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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The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, or the potato bug. It is a major pest of potato crops. It is about 10 mm (3⁄8 in) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and five bold brown stripes along the length of each of its elytra. Native to the Rocky Mountains, it spread rapidly in potato crops across America and then Europe from 1859 onwards.

The Colorado potato beetle was first observed in 1811 by Thomas Nuttall and was formally described in 1824 by American entomologist Thomas Say. The beetles were collected in the Rocky Mountains, where they were feeding on the buffalo bur, Solanum rostratum. (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 1Hoverfly (Philhelius pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Image 2Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 3Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Image 4The 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 5
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 6Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Image 7The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)
Image 8Head 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 9Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
Image 10Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 11Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Image 12Evolution has produced astonishing variety of appendages in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 13A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Image 14Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 15Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 16Generalized arthropod biramous limb. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Image 17Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Image 18Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
Image 19Diagram of a typical insect leg (from Insect morphology)
Image 20Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Image 21Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 22Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Image 23Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
Image 24A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 25The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Image 26Cross-section of wing vein (from Insect morphology)
Image 27The female genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 28Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Image 29Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 30Reconstruction Strudiella devonica as a possible hexapod (from Evolution of insects)
Image 31Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 32Mandibles of Rhyniognatha hirsti, it may be an oldest insect, but also possible to be a myriapod. (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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WikiProject Insects

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