Insects


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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Discussion

JonLewis wrote:
2 min ago
Yep, got them! There are a large number of Monomorium and Chelaner species that collect grass seeds, bringing the whole seed and it’s associated coverings and awns back to the nest, then dissecting out the bit they want and chucking the rest on the rubbish heap outside the nest. Cheers, Jon

Monomorium / Chelaner (genus group)
KMcCue wrote:
45 min ago
Its a NSW Rural Fire Service free advertisement

Unverified Moth (Lepidoptera)
JonLewis wrote:
3 hrs ago
Hi KMcCue, there were certainly plenty of busy ants yesterday - I think they must read the weather forecast. Most meat ant nests aren’t raised up around the nest entrances like your photo, but you sometimes see them like this. I think it may have more to do with the soil that the particular nest is in than rain preparation. Cheers, Jon

Iridomyrmex purpureus
JohnGiacon wrote:
4 hrs ago
Apologies Wendy.

Unverified Moth (Lepidoptera)
WendyEM wrote:
Yesterday
Due to some glitch the picture(s) has not uploaded. Please try uploading it to the record again.

Unverified Moth (Lepidoptera)
832,418 sightings of 23,601 species from 15,367 members
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