Insects


A guide to Australian insect families (from CSIRO) can be found at:
http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/

Daley, A. & Ellingsen, K., 2012. Insects of Tasmania: An online field guide

A useful introduction to Insects, visit:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9362/invertebrate_guide.pdf

A diagram of Insect morphology illustrating terminology with legend of body parts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_morphology#/media/File:Insect_anatomy_diagram.svg

A diagram of an insect illustrating terminology based on a worker ant, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaster_(insect_anatomy)#/media/File:Scheme_ant_worker_anatomy-en.svg

Photographing insects

There are two main ways to photograph insects with a camera: using a macro close-up lens or a zoom lens. If the insect tolerates your getting very close, then you can use the macro lens. For example, some moths will remain quite still when approached, believing they are camouflaged and invisible. However, many insects, especially those that can fly, will move away when you approach. This is especially true for insects like butterflies and dragonflies. So a good zoom lens is very useful for photographing many insects. If you are using a smartphone, then use a macro lens or a macro attachment. E.g. OlloClip for iPhone. If you want to have an insect identified to species then clear photographs are usually needed because minute parts of the anatomy may need to be checked. It is valuable to take several photos from various angles so that these anatomical details can be seen. Many insects are have particular plants that they feed on, and they can be identified more easily when the associated plant is known. So if the insect is resting or feeding on a plant, take note of what the plant is or ensure that a photo shows the plant clearly.

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Discussion

7 min ago
Thanks Clare

Cermatulus nasalis
8 min ago
not Mictis -m but unsure what nymph it is of

Mictis profana
DiBickers wrote:
12 min ago
This looks like Evania Genus, possibly Evania appendigaster. I’m not sure how to setup a category for this though as I’m new to NatureMapr.

Acanthinevania sp. (genus)
DiBickers wrote:
21 min ago
By the looks this could be Polistes schach, but there isn’t a category option for me to select that as a Suggestion (& I’m new to NatureMapr so not sure how do that).

Polistes sp. (genus)
37 min ago
May be Genus Anisops

Notonectidae (family)
825,594 sightings of 21,569 species from 13,397 contributors
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