Familiarity with the twenty-nine insect orders is the key to identifying and understanding insects. In this introduction, I have described the insect orders beginning with the most primitive wingless insects, and ending with the insect groups that have undergone the greatest evolutionary change. Most insect order names end in ptera, which comes from the Greek word pteron, meaning wing.
Commonly called the order of lacewings, this group actually includes a variety of insects: dobsonflies, antlions, snakeflies, and alderflies. Insects in the order Neuroptera undergo complete metamorphosis. Worldwide, there are over 5,500 species in this group.
This order includes the scorpionflies, which live in moist, wooded habitats. Scorpionflies are omnivorous in both their larval and adult forms. The larva are caterpillar-like. There are less than 500 described species in the order Mecoptera.
Pet lovers fear insects in the order Siphonaptera - the fleas. Fleas are blood-sucking ectoparasites that feed on mammals, and rarely, birds. There are well over 2,000 species of fleas in the world.
This group, the beetles and weevils, is the largest order in the insect world, with over 300,000 distinct species known. The order Coleoptera includes well-known families: june beetles, lady beetles, click beetles, and fireflies. All have hardened forewings that fold over the abdomen to protect the delicate hindwings used for flight.
25. Order Strepsiptera
Insects in this group are parasites of other insects, particularly bees, grasshoppers, and the true bugs. The immature Strepsiptera lies in wait on a flower, and quickly burrows into any host insect that comes along. Strepsiptera undergo complete metamorphosis, and pupate within the host insect's body.
Diptera is one of the largest orders, with nearly 100,000 insects named to the order. These are the true flies, mosquitoes, and gnats. Insects in this group have modified hindwings which are used for balance during flight. The forewings function as the propellers for flying.
The butterflies and moths of the order Lepidoptera comprise the second largest group in the class Insecta. These well-known insects have scaly wings with interesting colors and patterns. You can often identify an insect in this order just by the wing shape and color.
28. Order Trichoptera
Caddisflies are nocturnal as adults, and aquatic when immature. The caddisfly adults have silky hairs on their wings and body, which is a key to identifying a Trichoptera member. The larvae spin traps for prey with silk. They also make cases from the silk and other materials which they carry and use for protection.
The order Hymenoptera includes many of the most common insects - ants, bees, and wasps. The larvae of some wasps cause trees to form galls, which then provides food for the immature wasps. Other wasps are parasitic, living in caterpillars, beetles, or even aphids. This is the third largest insect order with just over 100,000 species.
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