Springtails are found worldwide and there are likely to be around 2000 species in Australia. They have soft bodies, sometimes hairs (setae) or scales. Many species have the ability to jump when they have been disturbed.
Direct family links A-Z
B...
Protura (proturans) and Diplura (two pronged bristletails) are both encompassed in the class Entognatha. In this grouping the mouthparts are largely concealed within folds of the head (entognathous). In contrast, insects have exposed mouthparts (ectognathous)....
Bristletails are found around the world. Historically they were grouped with the similarly wingless and scale covered silverfish but they have been split off due to their ancient mandible structures. The bristletails feed on lichen, algae and plant ...
The order Blattodea historically included only cockroaches, but recently the close evolutionary link to termites (formerly classified under the order Isoptera) has been confirmed and lead to their inclusion in the family Termitidae. The cockroaches...
Beetles live in almost every habitat apart from oceans and have around 420 000 worldwide described species, with an estimate of 50 000 species in Australia alone (Lawrence & Ślipiński, 2014). Most beetles feed on plant material or fungi, and some gr...
The Diptera, or two-winged flies, is a large order of familiar insects encountered on a daily basis both in home and outside. The most commonly known are the annoying mozzies , sandflies , moth flies , march flies , house and bush flies (Muscidae and...
There are about 90 species of earwig found in Australia. Earwigs are mainly nocturnal and live in damp places in cracks or amongst debris. They can be attracted to light at night. Not many species are known to fly anything other than a short ...
Embiopterans are rarely encountered unless males are attracted to lights during the flight period. The adult and larval webspinners produce silk from their enlarged front legs. They use the silk to line tunnels and chambers under ground or stones. ...
The Hemiptera are insects with mouthparts modified into sucking tubes. Depending on families, the hemipterans feed on the plant xylem, phloem, seeds, pollen or general plant cells. Other families feed on invertebrates and some are parasites of vertebrate ...
With the exception of the sawflies, the Hymenopterans have a narrow waist between their abdomen and thorax. Many have two pairs of wings through their adult stages and they have large compound eyes. Male hymenopterans have only half the number of ch...
The most primitive of the Endopterygote insects, the Megaloptera look similar to the lacewings but with spotted wings and a soft and flexible abdomen. They live around clear streams although some species can survive in swamps and muddied waters....
Neuropterans can be found across most habitats in Australia and 90% of Australian species are endemic (New, 1992). Most of them are terrestrial, although two families have aquatic larvae. Neuropterans are considered beneficial due to their predation o...
Odonata is one of the most most recognised of the insect groups. Dragonflies and damselflies frequent freshwater bodies in the warmer Tasmanian months, where they lay eggs in the water. The eggs hatch into an aquatic larval form. The nymphs and adu...
Lepidoptera comprises the butterflies and the hugely speciose moths. The adults all share bodies and wings covered with scales. Most adult Lepidoptera have a long coiled tubular proboscis that uncurls to feed. Sometimes this proboscis is reduced or vestigial....
Grasshoppers and Crickets are familiar garden inhabitants that often catch the eye with their strong jumping actions when they try to escape. They can add to the natural soundscape with their stridulations; especially notable are the crickets at night. ...
The Mayflies are a nearly cosmopolitan and primitive order of wings insect. The nymphs of all species are aquatic and need unpolluted freshwater. Adults are only short lived and tend to stay around water sources. They often form obvious swarms o...
Mantids are well known insects that have captured the imagination of people throughout history. Most of the mantid diversity is in the tropics, but they are found in all of the warmer parts of the world. Mantids are found in virtually a...
The Mecopterans feed on nectar, and males catch soft bodied insects. The Harpobittacus adult often emerges in Spring close to water sources and is often found on Leptospermum plants. They can disperse large distances. To attract mates, males ca...
The longest insect in Tasmania is a female stick insect, reaching around 25 centimetres. Males are considerably smaller. Stick insects are exciting to find as they are very well camouflaged as sticks or leaves and are mainly nocturnal. ...
Lice are obligate parasites of birds and mammals. On birds they usually feed on the feathers, and on mammals they generally feed on the skin. Adults range from o.5 to 10mm and adults can be bare, or covered in hair-like setae. They lay comparatively l...
The Stoneflies are soft-bodied, freshwater insects with most adults bearing two pairs of wings. Many species found in Tasmania are endemic (Hynes, 1982). Some species can be as small as 4mm and others are up to 50mm long. Adults can be found ne...
There are about 300 Psocopteran species found in Australia, with about 110 species being recorded in Tasmania (Schmidt & New, 2008). Psocids can be found on or around vegetation and litter, on or under hard surfaces, in caves, nests and...
There are more than 2000 different flea species in the world, with more than 80 species found within Australia. The bodies are covered in long hairs and spines that face backwards, helping them to move through the hair of feathers of the host. Each different...
The Strepsiptera parasitise silverfish, cockroaches, mantids, orthopterans, wasps and bees, and flies, although they are mainly found on Hymenoptera and the Auchenorrhyncha Hemipterans. When an insect has been infected by a strepsiptera it is...
Using their tube mouthparts thrips pierce leaves and exude digestive enzymes. When the plant material is partially digested it is pumped back into the thrip. They may accumulate in large numbers on foliage. when present their narrow wings ha...
Caddisflies are one of the largest orders of aquatic insects. In Tasmania there are around 189 species in 74 genera (Neboiss 2002), with many of these species endemic to the state. They are closely related to Lepidoptera (butterflies ...
The silverfish are fast moving, but primitive insects that have scale covered or bare bodies, and no wings. They may or may not have compound eyes, and when they are present they are simple. Many have long filaments (cerci) at the end ...
