Insects

Insects

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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.

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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

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Discussion

kasiaaus wrote:
3 min ago
I considered Mesopherna palustris and Philobota argotoxa but I'm not convinced that it is either one of those although there are moth identified as Philobota argotoxa which are the same, I think, but I suspect the ID may not be correct. This conclusion is just based on other photos I found on ALA which seem to have distinguishing features that this moth does not have.
Unidentified Curved-horn moth (all Gelechioidea except Oecophoridae)
ibaird wrote:
1 hr ago
I agree it's most likely Paraponyx (genus), but I think the closest match I've found is P. crisonalis, a cosmpopolitan species which feeds on pond weed (eg. Hydrilla (genus)).
Parapoynx (genus)
clarehoneydove wrote:
1 hr ago
Maybe torbia sp. it looks like an ant as a nymph...
Unidentified Grasshopper, Cricket or Katydid (Orthoptera)
clarehoneydove wrote:
1 hr ago
Looks like a mantis fly
Mantispidae (family)
clarehoneydove wrote:
1 hr ago
Oh I need to improve on identifying gender! I went by the white face and white tipped antennae but now that Ive read your notes then being male rules them out! Thanks so much for the notes @RogerF onwards and upwards
Macrotona sp. (genus)

Species Richness Score (SRS)

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