Lab 7 Assignment: Soil Arthropods

Name: _________________________________

Guide to Common Soil Arthropods

PART I. Identification

Mites (Class Arachnida, Order Acari):                               Round Worms (Phylum Nematoda):

Segmented Worms                                                               Leeches (Phylum Annelida, Class Hirundinea):

(Phylum Annelida, Class Oligochaeta):

Snails, Slugs (Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda):           Isopod (Phylum Crustacea, Order Isopoda):

Centipedes (Phylum Uniramia, Class Chilopoda):                 Millipedes (Phylum Uniramia, Class Diplopoda):

Insects (Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta)

Hymenoptera: Formicidae                                                                  Collembola

Ants                                                                                                          Springtails

Coleoptera                                                                                                   Coleoptera

Beetles (grubs)                                                                                           Beetles (adults)

Additional, Morpho-species (draw and describe each of the “artificial” designations used in your data reporting):

Data Collection

Part II. Soil Arthropods Study

1. Report your results – major trends, morphological differences in guilds between samples, etc.

LINEAR TRANSECT:

DEPTH PROFILE:

2. Discuss your results – why did the arthropod assemblages vary as they did in your samples?

Part III. Identification

Create a Dichotomous Key for the organisms identified in your group samples: these are set up as couplets of two choices that are opposite. For example:

1A. Shape does not have discernible “sides” …                                                  …CIRCLE

1B. Shape has discernible sides …                                                                           … 2

2A. Sides of shape are all of equal length…                                                           …3

2B. Sides of shape are not all of equal length…                                                   …RECTANGLE

3A. Shape has three sides …                                                                                     …TRIANGLE

3B. Shape has four sides …                                                                                       …SQUARE

Select SIX of the soil organisms you identified in this lab and create a dichotomous key that can be used to identify them.

Key approved by: ___________________________________________________________