Friday, January 29, 2010

Great Entomology Resource- with images!

I often get questions on where to go for images of insects to help people with identification. While field guides are a good idea, not everyone wants to have piles of insects books laying around like me.

The 4-H Entomology website is a wonderful resource for not only 4-H participants, but the general public. While the site is targeted for 4-H Entomology students, there is a link to a list of common insects you can find in your own backyard well as while you travel throughout the state.

The guide to insect and non-insect orders is really cool because you can learn how to pronounce all those scientific names (it's an interactive pdf file- waaay cool!) and find out information on biology and characteristics.

Another great feature is a link to insect collecting videos. No, this isn't people collecting insects, but videos that show you how to do things like how to use an aspirator, choosing the correct net, pinning insects, etc. It's a great how-to section for those of you who want to start insect collecting as a hobby or start a reference collection to utilize as a teaching tool.