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

WendyEM wrote:
1 hr ago
I had just been noticing that the plain Epiphyas caryotis have some marks on the inner margin. A longer one adjacent to the tornus another smaller spot about 1/2 way along. SO maybe totally plain yellow torts like this are Standishana concolorana as these seem to be without marks there. The wings do seem to have a metallic sheen on BOLD (Hobern). see
https://bold-au.hobern.net/specimens.php?taxid=366794
as oposed to
https://bold-au.hobern.net/specimens.php?taxid=366843

Epiphyas caryotis
WendyEM wrote:
2 hrs ago
I suspect this is not a Cup Moth cocoon. It looks too flimsy and they attach to trees. It appears to be in spider web. Spider egg case ??

Limacodidae (family)
DianneClarke wrote:
3 hrs ago
Or Standishana concolorana? Not sure how to differentiate between them

Epiphyas caryotis
JonLewis wrote:
3 hrs ago
Hi Lisa, thanks for the suggestion and the great annotated photos. Linepithema, Iridomyrmex and Papyrius are all in the same subfamily (Dolicoderinae) so have the same general features. Linepithima are much smaller, non-descript ants which look like a very small brown Iridomyrmex. We get them in Canberra occasionally, but the climate seems to be too cold for them to stay around for long. Cheers, Jon

Papyrius sp. (genus)
WendyEM wrote:
3 hrs ago
female. It looked a bit wet!

Phrissogonus laticostata
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