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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11 Jul 2025

Hello everyone. Alison Milton has produced the June quarterly CNM newsletter. It has some interesting information about what the Nature Mappers have been doing and finding. We hope you enjoy the read....


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Discussion

Hejor1 wrote:
1 hr ago
@donhe I think it's just a moult

Anthela (genus)
Hejor1 wrote:
1 hr ago
@donhe there was a lot of bark on the ground and one side looked like it had peeled off bark. Photo added.

Anthelidae (family)
donhe wrote:
4 hrs ago
@Frecko : hope you can rear it to an adult to discover it's species. ?

Endoxyla (genus)
donhe wrote:
4 hrs ago
Alive or dead ?

Anthela (genus)
donhe wrote:
4 hrs ago
Too small for Chelepterix. Maybe another Anthela species. Also Chelepterix attach cocoon smoothly to a tree trunk or some such, not lying around in ground debris.

Anthelidae (family)
830,072 sightings of 22,860 species from 14,367 members
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