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| July 2009 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Types of Insects |
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| Ants, Bees and Wasps
Hymenoptera is the scientific name for these insects that have two pairs of membranous wings. |
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| Flies
Diptera is the order meaning two wings, or a single pair of fore wings with the hind pair reduced to knob-like balance organs. |
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| Lacewings and Antlions
Neuroptera, or nerve wings, refers to the elaborate network of supporting veins. |
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| True Bugs
Hemiptera means half wings and refers to the fact that the front wings of these insects are divided between a thickened base and a membranous tip. |
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| Mantids
Mantodea, meaning soothsayer, refers to the modified front legs, which are often held in a position suggesting prayer, |
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| Walking Sticks
Phasmida is the scientific name for stick insects, which are extremely elongated and twig-like in appearance, sometimes with leaf-like structures completing the camouflage. |
| Mayflies
Ephemeroptera means short-lived wings, referring to the short lives of adults after a year or more as an aquatic nymph. |
| Butterflies and Moths
Lepidoptera is scale wings, referring to the wings of butterflies and moths, which are often covered with tiny, colorful scales. |
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| Beetles
Coleoptera means sheath wings. The front pair of beetles' wings are modified to form casings to protect their hind wings and body. |
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| Cicada, Hoppers and Aphids
Homoptera means uniform wings and is the scientific name for insects whose front wings have a uniform textured appearance in contrast with their hemiptera relatives, the true bugs. |
| Cockroaches
Blattaria run swiftly, though many have wings. A few exploit human food supplies. |
| Grasshoppers and Crickets
Orthoptera have straight wings, a pair of elongated and thickened front wings and membranous hind wings. |
| Dragonflies and Damselflies
Odonata means tooth. The name comes from the fact that the aquatic nymph often has an expandable jaw which can catch prey some distance from the rest of the head. |
| Insects are the most diverse and numerous animals on the planet. With some 1.3 million species having been described, they represent more than two-thirds of all known organisms on earth. Insects have hard exoskeletons, three-part bodies, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and two antennae.
Though often seen as nuisances and worse, insects are a basic part of the food chain and contribute to the beauty and diversity of life on earth. There are 13 major types of insects: |