Classification

Kind professors cannot often fail good students.

Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.

Part of my STPM Biology practicals involves collecting insect specimens and checking out the names of their respective orders. I won't say I enjoyed this (group) assignment, but I did try (at the beginning) to make the most out of it. I have an irrational fear of animals, which might range from sponges to sapiens, so I was not keen enough to examine the insects the group caught. Anyhow, I chanced upon Anthony Wootton's 'Insects of the World' last year, which I bought as I thought the book would be helpful in finding the names of the insects, which it proved to be. Through reading this book I've learnt the names of some major insect orders, like the ones that follow:

Orthoptera (includes crickets, grasshoppers, locusts.)

Locust, the insect I dread most. My first capture of this creature involved a 10-minute contemplation before I summoned enough bravery to move my insect nest and somehow force it to crawl into a container through a small opening. No direct contact throughout the process: not even through the plastic bag.

Hymenoptera (includes bees, wasps, ants etc)

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)

One new knowledge I gained out of this assignment is that "dragonflies" actually comprise of damselfly, which include the "small dragonflies", and dragonfly, which are the "big dragonflies".

This is probably a species of damselfly, now critically endangered, and endemic to the area around a lake in Africa. (I might actually be giving wrong information. Readers discretion advised.)

A dragonfly from Sabah, according to the source of this image. (Please don't sue me.)

Lepidoptera (includes butterflies and moths)

According to Wootton (1984), "until recently, science followed the popular practice of grouping this well-studied order into two divisions -sia the ...(butterflies) and the ...(moths). This, however, has been superseded and the whole order is now divided into four suborders. The butterflies comprise two superfamilies ... and, together with the more advanced moths, make up the suborder Ditrysia; the more primitive moths are placed in the suborders Zeugloptra, Dacnonypha and Monotrysia." He further explained that structural and behavioural differences between butterflies and moths are not clear-cut, and that classification "now more accurately reflects butterflies' relationships with moths, notably on the basis of wing venation and genitalia."

The Atlas Moth, largest moth in the world, is common in the Malay Archipelago (Wiki, 2010). I guess common should be an appropriate word, since I've seen it twice in my life in a rural area up north. I know it's harmless, but still I wouldn't dare to let it rest on my fingers like the person in the picture.

Phasmida (includes Stick-Insects and Leaf-Insects)

I also clarified one misconception after reading the insect book I mentioned above. Previously I was under the impression that leaf-insects are special types of praying mantis, which they are not, I now believe. Found in greatest number in South-East Asia (kudos!), leaf insects and stick-insects are predominantly vegetarian, in contrast with the praying mantis which I assume to be carnivorous. Speaking of praying mantis, if you're still with me, we're getting close to some interesting classification.

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Dictyoptera

My STPM text (by Lee Ching and J. Arunasalam) is kind of wish-washy regarding the classification of cockroaches, possibly indicative of some unresolved arguments among taxonomists, in my irresponsible opinion. Lee or J. Arunasalam (I don't know who) implies that cockroaches come under the order Dictyoptera, but on the same page says "some taxonomists place cockroaches in the order Blattaria."

Anyway, I didn't really care, because no classification scheme is absolute or final, as they are artificial creation which reflects our understanding of the relatioships among different species, and are hence subject to change as new data become available; and perhaps more importantly, "exam won't ask one la."

So anyway, according to Wotton, Dictyoptera comprises of COCKROACHES AND MANTIDS! Kind of arbitrary isn't it? I mean, do you ever relate cockroaches to mantids? Well, both of these creatures have downwardly directed triangular heads, and deposit their eggs in oothecae; but despite the reading, I still don't normally relate the two creatures, although I consciously know they are somewhat closely related.

It was weeks later, that I realized I had incorporated this classification into my worldly understanding (世界观）. Let's see what I mean by that:

Yesterday midnight, when I was to put my schoolbag beside the front door, I saw a cockroach crawling around, very slowly. Apparently it didn't notice my presence. More because of my fear than curiosity, I stood 3 metres away to observe the cockroach. It was moving so slowly, that I'm sure I would be able to see movements of its every appendage if I had paid attention. The cockroach crawled along the wall, before it stumbled upon the front door and squeezed itself out of the house through the crevice between the door and the floor. (omg..so wordy...)

When I was watching the cockroach, suddenly the image of a mantis popped out of my mind. The image of the mantis in the above picture. It was almost spontaneous without any conscious effort. I interpret this to mean that my subconscious mind has already accepted the associaton between cockroaches and mantids, just like it accepts lions, tigers and leapords as "cats".

This prompts me to think about the origin of so many facts we "know" and our perceptions of the world which we hold dearly as truths -- male, female; men, women; gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, autosexual; bumiputera, bukan-bumiputera; moral, immoral; Aren't truths built on our classification and association of things? To say that a system has a potential energy of 123 J means associating that system with the energy value; to say that something is good is to associate it with a moral value. I am surprised how easily I have internalized the relationship between mantids and cockroaches. Never will I see mantids and cockroaches the same way again. Just one reading already sufficed to print the impression into my mind.

What about the "truths" we have been taught? We much have we internalized, and later undid? Internalized homophobia? 一白遮三丑？The association between black and evil?

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* ahh.....my english.....i cannot finish this post.
* There are at least 20 other insect orders which are not mentioned in this post, most notably Coleoptera (the beetles, which is the largest order of the animal kingdom.), Hemiptera (bugs), and Diptera (mosquitoes and flies). These are the orders I agak-agak know la. Others I dunno liao.