Insects


A guide to Australian insect families (from CSIRO) can be found at:
http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/

Daley, A. & Ellingsen, K., 2012. Insects of Tasmania: An online field guide

A useful introduction to Insects, visit:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9362/invertebrate_guide.pdf

A diagram of Insect morphology illustrating terminology with legend of body parts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_morphology#/media/File:Insect_anatomy_diagram.svg

A diagram of an insect illustrating terminology based on a worker ant, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaster_(insect_anatomy)#/media/File:Scheme_ant_worker_anatomy-en.svg

Photographing insects

There are two main ways to photograph insects with a camera: using a macro close-up lens or a zoom lens. If the insect tolerates your getting very close, then you can use the macro lens. For example, some moths will remain quite still when approached, believing they are camouflaged and invisible. However, many insects, especially those that can fly, will move away when you approach. This is especially true for insects like butterflies and dragonflies. So a good zoom lens is very useful for photographing many insects. If you are using a smartphone, then use a macro lens or a macro attachment. E.g. OlloClip for iPhone. If you want to have an insect identified to species then clear photographs are usually needed because minute parts of the anatomy may need to be checked. It is valuable to take several photos from various angles so that these anatomical details can be seen. Many insects are have particular plants that they feed on, and they can be identified more easily when the associated plant is known. So if the insect is resting or feeding on a plant, take note of what the plant is or ensure that a photo shows the plant clearly.

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Discussion

Hejor1 wrote:
37 min ago
@donhe thank you, yes. I'll try a few types of food and we'll see what happens!

Psychidae (family) IMMATURE
chriselidie wrote:
1 hr ago
Ok good, so several possibilities there

Ectropis (genus) immature
AlisonMilton wrote:
1 hr ago
@donhe Don. This case is on a very small Eucalyptus tree. I doubt there will be another on the tree.

Metura elongatus
donhe wrote:
3 hrs ago
@AlisonMilton : if this is a young instar (which do have untidy cases), and it matures while you are away, and reforms its case to the tidy version, how will you know this is the same individual ?

Metura elongatus
donhe wrote:
3 hrs ago
I think the light reflecting off the wings is washing out the appearance of the pattern. The dark marks along the forewing costa seem less affected by the reflected light, and seem to correspond with those of N. corticalis.

Nomophila corticalis
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