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

Ypresiomyrma rebekkae fossils

Ypresiomyrma is an extinct genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmeciinae that was described in 2006. There are four species described; one species is from the Isle of Fur in Denmark, two are from the McAbee Fossil Beds in British Columbia, Canada, and the fourth from the Bol’shaya Svetlovodnaya fossil site in Russia. The queens of this genus are large, the mandibles are elongated and the eyes are well developed; a stinger is also present. The behaviour of these ants would have been similar to that of extant Myrmeciinae ants, such as solitary foraging for arthropod prey and never leaving pheromone trails. The alates were poor flyers due to their size, and birds and animals most likely preyed on these ants. Ypresiomyrma is not assigned to any tribe, and is instead generally regarded as incertae sedis within Myrmeciinae. However, some authors believe Ypresiomyrma should be assigned as incertae sedis within Formicidae. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that of the three described species in the Eocene bulldog ant genus Avitomyrmex, one species is known only from worker caste individuals?
... that one species of the extinct Eocene bulldog ant Ypresiomyrma reached up to 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in length?
... that the type specimen of the extinct bulldog ant Macabeemyrma ovata is the fossilized remains of an adult queen preserved in shale?
... that the type specimen of the extinct tortoise beetle Denaeaspis is only 6.04 millimetres (0.238 in) long?
... that the extinct snakefly Agulla protomaculata is the only snakefly described from the Green River Formation?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected image - show another

Credit: Chrumps

The rose chafer Cetonia aurata (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is a beetle, 20 mm (¾ in) long, that has metallic green coloration.

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.