Quick reference guide

I really want people to be able to find what they are looking for on this site, so in addition to the tag cloud, categories, and archives-by-date on the sidebar, I wanted to have a way to quickly scan through to find a specific critter. This page is a quick index of the arthropods on this site, categorized by their taxonomy, with thumbnails of my images. Clicking on the thumbnail picture will take you to the full-sized version of the image, and clicking on the name of the arthropod immediately above the thumbnail will take you to the main page where I talk about it.  The main pages generally have additional pictures that may not be shown as thumbnails here.

Subphylum Chelicerata - Arachnids (spiders, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen)

Mites

Ticks

Dermacentor variabilis

tickdorsalview2007-5-2.jpg

Varroa mites

Varroa Destructor

varroadorsal.jpg

Pseudoscorpions

Chelifer cancroides
pseudoscorpion_sharpfocus588k.jpg

Spiders

Cobweb spiders

Steatoda species
femalespiderdorsaldimples2008-1-1.jpg

malespiderdorsal2008-1-1.jpg

Male Steatoda specimen with separate entry

redspider2007-4-24backdoorno1.jpg

Crab spiders

Misumenops (female)

femalecrabspideronstage.jpg

Misumena vatia (male)
goldenrodcrabdorsal.jpg

Tibellus
tibellusfulldorsal.jpg

Funnel-weavers (*North American species, not venomous*)

Agelenidae

malefunnel-webdorsal.jpg

House spiders

Tegenaria domestica

europeanhousespider.jpg

Jumping spiders

Salticidae
dorsal.jpg

Subphylum Crustacea - Crustaceans (Pillbugs, woodlice, crayfish, daphnia)

Amphipods

Gammarus

gammarus1.jpg

Isopods

Pillbugs

Armadillidium

pillbugdorsal2007-5-8reduced.jpg

Woodlice

Porcellio scaber

sowbug1.jpg

Water lice

Asellus

waterlouseventralsmalleroneunderneath.jpg Large water louse

Subphylum Hexapodia - Insects and Entognathids

Coleoptera (beetles)

Carrion beetles

Nicrophorus

thorax-and-wing-covers.jpg

Necrophila

larvatopside6-22.jpg

Click beetles

Elateridae
clickbeetledorsal.jpgwirewormfulllength.jpg

Darkling beetles

Tenebrio molitor
darklingbeetledorsal.jpg

Dermestid beetles

Carpet beetles

Anthrenus scrophulariae

carpetbeetledorsaledf.jpg

Anthrenus larva
dermestidlarvadorsal.jpg

Larder beetles

Dermestes lardarius
high-mag.jpg

Flea beetles

Disonycha triangularis
flea_beetle_dorsal.jpg

Ground beetles

Calosoma

Calosoma calidum
5-24_fullbody.jpg

Tiger beetles

Cincindela limbalis

tigerbeetledorsal.jpg

June beetles

Phyllophaga
phyllophagabeetledorsal.jpg

Lady beetles

Mulsantina picta

Mulsantina Picta Full Body

Harmonia axyridis

ladybug2007-3-10.jpg

Diptera (true flies - two wings)

Black flies

Simuliidae
simulidsideview.jpg

Crane flies

Chionea valga
orderunknown2007-1-12.jpg

Flesh flies

Lucilia
8-4-greenbottle-blowfly-side.jpg

Muscid flies

Pollenia

fly2onfloor2007-3-10.jpg

Musca domestica

housefly8-10-2007.jpg

Robber flies

Asilinae
robberflyside.jpg

Hemiptera (true bugs, cicadas, leafhoppers, aphids)

Cicadas

Tibicen canicularis
cicadaside.jpg

True Bugs

Assassin bugs

Barce

thread-legged-bugside.jpg

Reduvius personatus nymph

assassinbugnymphdorsal.jpg

Reduvius personatus adult

assassinbugdorsal.jpg

Seed bugs

Leptoglossus occidentalis
coniferseedbugdorsal.jpg

Stink bugs

Euschistus

stinkbugstopview2007-5-30.jpg

Nymphs (Podisus?)

singlehatchling.jpg

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps)

Ants

Camponotus pennsylvanicus
workerdorsal.jpg

Formica

formicaqueendorsal.jpg

Wasps

Ichneumons

Black and White with Orange Legs, A Dot on the Back, and White on the Anntenae

ichneumon2extendeddof.jpg
Reddish Brown With Long, Straight Ovipositor and a Black Head

ichumenon1full-length-dorsal.jpg

Vespids

Vespula vulgaris
vespula_vulgaris_queen_2007-5-9.jpg

Paper wasps

Polistes dominula

nest.jpg

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)

Butterflies

Fritillaries

Euptoieta claudia
spinycaterpillaronflower2008-7-5.jpg

Monarchs

Danaus plexippus
monarchcaterpillarterrariumjune2007.jpg

monarchbutterflyemergedterrariumjuly2007.jpg

Moths

Codling moths

Cydia pomonella

Codling moth dorsal view

Cutworm moths

Noctua pronuba
gardencaterpillar12007-4-29.jpg

Noctuidae

gardencaterpillar2rolled2007-6-23.jpg

Geometrid moths (inchworms)

Erannis tiliara

inchworm2007-6-1dorsal.jpg

Eupithecia

mothb2007-4-23top.jpg

Giant silk moths

Hyalophora cecropia

cecropiaandhand.jpg

Meal moths

Plodia interpunctella

mealmothwingsinfocus.jpg

Prominent moths

Cerura scitiscripta
ceruralarvafirstinstar2007-6-23.jpg

lateinstar7-5.jpg

Tiger moths

Ctenucha virginica
ctenuchavirginica.jpg

Neuroptera (antlions, lacewings, and dobsonflies)

Antlions

Myrmeleon
antlion-topside-2007-6-23.jpg

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

lacewing2007-4-11sideviewtruecolor.jpg

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids)

Crickets

Camel Crickets

Ceuthophilus

Camel Cricket from the side

Katydids

Scudderia

katydidrightside.jpg

Plecoptera (stoneflies)

Taeniopterygidae

april-6-small-stonefly-dorsal.jpglargestoneflyrailing.jpg

Tricoptera (caddisflies)

Limnephilidae

april6caddisflydorsal.jpg

Subphylum Myriapodia - Centipedes and Millipedes

Millipedes

Parajulidae

millipedesideview2007-3-24.jpg

2 Comments

  1. Steve Unger:

    I just found a catapillar I can’t ID…how can I ID it?

  2. Tim Eisele:

    I usually start with Bug Guide, with a search on whatever terms seem likely (like “fuzzy orange caterpillar” or “inchworm” or whatever), and see what comes up. If something looks close but not exact, I then click on the image to go to its page, then use the “browse” function to check out its relatives to see if I can find something closer.

    If you can’t find it, but have a photograph, then just register on bug guide so that you can log in (it’s free), and then go to “ID Request” and upload the picture. Somebody will probably leave a comment within a couple of days giving you a likely ID, at least to the family level.

    If you think you’ll want to ID caterpillars in the future, live east of the Mississippi, and want a good guide, I recommend Caterpillars of Eastern North America. It’s very good, with excellent pictures.

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