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| Let me tell you about some insects
found around my own home -- right outside my door and in my gardens. I just find them,
scan them, then add them to this page, and sometimes a friend sends me a picture. We don't
kill our insects. Most of them have been found dead and some were alive when they were
scanned or photographed, and then they were let go. The idea with this page is just to
show how interesting average insects in average places can be, and to get a feeling for
the kind of information that can be gathered about them. I'm gradually adding to the page
so later more orders will be added. INDEX
FW = "forewings"
HW =
"hindwings" |
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(Click on the order
names) |
 Coleoptera (beetles)
- mouthparts: chewing
- metamorphosis: complete
- wings: 0-4, FW thickened
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 Isoptera (termites)
- mouthparts: chewing
- metamorphosis: simple
- wings: 0-4, HW & FW similar in size
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 Diptera (flies, mosquitoes)
- mouthparts: sucking
- metamorphosis: complete
- wings: 0-2, HW much reduced
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 Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths)
- mouthparts: sucking
- metamorphosis: complete
- wings: 0-4, scaly, often colorful
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Hemiptera (true bugs)
- mouthparts: sucking
- metamorphosis: simple
- wings: 0-4, FW tickened at base
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 Odonata (dragonflies, damselflies)
- mouthparts: chewing
- metamorphosis: simple, nymphs aquatic
- wings: 4, HW as large as FW
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 Homoptera (cicadas, hoppers, aphids, scale
insects, etc.)
- mouthparts: sucking
- metamorphosis: simple
- wings: 0-4, FW uniform in texture
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Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.)
- mouthparts: chewing
- metamorphosis: simple
- wings: 0-4, FW narrow & thick, HW folded
fanwise
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 Hymenoptera (wasps, bees)
- mouthparts: chewing, chewing/sucking
- metamorphosis: complete
- wings: 0-4, HW smaller than FW
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 Neuroptera (antlions, lacewings, dobsonflies, etc.)
- mouthparts: chewing
- metamorphosis: complete
- wings: 4, HW as large as FW
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