Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
USE OF A DICHOTOMOUS KEY FOR EASY INSECT ID
Now I can tell your eyes are already starting to glaze over and you are considering skipping reading this blog entry. DON’T!!! This is a really easy way to narrow down the possibilities when identifying an unknown insect.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “dichotomous” simply means “the process of dividing a group into two parts, esp. mutually exclusive or contradictory groups”. Fine so far, right?
So let’s say you find an unknown insect-like critter in your garden. You can first ask yourself (or the bug), “Do you have 8 legs or only 6 (or maybe a whole lot)?” If the answer is 6, you know you have a true insect and not a spider or other Arthropod such as a centipede. Now look for wings. Are there 2 or 4? Only 2 wings would indicate a member of the fly family. Are the wings clear or scaled? Scaled wings are the type found on moths and butterflies. You can continue in this fashion until you are satisfied you have a handle on what the critter may be.
This process can be as simple or as complex as you wish depending on how closely you want to come to exact species ID. Depending on how specific you want to get with the insect, you can go as far as what kind of hairs it has on its behind! Using this key is a way to eliminate what it cannot be. It is similar to the way a physician will approach diagnosis of an unknown disease or condition. Doctors use clinical tests to rule out certain conditions the same way you can use a dichotomous key to rule out what the insect cannot be.
There are several good dichotomous keys I have found on the Internet. One I especially like is at the site of the Amateur Entomology Society. You can go to www.amentsoc.org/insects , click on “What bug is this?” then “key to adult insects”. Another helpful site is www.bugguide.net . This site has a pictorial key to help you match up similar shapes of insects.
So why not give it a go and see if you can use this simple process of elimination to ID your next unknown bug. You will be very proud of yourself and so will I!
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word “dichotomous” simply means “the process of dividing a group into two parts, esp. mutually exclusive or contradictory groups”. Fine so far, right?
So let’s say you find an unknown insect-like critter in your garden. You can first ask yourself (or the bug), “Do you have 8 legs or only 6 (or maybe a whole lot)?” If the answer is 6, you know you have a true insect and not a spider or other Arthropod such as a centipede. Now look for wings. Are there 2 or 4? Only 2 wings would indicate a member of the fly family. Are the wings clear or scaled? Scaled wings are the type found on moths and butterflies. You can continue in this fashion until you are satisfied you have a handle on what the critter may be.
This process can be as simple or as complex as you wish depending on how closely you want to come to exact species ID. Depending on how specific you want to get with the insect, you can go as far as what kind of hairs it has on its behind! Using this key is a way to eliminate what it cannot be. It is similar to the way a physician will approach diagnosis of an unknown disease or condition. Doctors use clinical tests to rule out certain conditions the same way you can use a dichotomous key to rule out what the insect cannot be.
There are several good dichotomous keys I have found on the Internet. One I especially like is at the site of the Amateur Entomology Society. You can go to www.amentsoc.org/insects , click on “What bug is this?” then “key to adult insects”. Another helpful site is www.bugguide.net . This site has a pictorial key to help you match up similar shapes of insects.
So why not give it a go and see if you can use this simple process of elimination to ID your next unknown bug. You will be very proud of yourself and so will I!
Monday, March 8, 2010
A CONGRATULATIONS CARD FROM A DEAR FRIEND
One of my dearest friends from up north in Massachusetts is such a whiz at card creation. She's a sales agent for Stampin' Up which is a cool company that sells card making stuff. So here's her fun congratulatory card complete with butterflies and a magnifying glass. How cool is that!!!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
BUGS IN THE MAIL
So now that I am a so-called "bug expert", I have received more than a few requests for ID of a bug. Today I received in the mail from my dad (2100 miles away) a tiny package well wrapped with a little corpse inside. He caught and semi-squashed this critter in his dining room. As near as I can tell, this would be some type of leaf-footed bug. They like to come inside when it gets cold and hang out in houseplants. I'm surprised this one lasted inside as long as it did in New England. This is a picture of what it looked like before Dad squashed it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
