Insects Encyclopedia

Housefly — The housefly (also house fly or house-fly), Musca domestica, is the most common fly occurring in homes, the most familiar of all flies and indeed one of the most widely distributed animals; it is a pest that can carry and transmit serious diseases. The adults are 5-8 mm long. Their thorax is gray, with four dark longitudinal lines …

Horsefly — Insects in the order Diptera, family Tabanidae, are commonly called Horse flies. Often considered pests for the bites that many inflict, they are among the world’s largest true flies. They are also important pollinators of flowers, especially in South Africa. Tabanids occur worldwide, being absent only at extreme northern and southern latitudes. Flies of this type are among …

Gypsy Moth — The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae of Eurasian origin. Originally ranging from Europe to Asia, it was introduced to North America in the late 1860s and has been expanding its range ever since. Gypsy moth egg masses are typically laid on branches and trunks of trees, but egg masses may be …

Grasshopper — Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish them from bush crickets or katydids, they are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers. Species that change color and behavior at high population densities are called locusts. The Grasshoppers have antennae that are almost always shorter than the body (sometimes filamentous), and short ovipositors. …

Glowworm — Glowworm (or glow-worm) is the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but all are insects (Arachnocampa being a fly and all the others being beetles). The major families are: Lampyridae (fireflies), found around the world. The wingless adult female is the glowworm …

Fly — Flies are insects of the Order Diptera (Greek: di = two, and pteron = wing), possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. The common housefly is a true fly and is one of the most widely distributed animals. The presence of a single …

Flea — Flea is the common name for any of the small wingless insects of the order Siphonaptera (some authorities use the name Aphaniptera because it is older, but names above family rank need not follow the ICZN rules of priority, so most taxonomists use the more familiar name). Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of …

Firefly — Lampyridae is a family in the beetle order Coleoptera, members of which are commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs or (ambiguously) “glow worms” due to their conspicuous nocturnal (or, more accurately, crepuscular) use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies are capable of producing a “cold light” containing no ultraviolet or infrared rays, with a wavelength from 510 …

Earwig — Earwig is the common name given to the insect order Dermaptera characterized by membranous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings (hence the literal name of the order—“skin wings”). The abdomen extends well beyond the wings, and frequently, though not always, ends in a pair of forceps-like cerci. With about 1,800 recorded species in 10 families, the order is …

Dragonfly — A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, and an elongated body. Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, …