Miniature Lives

FOREWORD 1 INTRODUCTION Why I wrote this book Approaches to identifying insects How to use this book 2 INSECT BASICS What is an insect? Insect body parts Taxonomy – how insects are named Insect orders – how insects are grouped Insect growth and lifecycles 3 MORPHOLOGY – WHAT INSECTS LOOK LIKE Using this chapter Tips for getting started Tools of the trade The identification key The little guys – insects less than 5 mm long Maggots, grubs and caterpillars 4 HABITAT – WHERE INSECTS LIVE AND OCCUR Using this chapter Tips for getting started Kitchen and pantry Living room Bathroom Bedroom Around lights In water Soil, leaf litter and compost On trees and shrubs On citrus trees In the vegetable garden On native trees and shrubs In and around the lawn In and around flowers On the bodies of animals – the bloodsuckers In large groups – masses and migrations 5 CLEVER CLUES – THE STRANGE STRUCTURES AND EVIDENCE THAT INSECTS LEAVE BEHIND Using this chapter Tips for getting started Choose the clue Markings on leaves and bark Lumps and bumps on plants Nests and hideouts Cocoons, cases and eggs 6 INSECT ORDERS How to use this chapter Bees, wasps, ants and sawflies – Order Hymenoptera Beetles – Order Coleoptera Booklice – Order Psocoptera Butterflies and moths – Order Lepidoptera Cockroaches – Order Blattodea Dragonflies and damselflies – Order Odonata Earwigs – Order Dermaptera Fleas – Order Siphonaptera Flies – Order Diptera Grasshoppers and crickets – Order Orthoptera Lacewings – Order Neuroptera Lice – Order Phthiraptera Praying mantids – Order Mantodea Silverfish – Order Thysanura Stick and leaf insects – Order Phasmatodea Termites – Order Isoptera Thrips – Order Thysanoptera True bugs – Order Hemiptera Non–insect arthropods GLOSSARY AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE BIBLIOGRAPHY FURTHER READING INDEX