30 Insect Orders Entomology Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key morphological characteristics, metamorphosis types, and unique life-history traits of all 30 insect orders and related hexapod groups in the entomology study guide.

Collembola

Tiny, soft-bodied, wingless hexapods with entognathous chewing mouthparts, usually 4-segmented antennae, and a forked abdominal furcula used to catapult away from danger; modern taxonomy places them outside Class Insecta.

Protura

Minute, pale, eyeless soil hexapods with a cone-shaped head and piercing-sucking entognathous mouthparts that lack antennae, using their forward-held forelegs as sensory appendages, and developing via anamorphosis.

Diplura

Small, wingless, pale soil-dwelling hexapods without eyes, characterized by long many-segmented antennae, entognathous chewing mouthparts, no metamorphosis, and paired terminal cerci that form pincers or long threadlike tails.

Archaeognatha

Small, wingless, hump-backed insects covered with scales, featuring large compound eyes plus ocelli, chewing mouthparts, three tail filaments, and the ability to jump using abdominal muscles and a flexible body.

Zygentoma

Wingless, flattened, carrot-shaped insects covered in scales with chewing mouthparts, three tail-like filaments, no metamorphosis, and the unique ability to continue molting and growing after reaching sexual maturity.

Ephemeroptera

Soft-bodied insects with aquatic nymphs and incomplete metamorphosis featuring a unique winged subimago stage; adults possess large triangular forewings, short bristle-like antennae, and nonfunctional mouthparts.

Odonata

Predatory insects with huge compound eyes, short bristle-like antennae, and two pairs of membranous net-veined wings; their aquatic nymphs capture prey using a specialized extendable labium ('mask').

Zoraptera

Tiny, pale, termite-like insects living in small groups in rotting wood; winged dispersal morphs possess compound eyes and two pairs of wings that may later be shed, while wingless forms have reduced or absent eyes.

Dermaptera

Elongate insects with incomplete metamorphosis, chewing mouthparts, and distinctive forceps-like cerci at the tip of the abdomen used for defense, courtship, and handling food; forewings are short leathery tegmina.

Plecoptera

Soft-bodied aquatic insects with two pairs of membranous wings folded flat over the abdomen; their aquatic nymphs possess gills and serve as critical biological indicators of clean, cool, well-oxygenated water.

Orthoptera

Robust insects with chewing mouthparts and enlarged hind legs modified for jumping; forewings are often leathery tegmina, hindwings are fan-folded, and many species communicate via stridulation.

Notoptera

A teaching grouping of elongate, wingless, soft-bodied insects with chewing mouthparts and reduced eyes that survive in cold/cool habitats like snowfields, rock crevices, and caves (encompassing ice crawlers and gladiators).

Embioptera

Small, soft-bodied insects living in silken galleries under bark, rocks, and litter, uniquely producing silk from glands located within swollen first tarsal segments on their forelegs.

Phasmatodea

Elongated, camouflaged herbivorous insects resembling twigs or leaves that feature long slender walking legs, chewing mouthparts, and the capacity in some species to reproduce through parthenogenesis.

Mantodea

Elongate predatory insects characterized by a mobile triangular head capable of rotation, stereoscopic vision, and raptorial forelegs modified for grasping prey.

Blattodea

An order comprising flattened cockroaches and soft-bodied social termites; termites are classified within this order rather than as a separate order.

Psocodea

Tiny, soft-bodied insects with incomplete metamorphosis and zero or two pairs of membranous wings; includes free-living booklice and barklice as well as the lineage containing parasitic lice.

Hemiptera

An order of insects possessing piercing-sucking mouthparts modified into a beak-like rostrum; true bugs typically have hemelytra with hardened basal portions and membranous tips.

Thysanoptera

Minute, slender insects with asymmetrical rasping-sucking mouthparts, eversible adhesive pretarsal bladders, and narrow wings fringed with long hairs (or no wings), developing through quiescent pupal-like stages.

Hymenoptera

Diverse insects with complete metamorphosis, chewing or chewing-lapping mouthparts, and two pairs of membranous wings linked by hamuli; many exhibit eusocial behavior with specialized castes.

Raphidioptera

Predatory insects with complete metamorphosis, chewing mouthparts, two pairs of membranous net-veined wings, and an elongated, necklike prothorax.

Megaloptera

Large aquatic-associated insects with heavily veined wings and complete metamorphosis; larvae are aquatic predators or scavengers, with dobsonfly larvae possessing lateral abdominal filaments and gill tufts.

Neuroptera

Soft-bodied insects with two similarly shaped, net-veined wing pairs and complete metamorphosis; larvae are predators often possessing sickle-shaped jaws, with antlion larvae digging conical pits in sand.

Strepsiptera

Highly specialized endoparasites with complete metamorphosis and extreme sexual dimorphism; adult males have bulging eyes and large hindwings with club-like forewings, while females are wingless and stay inside the host.

Coleoptera

The largest insect order, characterized by complete metamorphosis, chewing mouthparts, and hardened, protective forewings called elytra that cover the membranous hindwings and abdomen.

Trichoptera

Moth-like insects with complete metamorphosis and hairy membranous wings held rooflike over the body; aquatic larvae frequently build protective cases from sand, stones, leaves, or sticks.

Lepidoptera

Insects with complete metamorphosis whose adults typically feature four scale-covered wings and a coiled siphoning proboscis, while immature caterpillars have chewing mandibles and abdominal prolegs.

Siphonaptera

Wingless, laterally compressed ectoparasites of birds and mammals with piercing-sucking mouthparts and enlarged hind legs adapted for jumping.

Mecoptera

Slender insects with complete metamorphosis, elongated beaklike chewing mouthparts, and two similar membranous wing pairs; males in certain families have an enlarged, scorpion-like genital tip.

Diptera

Diverse insects with complete metamorphosis possessing only one functional pair of flight wings, with the hindwings modified into sensory balancing organs called halteres.