Insect Morphology and Classification Questions and Answers

Answer: A

‘Handbook of Economic Entomology for South India’ was written by T. V. Ramakrishna Ayyar, an Indian entomologist who worked in Madras. It is a standard reference on insect pests of South Indian crops.

M. S. Mani is known for his work on Indian high-altitude and gall insects, and T. Kumara Swami and K. K. Nayar are other Indian agricultural writers, so they are not the author of this handbook.

Ramakrishna Ayyar was an Indian entomologist who served in Madras (now Tamil Nadu) and wrote about insect pests of crops in South India. His handbook is a standard older reference on the subject.

Answer: C

The exotic bee Apis mellifera was successfully introduced in India in 1962, in Himachal Pradesh. Earlier attempts in 1880 and 1887 had failed, and the 1962 introduction established it for commercial beekeeping.

The years 1942, 1952 and 1972 are not the date of this successful introduction.

Earlier attempts to bring the European honey bee into India failed, and only the 1962 introduction in Himachal Pradesh at Nagrota Bagwan succeeded. After that, Apis mellifera spread to commercial beekeeping in Punjab, Haryana and other states.

Answer: A

Newton's bee hive is the most popular in South India. It was developed in the south to keep the Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica, in a movable-frame hive.

The Langstroth hive is the standard for the European bee Apis mellifera, the Jeolikote hive is associated with Uttar Pradesh in the north, and a nucleus hive is a small hive used to start colonies, so none of them is the popular South Indian hive.

The Newton hive was designed for the Indian hive bee, Apis cerana, and is widely used in South India, where this bee is the main species kept. The Langstroth hive, by contrast, is the standard box for Apis mellifera.

Answer: C

Cantharidin is produced by the blister beetle (family Meloidae). It is a toxic compound that blisters skin and is used in small doses as a medicine to remove warts.

The cochineal insect gives carmine dye, the giant fly is not a source of it, and the lac insect gives lac.

Cantharidin is made by blister beetles and by some related beetles. The substance blisters the skin, which gives the beetle its name, and it has been used in medicine for warts.

Answer: B

Royal jelly is produced by the lateral pharyngeal glands, also known as the hypopharyngeal glands, of nurse bees. It is fed to the larvae and to the queen.

Mandibular glands add some fatty acids, while the cephalic and thoracic salivary glands are not the source of the jelly.

Nurse bees make royal jelly from secretions of their glands in the head. Royal jelly is the sole food of the queen larva and the adult queen.