Portal:Insects
The Insects Portal
Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species. (Full article...)
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Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran suborder Rhopalocera, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea (moth-butterflies in the Americas) and Papilionoidea (all others). The oldest butterfly fossils have been dated to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago, though they likely originated in the Late Cretaceous, about 101 million years ago.
Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, and like other holometabolous insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, expands its wings to dry, and flies off. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that offspring of Gargaphia solani almost always fall victim to predation without the protection of their mother?
- ... that the brilliantly-coloured blue and black neon cuckoo bee of Australia is a parasite of the blue banded bee?
- ... that fossil specimens of the extinct scorpionfly family Dinopanorpidae, which includes Dinopanorpa and Dinokanaga, sometimes have preserved dark with light to clear color patterning?
- ... that Ororaphidia and Styporaphidia are the oldest snakeflies known from China, dating from the Middle Jurassic?
- ... that the Australian cicada Psaltoda plaga is commonly known as the "black prince"?
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The Meadow Argus, Junonia villida (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), is a butterfly commonly found in Australia. It is also known as Albin's Hampstead Eye in the United Kingdom, where it has occurred only as an accidental import.
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