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

ibaird wrote:
4 hrs ago
Male, I think,

Musotima ochropteralis
PJH123 wrote:
4 hrs ago
@WendyEM See Peter MavKey's Review of the Australian species of Arctornis Germar, 1810 (Lepidoptera:Erebidae:Lymantriinae),
Australian Entomologist, Volume 43, Part 4 (2016), pp. 174-177.

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/312798#page/3/mode/1up

Arctornis (genus)
Harrisi wrote:
17 hrs ago
received mail recently from buprestid authority Peter Lang (via I-Naturalist); it reads

"This matches syntype material of Melobasis pretiosa at the SA Museum (and M. fasciata is a junior synonym of M. pretiosa). It is not the same as M. sexplagiata. See: https://syzygium.xyz/buprestidae/species.php?species=Melobasis_pretiosa"

for your information/action

Melobasis sp. (genus)
donhe wrote:
Yesterday
@WendyEM : Thought A. ravenshoeae was from far north ? Ok. How do we distinguish that from the other two ?

Arctornis (genus)
WendyEM wrote:
Yesterday
why are you ignoring Arctornis ravenshoeae ? No species appear to be recognised by ALA/AFD

Arctornis (genus)
827,842 sightings of 22,701 species from 14,290 members
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