Portal:Insects
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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Thopha saccata, the double drummer, is the largest Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia. Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces.
Broad-headed compared with other cicadas, the double drummer is mostly brown with a black pattern across the back of its thorax, and has red-brown and black underparts. The sexes are similar in appearance, though the female lacks the male's tymbals and sac-like covers. Found in sclerophyll forest in Queensland and New South Wales, adult double drummers generally perch high in the branches of large eucalypts. They emerge from the ground where they have spent several years as nymphs from November until March, and live for another four to five weeks. They appear in great numbers in some years, yet are absent in others. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that the cicada Aleeta curvicosta of eastern Australia is known as the floury baker from its appearance of being dusted with white powder?
- ... that a blister beetle was introduced in Hawaii to trim the wood-boring Sonoran carpenter bee population, but the beetle failed to survive in the islands?
- ... that the termite Globitermes sulphureus uses autothysis, a form of suicidal altruism, to entangle intruder ants in a sticky substance?
- ... that male Coastal Petaltails have unique, bright orange anal appendages called 'petaltails' that are believed to be used to attract a mate?
- ... that some beetles of the genus Zopherus are used as living brooches?
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Insects are the only group of invertebrates known to have evolved flight. Insects possess some remarkable flight characteristics and abilities, still far superior to attempts by humans to replicate their capabilities.
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