Portal:Insects

The Insects Portal

Insects (from Latin insectum) are 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 a pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), known in the United States as the greater rice weevil, is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae. It can be found in numerous tropical areas around the world, and in the United States, and is a major pest of maize. This species attacks both standing crops and stored cereal products, including wheat, rice, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas, and cottonseed. The maize weevil also infests other types of stored, processed cereal products such as pasta, cassava, and various coarse, milled grains. It has even been known to attack fruit while in storage, such as apples. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that the animals described in Carl Linnaeus' Centuria Insectorum include the crab Hepatus epheliticus, the rhinoceros beetle Dynastes tityus, the scale insect Conchaspis capensis and the butterfly Catopsilia scylla?
... that male Monobia quadridens wasps will try to sting like a female, but have neither stinger nor venom?
... that in 1962, biophysicist Jerome Wolken proposed sending cockroaches into space as part of an effort to detect signs of extraterrestrial life?
... that Frankliniella tritici, known as Eastern flower thrips, is an insect that damages crops in the United States of America, including strawberries, grapes, beans and asparagus?
... that the extinct ant-like stone beetle Kachinus, found in Cretaceous amber, is similar in appearance to the modern genus Paraneseuthia?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Head 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 2The female genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 3A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 4Reconstruction Strudiella devonica as a possible hexapod (from Evolution of insects)
Image 5Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
Image 6Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 7Mandibles of Rhyniognatha hirsti, it may be an oldest insect, but also possible to be a myriapod. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 8The development of insect mouthparts from the primitive chewing mouthparts of a grasshopper in the center (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 9Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
Image 10Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
Image 11A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Image 12Generalized arthropod biramous limb. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Image 13Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 14Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Image 15Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 16Evolution has produced astonishing variety of appendages in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 17Diagram of a typical insect leg (from Insect morphology)
Image 18Cross-section of wing vein (from Insect morphology)
Image 19Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Image 20Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Image 21Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 22Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 23Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Image 24Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Image 25Hoverfly (Philhelius pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Image 26The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Image 27Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 28
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 29Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Image 30Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Image 31Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 32The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)

Selected image - show another

Credit: Richard Bartz

Mayflies (subimago of Rhithrogena germanica pictured) comprise around 2,500 species of insects which belong to the Order Ephemeroptera. They are aquatic insects whose immature stage usually lasts one year in fresh water, while the adults are short-lived, surviving from a few minutes to a few days.

More selected pictures • Read more

Topics

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

By classification

WikiProjects

Main WikiProject:

WikiProject Insects

Related projects:

Daughter projects:

WikiProject Lepidoptera

Tasks

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

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.