Insects

Add a sighting Subscribe View significant View unverified

A guide to Australian insect families (from CSIRO) can be found at:
http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/

Daley, A. & Ellingsen, K., 2012. Insects of Tasmania: An online field guide

A useful introduction to Insects, visit:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9362/invertebrate_guide.pdf

A diagram of Insect morphology illustrating terminology with legend of body parts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_morphology#/media/File:Insect_anatomy_diagram.svg

A diagram of an insect illustrating terminology based on a worker ant, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaster_(insect_anatomy)#/media/File:Scheme_ant_worker_anatomy-en.svg

Photographing insects

There are two main ways to photograph insects with a camera: using a macro close-up lens or a zoom lens. If the insect tolerates your getting very close, then you can use the macro lens. For example, some moths will remain quite still when approached, believing they are camouflaged and invisible. However, many insects, especially those that can fly, will move away when you approach. This is especially true for insects like butterflies and dragonflies. So a good zoom lens is very useful for photographing many insects. If you are using a smartphone, then use a macro lens or a macro attachment. E.g. OlloClip for iPhone. If you want to have an insect identified to species then clear photographs are usually needed because minute parts of the anatomy may need to be checked. It is valuable to take several photos from various angles so that these anatomical details can be seen. Many insects are have particular plants that they feed on, and they can be identified more easily when the associated plant is known. So if the insect is resting or feeding on a plant, take note of what the plant is or ensure that a photo shows the plant clearly.

Insects

Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Bees (Hymenoptera, Apiformes)

Beetles (Coleoptera)

Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera)

Cicadas (Hemiptera, Cicadoidea)

Cockroaches (Blattodea, several families)

Dragonflies & Damselflies (Odonata)

Grasshoppers, Crickets & Katydids (Orthoptera)

Leafhoppers & planthoppers (Hemiptera, several families)

Moths (Lepidoptera)

Praying mantises (Mantodea)

Primitive insects

Psyllids, lerps, aphids & whiteflies (Hemiptera, several families)

Sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta)

Scale insects & mealybugs (Hemiptera, Coccoidea)

Stick insects (Phasmatodea)

True bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera)

True flies (Diptera)

Wasps (Hymenoptera, Apocrita)

Other insects

Lacewings (Neuroptera)

Unidentified Insect Galls

Featured sightings

Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) sp. (genus) (Carpenter Bee) at Dampier Peninsula, WA - 18 Oct 2022 by AaronClausen

Trisciloa (Genus) (Scoliid Flower Wasp) at Dampier Peninsula, WA - 18 Oct 2022 by AaronClausen

Moderators

MichaelMulvaney

DiBickers

become a moderator

Announcements

Platform update

5 May 2025

Hello NatureMaprsAs we move into the cooler months and sighting counts begin to wind down our team has been working tirelessly to ensure our platform’s usability and performance. All merch has been po...

Improvements to data import tool (coming soon)

NatureMapr welcomes Edgar McNamara

Platform wide attribute changes

New Feature: Moderator Quick Responses!

Discussion

Hejor1 wrote:

43 min ago

@donhe and @ibaird the wings were uneven and there is a distinct line where it changes colour. It's a bit hard to tell because of the sunlight and shadow, but I think palps are one colour not barred.

Endrosis sarcitrella

ibaird wrote:

47 min ago

Again, the distinctive white and dark pattern near the tip of the antennae can apprently help identification:-
https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/e39b3476-4f1a-4727-84dc-e4765cc581bc

Unverified Curved-horn moth (all Gelechioidea except Oecophoridae)

ibaird wrote:

56 min ago

This moth has distinctive antennae white and darks sections, see last photo.

Symbolistis orophota

ibaird wrote:

1 hr ago

Lacks the dot pattern of P. opercilella

Unverified Curved-horn moth (all Gelechioidea except Oecophoridae)

Snows wrote:

2 hrs ago

Thanks @RogerF