Portal:Insects

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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

Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescoping generations—without the involvement of males. Maturing rapidly, females breed profusely so that the number of these insects multiplies quickly. Winged females may develop later in the season, allowing the insects to colonize new plants. In temperate regions, a phase of sexual reproduction occurs in the autumn, with the insects often overwintering as eggs.

The life cycle of some species involves an alternation between two species of host plants, for example between an annual crop and a woody plant. Some species feed on only one type of plant, while others are generalists, colonizing many plant groups. About 5,000 species of aphid have been described, all included in the family Aphididae. Around 400 of these are found on food and fiber crops, and many are serious pests of agriculture and forestry, as well as an annoyance for gardeners. So-called dairying ants have a mutualistic relationship with aphids, tending them for their honeydew and protecting them from predators. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that molecular phylogenetics suggests that Pthirus gorillae jumped from gorillas to early humans about 3.3 million years ago and speciated into the present day pubic louse?
... that Austroplatypus incompertus forms colonies in the heartwood of some Eucalyptus trees and was the first beetle recognized as eusocial?
... that Mimoides phaon was the first swallowtail butterfly of the genus Mimoides to stray into the United States?
... that the "orchid dupe wasp", Lissopimpla excelsa, ejaculates visible amounts of semen as it tries to copulate with flowers of the leafless-, large- and tartan- tongue orchids, which it mistakes for a female wasp?
... that the oriental mole cricket, Gryllotalpa orientalis, can not only dig a burrow a metre deep but can also swim?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

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