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.

Announcements

There are currently no announcements.

Discussion

RogerF wrote:
47 min ago
Male

Praxibulus sp. (genus)
RogerF wrote:
48 min ago
Female

Praxibulus sp. (genus)
pmillsApio87 wrote:
2 hrs ago
Unsure whether this is a felt scale or mealybug; they can look similar during this stage of life.

Pseudococcidae sp. (family)
pmillsApio87 wrote:
2 hrs ago
@Hejor1 do you know the species of *Eucalyptus* you found the gall on? This is useful to include for when the group is revised because some species might be specific to different hosts.

Apiomorpha sp. (genus)
pmillsApio87 wrote:
2 hrs ago
Species has been transferred to a different genus: *Acanthococcus* (https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/0a1a6582-d994-43c5-9b5d-70ba6c1943f7).

Eriococcus coriaceus
826,636 sightings of 23,510 species from 15,095 members
CCA 3.0 | privacy
NatureMapr is developed by at3am IT Pty Ltd and is proudly Australian made