ORDERS OF INSECTS FOUND IN OUR COLLECTION
Coleoptera
There are approximately 500,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of wings; The front wings are hard or leathery, meeting in a straight line down the back; heavy, armored exoskeleton; biting and chewing mouthparts. Examples are beetles and weevils.
Dermaptera
There are approximately 1,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of leathery, membranous wings; biting mouthparts; abdomen with forceps. Examples are earwigs.
Diptera
There are approximately 80,000 species. General characteristics are: one pair of wings, not covered with scales, usually clear; halteres (balancing organs); sucking, piercing, lapping mouthparts. Examples are flies, and mosquitoes.
Hemiptera
There are approximately 55,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of horny, membranous wings; Front wings nearly always thickened at base, membranous at tip; piercing, sucking mouthparts. Examples are true bugs, assassin bug.
Hymenoptera
There are approximately 90,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of membranous wings; head mobile; well-developed eyes; chewing and sucking mouthparts; stinging. Examples are Ants, bees, wasps
Lepidoptera
There are approximately 140,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of wings covered with minute scales; hairy bodies; long coiled tongues for sucking. Examples are butterflies and moths.
Odonata
There are approximately 5,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of wings; biting mouthparts; heads are not prolonged ventrally; antennae are very short and bristlelike; eyes large. Examples are damselflies, dragonflies.
Orthoptera
There are approximately 30,00 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of horny, membranous wings; at rest wings held rooflike over abdomen or overlapping; biting and chewing mouthparts in adults; Examples are crickets, roaches, grasshoppers, mantids. Trichoptera: There are approximately 7,000 species. General characteristics are: two pairs of hairy, opaque wings; antennae as long as body or longer; lapping mouthparts.