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

Fruit fly feeding off a banana

Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly (an insect of the order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly", "pomace fly", or "banana fly". In the wild, D. melanogaster are attracted to rotting fruit and fermenting beverages, and are often found in orchards, kitchens and pubs.

Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's 1901 proposal of the use of this species as a model organism, D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. As of 2017, six Nobel Prizes have been awarded to drosophilists for their work using the insect. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know - load new batch

... that Petalura hesperia dragonflies lay their eggs along stream margins because their larvae are semi-aquatic?
... that the beetle Typhaea stercorea has been found in grain storages dating all the way back to the Iron Age?
... that Vespula flaviceps larvae are considered a delicacy in Japan?
... that with a forewing length of only 3.36 millimetres (0.132 in) Microberotha is one of the smallest known beaded lacewings to have been described?
... that, in female bedbugs, the spermalege reduces the wounding costs caused by a male's needle-like penis?

List articles

More list articles

Related portals

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected image - show another

Credit: Luc Viatour

Panorpa communis, the common scorpionfly (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), is a species of scorpionfly native to Western Europe.

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.