Theory question 102
Reproduction in Animals(a) (i) Define the term metamorphosis (ii) Name the two types of metamorphosis that organisms undergo and mention two organisms that undergo each type
(b) (i) State four economic importance of insects and name an example of each of the insects involved. (ii) List four peculiar features of social insects
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(a)(i) Metamorphosis is the series of changes in form that an organism goes through from the egg to the adult.
(ii) Complete metamorphosis (egg → larva → pupa → adult): butterfly, housefly, mosquito, beetle, bee. Incomplete metamorphosis (egg → nymph → adult): cockroach, grasshopper, termite, locust.
(b)(i) Any four with an example: pollinate flowers – bee/butterfly; produce honey and wax – honeybee; produce silk – silkworm; used as food – termite/locust; carry diseases – mosquito (malaria), housefly (cholera/typhoid), tsetse fly (sleeping sickness); destroy crops and stored produce – locust, weevil; destroy wood and buildings – termite; help decay of dead matter – termites/beetles.
(ii) Any four: live together in large colonies; division of labour among castes; castes differ in structure (polymorphism); one or few reproductive members (queen and king/drones); build a common nest; communicate and cooperate (e.g. bee dance); care for the young together.
Complete metamorphosis has a pupa stage; incomplete does not.