What is an Insect

Many names such as insect, gogga and bug are used to describe virtually any living creature that creeps, crawls, lives on or under leaves or on foliage. None of these collective terms are entomologically correct as an insect is a very specific member of a very specific group of the Animal Kingdom. Although the terms "insect" or "bug" are often used indiscriminately, just as a matter of convenience, it is necessary that we have clarity on what exactly an insect is and which "bugs" are in fact not insects but members of other groups, such as the Arachnids which represents all spiders, scorpions and ticks.

The whole subject of taxonomy, that is the classification and naming of organisms, is a confusing one to say the least, with names changing from time and new orders or sub-orders being added, changed or scrapped. Fortunately, at least from the point of an insect photographer or the casual observer, we do not have to concern ourselves beyond a basic understanding of how to go about identifying our subjects. The finer points of insect classification can be left to the expert entomologist who may often need to dissect a specimen to determine its exact species.

For purposes of classification and identification the Animal Kingdom is divided into a number of different groups decreasing in size and specific characteristics as they proceed down the scale.

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

Insects belong to the Phylum ARTHROPODA, which is divided into a number of classes of which insects belong to the class INSECTA. From the Class level we progress to the level of Order and it is from this point onward that the insect enthusiast needs to familiarise him or herself to be able to identify their subjects. Insects are classified into Orders based on certain characteristics, some of the larger Orders are:

Coleoptera - beetles

Diptera - flies

Lepidoptera - butterflies and moths

The various Orders are in turn, again broken down into Families ( and sometimes sub-families ) then into Genus and finally species. A particular insect is always referred to by its Genus and species, but for general purposes the Order or Family is normally quite acceptable. It is worth noting that The Genus and species is always printed in italics while the Genus is also capitalised. The common Honey Bee would thus be classified as follows:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum:Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Apidae

Genus and Species: Apis mellifera

Amateur naturalists wanting to get involved in the study of insects and related species are often put off by the technicalities of naming and identifying specimens, especially as this also encompasses learning the many rather intimidating Latin names used. In fact, once one becomes involved and understands the basics of insect nomenclature it is not quite as frightening as it at first appears. The great advantage of using scientific names is that they are understood world wide as they do not change from one language to another.

Although many insects have common or folk names these are generally not of much value in referring to a particular species. Common names are often very regional and may consequently vary from one area to another while sometimes the same common name is also used to describe a number of different but similar appearing insects.

Photographs and text copyright: Lambert Smith, 2005

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