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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 then, 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" |
|
(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, HWF 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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