Beneficial and harmful effects of arthropods to man and other vertebrates?

Answer 1

BENEFITS: -link in food chain

-pollination, most seed plants would not exist, ~65% insect pol.

-human food, specifically crustaceans, several million pounds annually

from Gulf of Mexico alone (primarily shrimp)

-silk

-spider silk can be stronger than steel of the same gauge.

-insectivorous arthropods help control insect pests Ex. lady bugs

-soil dwelling arthropods scavengers and decomposers

-Esthetic and psychological

Butterflies- art, literature

Scarab Beetle- sacred in anchient Egypt

HARM: *Ticks, mites, mosquitoes, fleas, lice; look upon people, their pets and

livestock as just another meal (parasitic larva can also be involved)

-painful bites of stings in self-defense, more people die of bee and

scorpion stings than by snakebite (or shark attacks!)

*Black Widow- neurotoxin, attacks CNS

*Brown Recluse- hemolytic, produces death of tissues and skin

surrounding bite

*vectors of disease: Tick- Lyme disease, Rocky Mt. Spotted fever;

Mosquito- malaria, yellow fever, viral encephalitis, filarial worms

(tsetse flies ---> trypanosoma; rat fleas ---> Bubonic Plague)

-destroy wooden structures; termites, boring crustaceans

*crops and ornamental plants destroyed

-stored grains

Answer 2

Ticks, mites, mosquitoes, fleas, lice; look upon people, their pets and

livestock as just another meal (parasitic larva can also be involved)

-painful bites of stings in self-defense, more people die of bee and

scorpion stings than by snakebite (or shark attacks!)

*Black Widow- neurotoxin, attacks CNS

*Brown Recluse- hemolytic, produces death of tissues and skin

surrounding bite

*vectors of disease: Tick- Lyme disease, Rocky Mt. Spotted fever;

Mosquito- malaria, yellow fever, viral encephalitis, filarial worms

(tsetse flies ---> trypanosoma; rat fleas ---> bubonic plague)

-destroy wooden structures; termites, boring crustaceans

*crops and ornamental plants destroyed

-stored grains

Answer 3

Arachnids:

Some (1%) Spiders have potentially deadly venom, but most if not all bites should be treatable. With scorpions it's the bigger the better, as big ones catch prey with their claws, and small ones rely on stronger venom!

Insects:

Mosquitos can spread disease through the blood, such as malaria, but only in tropical countries, mostly in Africa; not in Europe or the US. Bees and wasps etc. can cause people to go into shock if they're allergic, but death is very uncommon and mostly takes a LOT of stings.

Crustaceans:

Some crustaceans have a mean snap, I'm speaking from experience. But this will only result in a flesh wound at best, as none have venom.

Myriapods:

Centipedes are often aggressive and will bite, and are also often venomous, so steer clear and don't provoke. Millipedes are more gentle (and herbivorous), but still poisonous (different thing; venomous means bitey, poisonous means containing toxins in the flesh, so you'd have to eat them for it to have effect).