Portal:Insects

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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 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...)

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Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus)
Soldiers (red-coloured heads)
Workers (pale-coloured heads)

Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial insects which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied and often unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants, to which they are only distantly related. About 2,972 extant species are currently described, 2,105 of which are members of the family Termitidae.

Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. (Full article...)

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... that adult males of the parasitic wasp, Encarsia perplexa, can only develop when a virgin female lays eggs in a fully developed larva of her own species?
... that anywhere from 60 million to 1 billion monarch butterflies spend the winter at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico?
... that the bigheaded ant, Pheidole megacephala, protects the source of its food supply, green scale insects, by removing predatory larvae that might eat them?
... that three partial cross veins in the wings make D. appendiculata a unique fruit fly among the more than 1500 species of Drosophila?
... that due to its long life cycle, the adult Great Arctic is only seen every other year?

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

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

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Credit: Chrumps

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

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WikiProject Insects

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