclatural unit in taxonomy
and, arguably, a unit of evolution. Species are grouped into genera, which are discrete higher
groups. In a similar manner, genera can be grouped into tribes, tribes into subfamilies, and
subfamilies into families. The families of insects are placed in relatively large but easily recognized
groups called orders. This hierarchy of ranks (or categories) thus extends from the species level
through a series of “higher” levels of greater and greater inclusivity until all true insects are
included in one class, the Insecta.

For nomenclatural purposes, it is important to note that there are standard word ending (suffixes)
for certain categories/ranks. These include:

Order: –ptera (e.g. Orthoptera, Coleoptera, generally true for winged insects with the
exception of a few cases such as Odonata)
Superfamily: –oidea (e.g. Reduvioidea, Acridoidea)
Family: –idea (e.g. Apidae, Muscidae)
Subfamily: –inae (e.g. Harpactorinae, Formicinae)
Tribe: –ini (e.g. Holoptilini, Harpactorini, Reduviini)

INSECT ORDERS

Depending on the classification system used, some 30 orders of Insecta are recognized. Differences
arise principally because there are no fixed rules for deciding the taxonomic ranks referred to above
– only general agreement that groups should be monophyletic, comprising all the descendants of
a common ancestor. Orders have been recognized rather arbitrarily in the past two centuries, and
the most that can be said is that presently constituted orders contain similar insects differentiated
from other insect groups.
There are broad categorization (based on certain synapomorphic characters i.e. evolutionary novel
characters/features) into which insect orders are organized. A schematic of the classification is
given below.

APTERYGOTA

Protura, Diplura, Collembola, and Thysanura

PTERYGOTA

PALEOPTERA

Ephemeroptera and Odonata

NEOPTERA

Orthopteroid Group

Plecoptera, Mantodea, Blattodea, Isoptera, Grylloblattodea, Mantophasmatodea, Orthoptera,

Phasmatodea, Embioptera, Dermaptera, and Zoraptera.

Hemipteroid Group

Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera, and Hemiptera

Neuropteroid Group

Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, Mecoptera, Siphonaptera, Diptera,

Hymenoptera, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera

CODES OF NOMENCLATURE

According to its preamble, the code of Zoological Nomenclature was designed with the intent of
promoting “stability and universality in the scientific names of animals.”
The basic tenets, stated in the form that they are found in the Zoological Code, can be outlined as
follows:

1. Binomial Nomenclature
2. Coordination
3. First Rivser
4. Homonymy
5. Priority
6. Typification
a. Species-group types
b. Genus-group and family-group types

1. Principle of Binominal Nomenclature

The principle that the scientific name of a species, and not of a taxon at any other rank, is a
combination of two names (a binomen); the use of a trinomen for the name of a subspecies and of
uninominal names for taxa above the species group is in accord with the Principle.

2. Principle of Coordination

The principle that within the family group, genus group or species group a name established for a
taxon at any rank in the group is deemed to be simultaneously established with the same author
and date for taxa based on the same name-bearing type at other ranks in the group.

3. Principle of the First Reviser

The principle that the relative precedence of two or more names or nomenclatural acts published
on the same date, or of different original spellings of the same name, is determined by the First
Reviser.

4. Principle of Homonymy

The principle that the name of each taxon must be unique. Consequently a name that is a junior
homonym of another name must not be used as a valid name.

5. Principle of Priority
The principle that the valid name of a taxon is the oldest available name applied to it, provided
that the name is not invalidated by any provision of the Code or by any ruling by the Commission.

6. Principle of Typification

The principle that each nominal taxon in the family group, genus group or species group has,
actually or potentially, a name-bearing type fixed to provide the objective standard of reference by
which the application of the name is determined.