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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...)

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Insects are the only group of invertebrates that have evolved wings and flight. Insects first flew in the Carboniferous, some 300 to 350 million years ago, making them the first animals to evolve flight. Wings may have evolved from appendages on the sides of existing limbs, which already had nerves, joints, and muscles used for other purposes. These may initially have been used for sailing on water, or to slow the rate of descent when gliding.

Two insect groups, the dragonflies and the mayflies, have flight muscles attached directly to the wings. In other winged insects, flight muscles attach to the thorax, which make it oscillate in order to induce the wings to beat. Of these insects, some (flies and some beetles) achieve very high wingbeat frequencies through the evolution of an "asynchronous" nervous system, in which the thorax oscillates faster than the rate of nerve impulses. (Full article...)

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... that the cicada Aleeta curvicosta of eastern Australia is known as the floury baker from its appearance of being dusted with white powder?
... that a blister beetle was introduced in Hawaii to trim the wood-boring Sonoran carpenter bee population, but the beetle failed to survive in the islands?
... that the termite Globitermes sulphureus uses autothysis, a form of suicidal altruism, to entangle intruder ants in a sticky substance?
... that male Coastal Petaltails have unique, bright orange anal appendages called 'petaltails' that are believed to be used to attract a mate?
... that some beetles of the genus Zopherus are used as living brooches?

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

Image 1The 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 2Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) of Papua New Guinea (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 3Scanning electron micrograph of a cricket spiracle valve (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 4Variety of male structures in Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 5Fossil gnat in amber, a well-preserved insect fossil. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 6
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 7Larva of Syrphid fly, member of Cyclorrhapha, without epicranium, almost without sclerotisation apart from its jaws. (from Insect morphology)
Image 8Evolution has produced astonishing variety of appendages in insects, such as these antennae. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 9Mazothairos, a Carboniferous member of the now extinct order Palaeodictyoptera. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 10Reconstruction of a Carboniferous insect, the palaeodictyopteran Mazothairos (from Insect flight)
Image 11Closeup of a fire ant, showing fine sensory hairs on antennae (from Insect morphology)
Image 12Generalized arthropod biramous limb. Trueman proposed that an endite and an exite fused to form a wing. (from Insect flight)
Image 13The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have direct flight musculature, as do mayflies. (from Insect flight)
Image 14Mayfly nymph with paired abdominal gills (from Insect flight)
Image 15Diagram of a typical insect leg (from Insect morphology)
Image 16A tau emerald (Hemicordulia tau) dragonfly has flight muscles attached directly to its wings. (from Insect flight)
Image 17Head 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 18Cross-section of wing vein (from Insect morphology)
Image 19Larva of beetle, family Cerambycidae, showing sclerotised epicranium; rest of body hardly sclerotised (from Insect morphology)
Image 20Mandibles of Rhyniognatha hirsti, it may be an oldest insect, but also possible to be a myriapod. (from Evolution of insects)
Image 21Frenulo-retinacular wing coupling in male and female moths (from Insect flight)
Image 22Direct flight: muscles attached to wings. Large insects only (from Insect flight)
Image 23Venation of insect wings, based on the Comstock-Needham system (from Insect morphology)
Image 24The abdominal terminus of male scorpionflies is enlarged into a "genital bulb", as seen in Panorpa communis (from Insect morphology)
Image 25Male genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 26Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum) has indirect flight musculature. (from Insect flight)
Image 27Bumblebee defecating. Note the contraction of the anus, which provides internal pressure. (from Insect morphology)
Image 28Indian moon moth (Actias selene) with some of the spiracles identified (from Respiratory system of insects)
Image 29Stylized diagram of insect digestive tract showing malpighian tubule, from an insect of the order Orthoptera. (from Insect morphology)
Image 30The female genitalia of Lepidoptera (from Insect reproductive system)
Image 31A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects (from Insect biodiversity)
Image 32Reconstruction Strudiella devonica as a possible hexapod (from Evolution of insects)

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Credit: Luc Viatour

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

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WikiProject Insects

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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.
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