Insects


A guide to Australian insect families (from CSIRO) can be found at:
http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/

Daley, A. & Ellingsen, K., 2012. Insects of Tasmania: An online field guide

A useful introduction to Insects, visit:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9362/invertebrate_guide.pdf

A diagram of Insect morphology illustrating terminology with legend of body parts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_morphology#/media/File:Insect_anatomy_diagram.svg

A diagram of an insect illustrating terminology based on a worker ant, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaster_(insect_anatomy)#/media/File:Scheme_ant_worker_anatomy-en.svg

Photographing insects

There are two main ways to photograph insects with a camera: using a macro close-up lens or a zoom lens. If the insect tolerates your getting very close, then you can use the macro lens. For example, some moths will remain quite still when approached, believing they are camouflaged and invisible. However, many insects, especially those that can fly, will move away when you approach. This is especially true for insects like butterflies and dragonflies. So a good zoom lens is very useful for photographing many insects. If you are using a smartphone, then use a macro lens or a macro attachment. E.g. OlloClip for iPhone. If you want to have an insect identified to species then clear photographs are usually needed because minute parts of the anatomy may need to be checked. It is valuable to take several photos from various angles so that these anatomical details can be seen. Many insects are have particular plants that they feed on, and they can be identified more easily when the associated plant is known. So if the insect is resting or feeding on a plant, take note of what the plant is or ensure that a photo shows the plant clearly.

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Discussion

DiBickers wrote:
39 min ago
WOW😳😍❤️

Unverified Geometer moth (Geometridae)
ibaird wrote:
Yesterday
Male?

Chorodna strixaria
donhe wrote:
Yesterday
I have found mature Asura and Hectobrocha larva living communally.
Many Epicoma species larvae have a white 'face' which these do not have, but these could be Ochrogaster lunifer or one of the many species for which no larval photos have been published. Moth larvae are just a big lacuna in Australian ecology.

Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE
DesB wrote:
Yesterday
So weird - what ecological niche is this filling?!
The cute little stripy-legged pink mite gadget visible in three of the pics respectfully requests its own sighting! :)

Ptilocnemus sidnicus
WendyEM wrote:
Yesterday
I have never seen Lithosiini larvae behaving in such a communal manner. Maybe they do? While these are an early instar they are not newly hatched which is when many caterpillars are more communal. It is Thaumetopoeinae incl. Epicoma sp that have this communal behaviour.

Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE
828,535 sightings of 22,760 species from 14,311 members
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