Portal:Insects

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The Insects Portal

Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species. (Full article...)

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Winged and wingless forms

Thrips (order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly 1 mm (0.039 in) long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Entomologists have described approximately 7,700 species. They fly only weakly and their feathery wings are unsuitable for conventional flight; instead, thrips exploit an unusual mechanism, clap and fling, to create lift using an unsteady circulation pattern with transient vortices near the wings.

Thrips are a functionally diverse group, with nearly half of the known species being fungivorous. A small proportion of species of thrips are serious pests of commercially important crops. Some of these serve as vectors for over 20 viruses that cause plant disease, especially the Tospoviruses. Many flower-dwelling species bring benefits as pollinators, with some predatory thrips feeding on small insects or mites. In the right conditions, such as in greenhouses, invasive species can exponentially increase in population size and form large swarms because of a lack of natural predators coupled with their ability to reproduce asexually, making them destructive to crops. Due to their cryptic nature, thrips may aggregate in household objects such as furniture, bedding and computer monitors – in the latter case by forcing their way in between the LCD and its glass covering.

Their identification to species by standard morphological characteristics is often challenging. (Full article...)

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... that the Australian moth Abantiades latipennis is well-adapted to surviving clearfelling and thrives in regrowth forests?
... that out of the described snakefly specimens from the Florissant Formation, the Raphidia funerata holotype is the most complete?
... that Ctenomorphodes chronus is an Australian stick insect that resembles an eucalyptus twig, and the female lays 3-mm elliptical eggs that resemble plant seeds?
... that when a Japanese honeybee hive is invaded by a giant hornet scout, the honeybees "bake" the hornet in a ball of about 500 bees?
... that Acanthoplus discoidalis is able to squirt haemolymph up to 30 centimetres (11.8 in) when attacked by predators?

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The following are images from various insect-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
Image 2Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 3The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Image 4Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Image 5Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Image 6Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 7Head of Orthoptera, Acrididae. a:antenna; b:ocelli; c:vertex; d:compound eye; e:occiput; f:gena; g:pleurostoma; h:mandible; i:labial palp; j:maxillary palps; k:maxilla; l:labrum; m:clypeus; n:frons (from Insect morphology)
Image 8Diagram of a typical insect leg (from Insect morphology)
Image 9Cross-section of wing vein (from Insect morphology)
Image 10Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 11Generalized arthropod biramous limb. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Image 12
Insect morphology
Legend of body parts
Tagmata: A – Head, B – Thorax, C – Abdomen.
1. antenna
2. ocelli (lower)
3. ocelli (upper)
4. compound eye
5. brain (cerebral ganglia)
6. prothorax
7. dorsal blood vessel
8. tracheal tubes (trunk with spiracle)
9. mesothorax
10. metathorax
11. forewing
12. hindwing
13. mid-gut (stomach)
14. dorsal tube (heart)
15. ovary
16. hind-gut (intestine, rectum & anus)
17. anus
18. oviduct
19. nerve cord (abdominal ganglia)
20. Malpighian tubes
21. tarsal pads
22. claws
23. tarsus
24. tibia
25. femur
26. trochanter
27. fore-gut (crop, gizzard)
28. thoracic ganglion
29. coxa
30. salivary gland
31. subesophageal ganglion
32. mouthparts
(from Insect morphology)
Image 13Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 14Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 15Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
Image 16Mandibles of Rhyniognatha hirsti, it may be an oldest insect, but also possible to be a myriapod. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 17Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Image 18Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Image 19Hoverfly (Philhelius pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Image 20The female genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 21Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 22Reconstruction Strudiella devonica as a possible hexapod (from Evolution of insects)
Image 23Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Image 24Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
Image 25A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 26A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Image 27Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Image 28Evolution has produced astonishing variety of appendages in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 29The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)
Image 30The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the center (A), to the lapping type (B) of a bee, the siphoning type (C) of a butterfly and the sucking type (D) of a female mosquito.
Legend: a – antennae
c – compound eye
lb – labium
lr – labrum
md – mandibles
mx – maxillae (from Insect morphology)
Image 31Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Image 32Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)

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Credit: Fir0002

Simosyrphus grandicornis is an Australasian species of hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae), and is one of the two most common hoverflies in Australia, alongside Melangyna viridiceps. Pictured above is a pair of S. grandicornis mating in flight.

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