Portal:Insects

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A western honey bee on a honeycomb created inside of a wooden beehive

A bull ant showing the powerful mandibles and the relatively large compound eyes that provide excellent vision

Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean 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 one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. (Full article...)

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The cicadas (/sɪˈkɑːdəz, -ˈkeɪ-/) are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed.

Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drumlike tymbals. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk. Only a rare few species are known to be nocturnal. (Full article...)

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Did you know -

... that the fungus Entomophthora muscae makes flies climb upwards before killing them, so they are better able to release a shower of spores for the next cycle of infection?
... that the bee Anthidium manicatum scrapes fur from leaves to line its nest?
... that the extinct sandfly species Lutzomyia adiketis is host to the Paleoleishmania species P. neotropicum?
... that all species of the fruit fly genus Zaprionus have the same characteristic white stripes over the head and thorax?
... that the wasp Megarhyssa macrurus paralyzes her prey by injecting it with an ovipositor 4 inches (10 cm) long?

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General images -

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

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

Selected image -

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Abantiades latipennis (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) is one of fourteen species in the Australian genus Abantiades. It thrives in regrowth forests that were previously clearfelled; the phytophagous larvae of A. latipennis feed primarily on the root systems of two species of tree, Eucalyptus obliqua (messmate stringybark) and Eucalyptus regnans (mountain ash).

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WikiProjects

Main WikiProject:

WikiProject Insects

Related projects:

WikiProject Arthropods
WikiProject Spiders
WikiProject Animals
WikiProject Tree of Life
WikiProject Biology

Daughter projects:

WikiProject Lepidoptera

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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.
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