Portal:Insects

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Panorpa communis, male

Mecoptera (from the Greek: mecos = "long", ptera = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Holometabola with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals raised over the body that look similar to the stingers of scorpions, and long beaklike rostra. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are another prominent family and are known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered to them by the males. A smaller group is the snow scorpionflies, family Boreidae, adults of which are sometimes seen walking on snowfields. In contrast, the majority of species in the order inhabit moist environments in tropical locations.

The Mecoptera are closely related to the Siphonaptera (fleas), and a little more distantly to the Diptera (true flies). They are somewhat fly-like in appearance, being small to medium-sized insects with long slender bodies and narrow membranous wings. Most breed in moist environments such as leaf litter or moss, and the eggs may not hatch until the wet season arrives. The larvae are caterpillar-like and mostly feed on vegetable matter, and the non-feeding pupae may pass through a diapause until weather conditions are favorable. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that Parachartergus apicalis will attack Camponotus atriceps if they try to tend their treehoppers?
... that the Philippine hornet Vespa luctuosa has the most lethal venom by weight of any known wasp species?
... that amber fossils of ants carrying the extinct mealybug genus Electromyrmococcus represent the oldest record of symbiosis between mealybugs and Acropyga ants?
... that the extinct Protosialis casca is one of only two known alderflies from the West Indies?
... that the bone skipper came back from the dead after 160 years to feed on rotting bones?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected image - show another

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), is a mosquito that can spread the dengue fever, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases. It can be recognized by white markings on legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the thorax.

More selected pictures • Read more

Topics

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

By classification

WikiProjects

Main WikiProject:

WikiProject Insects

Related projects:

Daughter projects:

WikiProject Lepidoptera

Tasks

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : There are thousands of family-level through species-level articles that have yet to be started.
Categorization : Figure out what categories to add to each article so that others can find them more easily. Also use the {{WikiProject Insects}} template to classify the status of any articles related to insect taxa.
Infobox : Add or update a {{Taxobox}}: Add more information like species authors or create a completely new taxobox for an entomology article that needs one.
Photo : Many entomology–related articles would be substantially better with the addition of one or more photographs. Feel free to take your own and upload them, or find ones with the appropriate licenses and upload them here.