Insect Orders
Not all insect Orders are equal in species number; some Orders have just a few hundred species while others have more than 100,000 species. The range of structural characteristics and biological features tends to be broader in the more species-rich Orders.
Predictions about the biology, behaviour and ecology of an insect can be made once you know its Order. But how can you know the Order to which an insect belongs? Insects can be identified in various ways. Comparing a specimen with a book of illustrations of identified insects is one way. Using a printed key is another way. This Lucid based key combines the advantages of these methods and adds a new dimension of simplicity and power to the process of identification.
This simple identification key is designed to identify most common adult insects to Order in Australia. The key has been designed for use by advanced secondary students, beginning undergraduates and others interested in entomology. We have written the key so that students will learn about the structure and biology of insects while identifying them. We have included three groups of arthropods in this key (Protura, Collembola and Diplura) that are closely related to insects.
How can you tell if an insect is an adult and can be identified using this key? That is a simple question without a simple answer. If your insect has fully-developed, functional wings then it is an adult. However, some adult insects have reduced, non-functional wings and others have no wings at all. In these cases the adult forms have fully developed genitalia at the apex of the abdomen.
The 'Key to Insect Orders' was created at the University of Queensland, Department of Entomology. The Key has been based on the simplified keys to insect Orders found in Collecting, Preserving and Classifying Insects by E.C. Dahms, G.B. Monteith and S. Monteith (Queensland Museum, 1979), Worms to Wasps by M.S. Harvey and A.L. Yen (Oxford University Press, 1989) and A Field Guide to Insects in Australia by P. Zborowski and R. Storey (Reed Books, 1995).
This app is powered by Lucid Mobile.
Category : Books & Reference
Reviews (27)
It will not give me any answer when I click submit. It's rated to high for the quality it gives
Not many species to choose from.
Did not work at all. Couldn't even by pass the 20 questions to find the bug I'm looking for.
Did not do what it says it does. It has you input physical features of the insect yet it doesn't work when I click find best. It was a waste of time and alot more still needs to be done to make this app good.
Answered as many as I could see positively and it came up with 2 choices. Neither was even the same type of bug.
It's like playing 20 Questions with a field guide (on and off the field). You're limited to hexapods but it's called Insect Orders so obviously no complaints there. Fantastic, I love it.
Its really helping on my studies
I selected criteria until only one order remained but I could not figure out how to see the results.
Very easy to use and no prior knowledge of insect anatomy would necessarily be needed as full illustrations are given. Brilliant for working out what kind of insect you have in your possession but you'd have to be able to get it under a mag lamp to answer some of the identification questions.
So far, it has been a good reference tool. But I couldn't select the features to be used for identification even after tweaking around the settings and trying different gestures. Definitely needs a tutorial.
Amazing app! But to be honest, if you're a die-hard entomologist, you'll learn the names of orders (and so on) just out of curiosity anyway! Thanks for making this app a real thing though! Absolutely adore it!
I'm a little confused on how to make a selection on a feature. A tutorial would be nice.
I can't figure out how to make a selection or use any of the tools. I was able to swipe and see pictures. I was hoping to be able to use this to help identify bugs for a classroom bug collection assignment. I wish there was a tutorial.
This is good for entomologist but not best somtime
I need something more specific
This is just simply awesome!! It gives you good informastion.
This is the useful entomology application.
Helps identify insects.
Useful and informative, but where's Raphidioptera?
PROS It does what it says it will - provide a key to the insect orders. It is easy to use. CONS Needs a popup description/glossary for different features - the features are colour highlighted in the drawings, but that doesn't necessarily mean you know what the feature is (e.g. pretarsus). As this is a key for beginners, more description would help. There are very limited photos for each order (only 3 for coleoptra!!!). A photo gallery of the most common species, with links to their names and and a bit of background info would be great and greatly lift the star rating - would be happy to pay for this feature. Of limited use - I quickly needed to move to the web to find more info. Will really only be useful when greatly expanded to cover the common families/species within each order.
It works! Great fun!
It can take specific enough input to narrow a bug down to its shoe size and ssn, but only gives you the order. Most enthusiast level observers can do that much visually. Would like a more specific app.
This app is an awesome idea. But it wont let me select anything. So all im getting is a huge list of every insect included.
Its my favourite topic since I'm a bio-engineer who needs more information . I could make my own bugs.
Not user friendly at all. You practically have to be an entomologist to be able to identify insects using this app.
Very helpful app for my insect class. Totally loving it :D
Funny that the app once had a bug. You need to have a very detailed photo handy to fill in all the specifications. It's a bit too much work and no results. Better to click on a category, then a picture that comes closer and so on, I believe you could find almost any insect in just 4 clicks.