Insect Identification Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards for identifying insect orders and families based on morphology and physical characteristics.

Hymenoptera

An insect order including bees, wasps, and ants, characterized by a pinched waist called a petiole, usually $2$ pairs of translucent wings, and sometimes a stinger.

Petiole

The pinched "waist" located between the thorax and abdomen in insects of the order Hymenoptera.

Apidae

A family of medium to large-sized bees, such as Honey and Carpenter bees, featuring heart or oval shaped heads, robust bodies, and dense tiny hairs used to trap pollen.

Halictidae

Sweat, Furrow, and Short-faced bees often having a metallic color, short tongues, and distinguished by curved basal wing veins and $1$ subantennal structure.

Megachilidae

Leaf Cutting and Mason bees with stout bodies and $2$ submarginal cells in the front wings; they carry pollen in a scopa (mat of long hairs) on the ventral side of the abdomen.

Scopa

A distinctive mat of long hairs located on the ventral side of the abdomen in Megachilidae bees, used for carrying pollen.

Vespidae

Paper, Plotter, and Pollen wasps characterized by a U-shaped posterior margin of the pronotum and forewings that fold in half longitudinally.

Braconidae

A family of small, slender parasitoid wasps with thread-like antennae consisting of $16$ or more segments and two-segmented hind leg trochanters.

Trichogrammatidae

Extremely small egg parasites characterized by paddle-shaped wings.

Bombyliidae

Bee Flies; fuzzy Diptera that mimic bees, possessing long legs, $2$ wings, and short antennae.

Lepidoptera

The order of butterflies and moths, characterized by wings covered in scales and coiled mouthparts called a proboscis.

Proboscis

The coiled, straw-like mouthparts used by insects in the order Lepidoptera.

Hesperiidae

Skippers; a family of Lepidoptera with backwards antennae clubs and stocky bodies that exhibit a sporadic, jumping flight pattern.

Pieridae

Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs; recognized by a radial vein on the forewing with $3$, $4$, or rarely $5$ branches.

Noctuidae

Loopers, Owlet, and cutworm moths with filiform antennae, mottled brown front wings, and a fuzzy body; wings are typically tented over the body at rest.

Tortricidae

Moths with wings that lay flat over the back to resemble an arrowhead at rest, often appearing long and thin when folded.

Sesiidae

Clearwing moths characterized by partially transparent wings lacking scales and often having an elongated abdomen with an anal tuft.

Diptera

The order of flies, mosquitoes, and gnats, identified by having only $1$ pair of flight wings and a pair of balance organs called halteres.

Halteres

Small knob-like structures located behind the wings of Diptera used for balance during flight.

Syrphidae

Hover Flies; often brightly colored with spots or bands, featuring glossy abdomens and mouthparts that are typically not long and thin.

Muscidae

House Flies; gray or black in color with a striped thorax, spongy mouthparts, and no hairs on the posterior end of the abdomen.

Tachinidae

Parasitic Flies that are typically more bristly and robust than Muscidae, characterized by having a "hairy butt."

Coleoptera

The order of beetles, characterized by hard front wings (elytra) without veins and chewing mouthparts.

Curculionidae

Weevils; distinguished by a snout-like proboscis with chewing mouthparts at the tip and elbowed antennae arising from the middle of the proboscis.

Chrysomelidae

Leaf beetles with oval bodies and a tarsi formula appearing as $4-4-4$, with the $3$rd tarsal segment being bifid.

Coccinellidae

Lady beetles; oval and convex insects with tarsi that appear $3-3-3$ but are actually $4-4-4$, often colored red or orange with black spots.

Carabidae

Ground Beetles and Tiger Beetles characterized by large and offset hind trochanters and filiform antennae.

Orthoptera

The order of crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers, featuring leathery front wings, enlarged hind femurs for jumping, and chewing mouthparts.

Acrididae

Short-horned grasshoppers with antennae shorter than the body, $3$-segmented tarsi with an arolium (pad) between the claws, and a tympanum on the first abdominal segment.

Tettigoniidae

Katydids or bush crickets with thread-like antennae as long or longer than the body, $4$-segmented tarsi, and a tympanum on the front tibia.

Gryllidae

True crickets; characterized by a flattened, cylindrical body, long thread-like antennae, and enlarged hind legs.

Hemiptera

True bugs with piercing-sucking mouthparts, a triangular scutellum behind the head, and wings that overlap to form an "X" or "V" shape.

Scutellum

A triangular plate located behind the head on the dorsal side of insects in the order Hemiptera.

Coreidae

Leaf-footed bugs; distinguished by leaf-like flattened sections on the hind tibia and numerous parallel veins in the forewing membrane.

Aphididae

Aphids; small, soft-bodied insects with visible antennae and cornicles usually present on the abdomen.

Aleyrodidae

Whiteflies; less than $3\,mm$ in length with bodies and wings covered in dusty white wax, holding wings roof-like over the body.

Anthocoridae

Small, flat, oval-to-elongate bugs with distinctive dark coloring and pale or white wing patches.

Neuroptera

The order of lacewings, characterized by net-like veins on membranous wings, chewing mouthparts, and the practice of laying eggs on stalks.

Chrysopidae

Green lacewings featuring green bodies and wings with gold or bronze compound eyes.

Hemerobiidae

Brown lacewings with brown bodies and wings, and forked crossveins along the leading edge of the front wings.

Thysanoptera

Thrips; extremely tiny insects with tube-shaped bodies and fringed wings.

Tetranychidae

Spider mites; tiny arachnids with $2$ body regions and $8$ legs that produce fine webbing and lack antennae.