Portal:Insects

The insects Portal

A western honey bee on a honeycomb created inside of a wooden beehive

A bull ant showing the powerful mandibles and the relatively large compound eyes that provide excellent vision

Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean 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 one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. (Full article...)

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A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may vary according to the bee species. While bee stinger venom is slightly acidic and causes only mild pain in most people, allergic reactions may occur in people with allergies to venom components. (Full article...)

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Did you know -

... that the seeds of the European sedge Carex pilulifera may be dispersed by the ant Myrmica ruginodis?
... that the oldest known member of the mayfly family Neoephemeridae is the Eocene species Neoephemera antiqua?
... that Sphecius grandis, the Western cicada killer wasp, paralyzes cicadas for its offspring to eat after hatching?
... that the extinct griffenfly genus Bohemiatupus inhabited peat-mires?
... that the extinct hangingfly genera Formosibittacus, Jurahylobittacus, and Mongolbittacus are only known from the Middle Jurassic of China?

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General images -

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

Image 1A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Image 2Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 3The female genitalia on Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 4Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 5Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the Palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
Image 6Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 7Mandibles of Rhyniognatha hirsti, it may be an oldest insect, but also possible to be a myriapod. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 8Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 9Leg of a trilobite, an early arthropod. The internal branch made of endites is at the top; the smaller external branch made of exites is below. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Image 10Diagram of a typical insect leg (from Insect morphology)
Image 11A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 12Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
Image 13Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Image 14Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
Image 15Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Image 16Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Image 17Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Image 18The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Image 19The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the centre (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 20Head 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 21Evolution has produced astonishing variety of appendages in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 22Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 23
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 24Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Image 25Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Image 26Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Image 27Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 28Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Image 29The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)
Image 30Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)

Selected image -

The Meadow Argus, Junonia villida (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), is a butterfly commonly found in Australia. It is also known as Albin's Hampstead Eye in the United Kingdom, where it has occurred only as an accidental import.

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Insects

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WikiProjects

Main WikiProject:

WikiProject Insects

Related projects:

WikiProject Arthropods
WikiProject Spiders
WikiProject Animals
WikiProject Tree of Life
WikiProject Biology

Daughter projects:

WikiProject Lepidoptera

Tasks

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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.

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