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

The tansy beetle (Chrysolina graminis) is a species of leaf beetle. The common name derives from its main foodplant, Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), but it can also use other wetland plants such as Gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus) and Water Mint (Mentha aquatica). It measures 7.7–10.5 mm in length and has a characteristic bright metallic green colouration, with pitted elytra and a coppery tinge. In addition to the nominotypical subspecies, which repeats the specific name, C. graminis graminis, there are five further distinct subspecies of Tansy beetle, which, collectively, have a Palearctic distribution, although in the majority of countries where it is found the species is declining. In the United Kingdom it is designated as 'Nationally Rare'. The stronghold population here is located along the banks of the river Ouse in York, North Yorkshire. Other, small, fenland populations exist at Woodwalton Fen and at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) reserve. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that the male tropical rockmaster can be distinguished from the male sapphire rockmaster by the size of the blue spots on the underside of its abdomen?
... that bellflower resin bees were among the first insects noted to use synthetic materials in manufacturing nests?
... that the spermatophore of Zorotypus impolitus, one of the smallest in the insect world, contains a single giant sperm cell that is almost as long as the insect itself?
... that the Australian Jumper Ant Myrmecia nigrocincta is an accomplished jumper with leaps ranging from 3 to 4 inches (76 to 102 mm)?
... that the parasitoid wasp Kollasmosoma sentum can deposit its egg within the abdomen of an ant in as little as 0.052 seconds?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected image - show another

Credit: Luc Viatour

Panorpa communis, the common scorpionfly (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), is a species of scorpionfly native to Western Europe.

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.