Term
| [image]Diptera– mosquitoes |
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Definition
| Culicidae - long proboscis, long antennae; immatures aquatic filter feeders; adults – females blood feeders, males nectar feeders |
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Term
| [image]Odonata - common skimmers |
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Definition
| Libellulidae - dragonflies with no brace vein; anal loop shaped like boot; eyes may or may not touch; wings often (but not always) with pattern; nymphs aquatic predators; adults aerial predators. |
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Term
| [image]Orthoptera crickets – crickets |
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Definition
| Gryllidae – most are black or brown, but tree crickets are green; have antennae longer than the body; distinguished from katydids (Tettigoniidae) by number of segments on mid-tarsi (Gryllidae – 3; Tettigoniidae – 4); generally scavengers feeding on decaying material, sometimes catch other small insects |
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Term
| [image]Coleoptera- click beetles |
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Definition
| Elateridae - elongate, somewhat flattened body shape; sides of pronotum project along elytra; have clicking mechanism on prosternum. Larvae eat roots, or sometimes wood; adults eat leaves |
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Term
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Definition
| Cicadidae - large size, 3 ocelli; have long life cycles, with some as 13 or 17 years, sing loudly to attract mates; feed on xylem of roots as nymphs, on xylem of twigs as adults. |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera -assassin bugs |
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Definition
| Reduviidae - raptorial front legs; various body shapes; beak fits into groove on prosternum; predators on other insects |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera– armored scale insects |
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Definition
| Coccidae – adults are sessile (do not move) and plugged into phloem of plant with haustellum (beak); body parts greatly reduced, usually lacking wings, antennae, and sometimes legs; body covered by scale secreted by insect; both adults and immatures feed on phloem of plant |
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Term
| Hemiptera – jumping plant lice[image] |
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Definition
| Psyllidae – small, with relatively long antennae and sucking mouthparts, some are reduced in size with shorter antennae if they make galls; adults and immatures feed on phloem of plants; may be winged or not; some species make galls on plants, particularly hackberry trees in our area. |
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Term
| [image]Hymenoptera- solitary bees |
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Definition
| Halictidae - store pollen on legs; long jugal lobe, usually metallic colored (green or bronze); strongly arched basal vein in forewing; larvae eat pollen, adults eat nectar and pollen |
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Term
| [image]Odonata– common damselflies |
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Definition
| Coenagrionidae– typical damselfly shaped; hold wings over back and keep body straight out when resting (as opposed to Lestidae that spread wings slightly and let body sag); front wing with M3 vein originating closer to the nodus than arculus; predators in water as nymphs, in air as adults; not strong fliers like dragonflies |
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Term
| [image]Odonata- spread-wing damselflies |
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Definition
| Lestidae- sit at rest with wings open at an angle over back and with abdomen sagging; usually larger than Coenagrionidae; M3 vein arises nearer to the nodus than the arculus; nymphs aquatic predators in standing water; adults predators in those environments. |
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Term
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Definition
| Aeshnidae – dragonflies with brace vein; eyes touch on top of head (contiguous); continuous fliers; nymphs aquatic predators; adults aerial predators. |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera- giant water bugs or toe biters |
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Definition
| Belostomatidae - large size; raptorial front legs with large beak; general aquatic shape (elongate and tapered to back); both nymphs and adults are predators on other insects up to small vertebrates. |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera- backswimmers |
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Definition
| Notonectidae- aquatic body shape; light on top, dark on bottom (reverse countershaded); both nymphs and adults are predators on small insects |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera- water boatmen |
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Definition
| Corixidae - aquatic body shape; dark on top, light on bottom; hemelytra with pattern of wavy lines; nymphs and adults eat primarily algae |
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Term
| [image]Hemiptera- water striders |
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Definition
| Gerridae - long mid and hindlegs, cigar-shaped body; nymphs and adults are scavengers and predators on things that fall on the surface of the water |
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Term
| Coleoptera - predaceous diving beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Gyrinidae - aquatic shape; long, filiform antennae, convex on undersurface; larvae and adults are predators on insects and even small vertebrates |
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Term
| [image]Coleoptera– crawling water beetles |
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Definition
| Haliplidae – aquatic shape; small; filiform antennae; large, expanded hind coxae for holding air bubbles; larvae and adults eat filamentous green algae in ponds |
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Term
| [image]Hymenoptera- paper wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, potter wasps |
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Definition
| Vespidae - not hairy, inverted v-shaped suture at back of prothorax, fold forewing lengthwise; larvae are fed chewed up insects by adults that forage and sting them – adults eat insects and nectar from flowers; mostly social insects. |
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Term
| [image]Lepidoptera– tiger moths |
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Definition
| Arctiidae bright colored, with spots or stripes (sometimes plain white); shaped like Noctuidae (but these are not generally bright colored); larvae eat plants of many types; adults eat nectar. |
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Term
| Lepidoptera– giant silk moths[image] |
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Definition
| Saturniidae– large size, often wings with eye spots; antennae plumose, no functional mouthparts as adults; larvae feed on plants, adults do not feed. |
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Term
| [image]Mantodea- praying mantids |
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Definition
| Mantidae- very recognizable body shape with raptorial front legs and elongated prothorax; front wings thicker than hindwings; nymphs and adults predators on other insects; sit-and-wait predators. |
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Term
| [image]Mantodea- praying mantids |
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Definition
| Mantidae- very recognizable body shape with raptorial front legs and elongated prothorax; front wings thicker than hindwings; nymphs and adults predators on other insects; sit-and-wait predators. |
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Term
| Neuroptera- antlions[image] |
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Definition
| Myrmeleontidae- body and wings like damselflies, but wings held peaked over back, not as damselflies; antennae long and clubbed; larvae predators that build pits and catch ants, adults mostly do not feed |
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Term
| [image]Hymenoptera – solitary wasps |
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Definition
| Specidae– look like may other groups of wasps and bees; lack branched hairs of bees and expanded first segment of the hind tarsus that bees have; have a rounded lobe on the side of the pronotum (often with yellow color, but far from always) that does not reach the base of the wing (tegula); other wasps have either no lobe or a pointed extention of the pronotum (which is an inverted U shape on the back – Vespidae) |
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Term
| Hymenoptera– bumble bees, honey bees and carpenter bees[image] |
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Definition
| Apidae– fuzzy with hind tarsus expanded to carry pollen short jugal lobe or none; larvae eat pollen; adults eat pollen and nectar. |
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Term
| [image]Hymenoptera - leaf cutter bees |
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Definition
| Megachilidae - store pollen on underside of abdomen, short jugal lobe; 2 submarginal cells in front wing; larvae feed on pollen brought by mother, adults feed on nectar and pollen; nest is lined with pieces of leaf. |
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Term
| [image]Hymenoptera -large hairy black |
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Definition
| Scoliidae – large, hairy and black, usually with yellow or red bands on the abdomen; the sternum of the thorax has a lobe that covers the base of both the meso and metacoxae; other wasp groups have these exposed or there are separate lobes covering just the metacoxae. |
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Term
| [image]Lepidoptera– inchworm moths |
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Definition
| Geometridae– no clubs on antennae; usually sit with wings out flat, showing all wings – patterns on forewing continue onto hindwing; body not generally heavy and “furry”; larvae feed on many different plants and live in all types of habitats |
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Term
| [image]Lepidoptera– leaf roller moths |
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Definition
| Tortricidae – small in size, front wings with distinct ‘shoulders’ (i.e. costal margin not straight or evenly curved, but with most curve very near the base of the wing, the straight, have wide anal region of hind wing; larvae on many different plants, adults at nectar. |
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Term
| [image]Lepidoptera– owlet moths |
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Definition
| Noctuidae – this is the grab bag of moth families. It is very diverse, and I generally eliminate other possibilities to get to this family. They nearly always have filiform antennae (rarely pectinate) and have the CU in the front wing appearing 4 branched; larvae on many different plants, adults at nectar. |
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Term
| [image]Lepidoptera- snout and grass moths |
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Definition
| Pyralidae - large family of small moths; forewings triangular; tongue with scales on the base; rest with antennae along body |
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Term
| [image]Neuroptera- green lacewings |
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Definition
| Chrysopidae- medium sized; green wings in life (often yellow in dried specimens); eyes golden in life; larvae and adults feed on small insects, especially aphids. |
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Term
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Definition
| Myrmeleontidae - body and wings like damselflies, but wings held peaked over back, not as damselflies; antennae long and clubbed; larvae predators that build pits and catch ants, adults mostly do not feed |
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Term
| [image]Coleoptera- weevils |
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Definition
| Curculionidae- head with obvious snout; antennae often elbowed; one exception to these is bark beetles that are tiny and cylindrical (no snout); larvae are plant feeders on many different types and parts of plants – adults also eat plants and pollen |
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Term
| [image]Coleoptera- ladybugs or ladybird beetles |
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Definition
| Coccinellidae- oval body shape; usually orange/red with black spots or black with yellow/orange spots (may lack spots); tarsi 3-3-3 with pads on first two (actually 4-4-4 with small 3rd segment); both larvae and adults predators on aphids and scale insects. |
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Term
| [image]Diptera– robber flies |
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Definition
| Asilidae – sunken vertex on head; often with “beard” of hairs on face; larvae and adults predators. |
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Term
| Diptera– bee flies or hover flies[image] |
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Definition
| Bombyliidae– bee and wasp mimics; often with long proboscis; s-shaped veins at end of wing; larvae parasitoids on other insects, usually in the ground (bees, wasps, grasshoppers, beetles); adults feed on nectar. |
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Term
| Hemiptera– leaf-footed bugs[image] |
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Definition
| Coreidae –head much narrower than pronotum; tibia of hind legs often expanded to look like bit of dead leaf; nymphs and adults feed on plant |
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Term
| Hemiptera– stink bugs[image] |
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Definition
| Pentatomidae –oval or roundish body shape; sometimes pointed at back and sometimes with points on the shoulders; large triangle (scutellum) on back; antennae are 5 segmented; scent glands on side of thorax; nymphs and adults either predators or herbivores that puncture cells. |
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Term
| Hemiptera– plant bugs[image] |
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Definition
| Miridae -small to medium sized; all have two closed cells in the membrane of the hemelytra; may be many different colors; nymphs and adults feed on individual plant cells |
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Term
| Hemiptera- plant hoppers[image] |
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Definition
| Cicadellidae - - very typical looking hoppers; most similar to Cercopidae (spittle bugs), but these have a circle of spines on the hind tibia that the Cicadellidae lack; many are green, but may be brightly colored; feed on phloem of plants as nymphs and adults |
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Term
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Definition
| Aphididae– small; usually without wings, but winged adults occur regularly; wings held straight over body; all have two short projections off end of abdomen called cornicles; nymphs and adults feed on phloem of plants. |
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Term
| [image]Coleoptera- scarab beetles |
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Definition
| Scarabaeidae -rounded body; end of abdomen often exposed; rollable, lopsided club; larvae and adults highly variable in habits, often herbivores, but may eat dung, carcasses, etc. |
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Term
| Coleoptera– leaf or plant beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Chrysomelidae –– 4-4-4 tarsi with pads beneath first three segments (actually have 5 segments on each, but the 4th segment is very small and rarely visible). Body shape is round or oval, often with spots or stripes. Can be confused with long-horn beetles (Cerambycidae), but these have antennae longer than body; lady beetles (Coccinellidae), but these have 3-3-3 tarsi; weevils (Curculionidae), but these have snout; both larvae and adults eat plants |
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Term
| [image]Diptera- tachinid flies |
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Definition
| Tachinidae -large family; have calypters, pteropleural and hypopleural bristles; have well-developed post-scutellum; body often very bristly (but there are exceptions); larvae are all parasitoids on other insects, adults take nectar at flowers. |
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Term
| Diptera -no-see-ums– [image] |
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Definition
| Ceratopogonidae –very small size; biting mouthparts, but only slightly extended; larvae feed in decaying organic matter, adults take blood meals or feed on other insects. |
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Term
| Diptera– flower flies[image] |
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Definition
| Syrphidae –often bee or wasp mimics; wings have a false or fake vein that runs through the discal cell and makes a four-way intersection with the vein at the end of the cell. This type of intersection in veins otherwise does not exist in flies. The vein fades out at the base; larvae have various habits, sometimes predators, sometimes scavengers, sometimes herbivores; adults feed at nectar of flowers. |
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Term
| Coleoptera– water scavenger beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Hydrophilidae – aquatic shape; short, clubbed antennae that are shorter than palps (not clubbed); underside of body is generally concave to hold bubble of air; larvae feed on decaying material in water, adults scavenge insects from the water. |
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Term
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Definition
| Carabidae– typical beetle shape, antennae threadlike, tarsi 5-5-5; First addominal sternum divided by hind coxae; large hind trochanters; larvae and adults predators on other insects and invertebrates; rarely fly except tiger beetles. |
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Term
| [image]Diptera-crane flies |
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Definition
| Tipulidae -ery long legs that break off easily; many segmented antennae; V-shaped suture on back of thorax; larvae are detritivores in wet or aquatic situations, adults mostly do not feed. |
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Term
| Hemiptera– spittlebugs[image] |
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Definition
| Cercopidae– small to medium sized; resemble plant hoppers, but body is wider; have circle of spines on end on hind tibia which is lacking on Cicadellidae; suck xylem from plants and form spittle |
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Term
| Hemiptera- tree hoppers[image] |
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Definition
| Membracidae - pronotum extended over abdomen as shield, sometimes resembling bud or thorn; nymphs and adults feed on phloem. |
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Term
| Hemiptera- toad bugs[image] |
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Definition
| Gelastocoridae - look like little toads in shape and behavior; predators on other insects on the ground |
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Term
| Coleoptera- long-horned beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Cerambycidae-elongate body; antennae usually longer than body; eyes emarginate; tarsi 4-4-4; larvae feed under the bark of live or dead trees; adults feed on nectar and pollen. |
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Term
| Coleoptera - riffle beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Elmidae- small aquatic beetles without typical aquatic shape (because they live on bottom and do not swim); usually dark colored with no or few markings; relatively long legs and very short antennae that are usually concealed; larvae and adults eat algae on rocks and logs. |
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Term
| Coleoptera– blister beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Meloidae – elongate beetles with tarsi 5-5-4; claws divided nearly to base so that it looks like there are 4 claws on each tarsus; elytra usually soft and color often gray or black; larvae parasitize bees and wasps by eating young in the nest; adults lay eggs on opening buds and larvae crawl on bees or wasps when they visit; adults eat flowers and leaves. |
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Term
| Coleoptera– bess beetles, patent leather beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Passalidae – large, black, shiny; lopsided club that cannot be rolled together; larvae feed on decaying wood as do adults |
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Term
| Diptera- blow flies[image] |
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Definition
| Calliphoridae- medium flies with metallic green coloring (almost always); look like regular house flies in body shape (sort of plump); legs not especially long; have both pteropleural and hypopleural bristles; larvae feed on decaying material, often dead flesh; adults feed on flowers and at liquids of decaying things. |
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Term
| Odonata- black-winged damselflies and ruby spots[image] |
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Definition
| Calopterygidae -wings either darkened or with red spot at base; many antenodal crossveins on forewing; body often metallic in color; large size; nymphs predators in running water; adults predators along streams. |
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Term
| Hymenoptera– ichneumon wasps[image] |
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Definition
| Ichneumonidae– small to medium sized; typical wasp shape; have long (greater than 12 segments) antennae; also have no costal cell in forewing and 2 segmented hind trochanters; all these characters are shared with the closely related Braconidae; Ichneumonids have 2 recurrent veins in the forewing and Braconids have 1. All are parasitoids in other insects or spiders as larvae; adults feed on flowers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Entomobryidae –– elongate, with long antennae; 3rd segment of abdomen long on dorsal surface compared to 4th; all springtails eat mainly fungal spores and hyphae |
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Term
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Definition
| Isotomidae –elongate, with long antennae; 3rd and 4th segment of abdomen about equal in length along dorsal surface; all springtails eat mainly fungal spores and hyphae |
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Term
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Definition
| Hypogastruridae –relatively plump, with short antennae and other appendages; all springtails eat mainly fungal spores and hyphae |
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Term
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Definition
| Sminthuridae – round bodies with long antennae; all springtails eat mainly fungal spores and hyphae |
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Term
| Coleoptera- rove beetles[image] |
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Definition
| Staphylinidae - long and narrow; they have short elytra that do not cover more than about 1/2 the abdomen (often less); look a bit like earwigs without pinchers; most species are detritivores as larvae and adults, but some species eat carcasses, fungi and other food sources. |
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Term
| Hymenoptera -ants http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/P/PCD0313/A/88.jpg |
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Definition
| Formicidae – usually wingless, but winged adults occur regularly; all individuals have an extra constriction between the thorax and abdomen so that there appears to be an extra segment between the two (this is actually the 2nd abdominal segment – some species have a 3rd constriction also); adults feed larvae various things depending on species, some herbivores, some predators, some scavengers, some fungivores; adults eat these things also. |
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Term
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Definition
| Dictyopharidae - - head prolonged into thorn-like process; often green in our area, but may be brown; antennae from below eyes; sucking mouthparts; nymphs and adults feed on phloem of grasses. |
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Term
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Definition
| Scutelleridae – shaped like a pentatomid, but scutellum extends over entire abdomen, so that wings are not visible; 5 segmented antennae like pentatomids; nymphs and adults suck phloem of plants. |
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