North American Insects and Spiders / Tree Encyclopedia

North American Insects and Spiders / Tree Encyclopedia
Explore over 5,000 high-resolution close-up pictures of live, wild insects and spiders with descriptions and natural history. Our tree encyclopedia offers information and diagnostic photos for over 400 trees.
Index | About | Contact | Privacy | Orphan Pages

	Class Arachnida / Order Araneae: Spiders are the largest group of arachnids. They are easily recognized by their eight legs, and there are few creatures great or small that elicit such irrational fear in mankind. The vast majority of spiders are completely harmless and offer beneficial services, chief of which is keeping the burgeoning insect population in check. Spiders Index \| Orb Weavers \| Jumping Spiders
	Order Hymenoptera: Bees, Wasps, & Ants belong to this large order, which also includes sawflies. Most species are solitary, but some, such as the domestic honeybee, exhibit a complex social structure in which exist sterile female workers and fertile male and female royalty. Bees & Wasps Index
	Order Coleoptera: Beetles are the dominant form of life on earth: one of every five living species is a beetle. Coleoptera is the largest order in the animal kingdom, containing a third of all insect species. There are about 300,000 known species worldwide, 30,000 of which live in North America. Beetles Index
	Order Hemiptera: True Bugs species number almost 5,000 in North America, and 40,000 worldwide. They have mouthparts formed into a beak, adapted for sucking plant juices or the liquefied insides of their prey. Suborder Auchenorrhyncha - Cicadas & Planthoppers Suborder Sternorrhyncha - Aphids, scales, mealybugs

Click for larger image

	Order Lepidoptera: Butterflies are revered for their brightly colored wings and pleasing association with fair weather and flowers. Lepidoptera comprises at least 125,000 known species including 12,000 in America north of Mexico. Learn to identify many of the American Midwest's common species through large format pictures and natural histories. -Butterfly Index-
	Order Lepidoptera: Moths. Unlike the butterflies, moths are usually nocturnal. Many moths and their caterpillars are major agricultural pests in large parts of the world. Moths in the family Tineidae are commonly regarded as pests because their larvae eat fabrics, clothes and blankets made from natural fibers such as wool or silk. Moths in the genus Farinalis feed on stored grain, flour, corn meal and other milled grain products. -Moths Index-
	Order Diptera: Flies are prevalent in virtually all habitats, with over 16,000 species in North America. Flies are distinguished from all other insects in that they only have one pair of normal wings. Mouthparts are adapted for piercing, lapping or sucking fluids (often blood). Perhaps the world's most-famous fly, the mosquito, kills more humans than any other invertebrate disease vector. -Diptera Index-
	Order Orthoptera: Grasshoppers, katydids and crickets have long, powerfully muscled hind legs that they use for jumping, large, flat-sided heads with big compound eyes and large chewing mouthparts. Grasshopper and cricket males are known for their musical sounds made when they rub together roughened portions of their wings or legs. Orthoptera Index
	Really? Bedbugs? In this day and age? Oh yeah, they are making a big comeback in North America. Learn what you need to know to protect yourself, on the road and in your home. These disgusting little critters want you for their next blood meal. Find out why those little portable steam cleaners are a big waste of money and why directing clouds of "steam" around your house is not such a good idea.

	Class Arachnida > Order Ixodida Ticks are external blood-feeding parasites of birds, mammals and reptiles and are important vectors of Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and others viral and bacterial diseases. Learn to protect yourselves and your loved ones (doggies, especially). Visit the American dog tick, the Black-legged Deer Tick and the Lone Star Tick and Southern Tick Associated Rash Infection (STARI)
	Order Odonata: Dragonflies date back 300 million years, to the Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic Era. These colorful, enchanting insects are revered second only to the butterflies in the popular psyche. Explore detailed close-up photographs of live, adult dragonflies photographed in the wild. -Odonata Index-
	Order Odonata: Damselflies date back 300 million years, to the Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic Era. Today, there are about 450 North American species, and 5,000 in all. They have evolved into highly efficient hunters; their freely moveable heads sport huge compound eyes and their sharp biting mouthparts, coupled with their four powerful, independent wings make them extremely agile flyers capable of snatching prey in midair. Damselfly Index
	Suborder Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadas, hoppers and their kin have beaklike mouthparts arising from far back beneath the head, adapted for sucking plant juices. All members of this order are plant feeders. Aphids are among the most injurious agricultural pests, they can reproduce without mating; theoretically, one female aphid can produce billions of offspring. Male cicadas produce the loudest sounds in the insect world, their buzzing sometimes exceeding 100 decibels. -Index-
	Order Dictyoptera: Mantids and cockroaches. Mantids have triangular heads with huge compound eyes, long, thin bodies, four thin legs, and prominent forelegs held in the characteristic prayerful pose. The strong mouthparts can cut through even heavily armored heads of insects. Both genders use their exquisite camouflage and ability to remain motionless to lie in wait and ambush unwary prey, including small frogs, lizards, and even hummingbirds.

Tree Encyclopedia
Explore over 2,000 large format pictures of trees in more than 400 species. Our extensive catalog contains the largest catalog of flowering crabapples on the net - over 40 varieties, in flower. Find extensive descriptions and landscape planning information. Leaves, foliage, bark detailed in pictures. -Trees Index-

	Order Neuroptera: Lacewings in this order have many veins and cross veins in their four transparent wings. There are only 338 species in North America. The order includes lacewings, antlions, mantidflies, and spongillaflies. They have large, copper-colored compound eyes and long, thin antennae. Their larvae are commonly called aphid lions after their voracious appetite for aphids.
	Order Ephemeroptera: Mayfly adults survive only a few hours or at most a few days. They eat nothing, nor do they crawl or walk. They only fly and mate, sometimes in swarms so large they show up on weather radar. The chief importance lies in their value as food for fish, dragonfly nymphs and birds. Anglers imitate the adults in dry flies, referred to as "spinners" or "duns," and pattern wet flies after the nymphs.
	Garden Slugs: Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda Learn slug anatomy through our close-up photos. Read how to use natural methods to control these slimy pest critters, and what plants can resist their depredations. Can beer really kill these guys?

Kingdom: Fungi includes some of the most important organisms, both in terms of their ecological and economic roles. By breaking down dead organic material, they continue the cycle of nutrients through ecosystems. Other fungi provide numerous drugs (such as penicillin and other antibiotics), foods like mushrooms, truffles and morels, and the bubbles in bread, champagne, and beer. -Index-

Flowers, Wildflowers and Prairie Plants
Please enjoy our pages on flowers, wildflowers and trees of the prairie and Oak Savannah. There are many species of flowers of interest to butterfly gardeners, prairie restorers and urban and suburban gardeners.
-Index-

Order Trichoptera: Caddisflies resemble moths, but have very fine hairs on their wings instead of scales. The aquatic larvae of some species are free swimming predators, some spin silken nets to trap vegetable matter in fast-moving water, and still others construct portable shelters out of sand grains, bits of shell, or even plant fragments. These larva are called casemakers, and trout and other fishermen value the casemaker as bait for sport fish.

Order Mecoptera: Scorpionflies do not sting or bite. They spend most of their time in low vegetation, hunting small soft-bodied insects or scavenging on fruit, dead insects and even bird droppings. Mecopterans have changed little from fossils 250 million years old, and many entomologists consider now-extinct members of this order to be the ancestors of modern-day flies, butterflies, and moths.

Subphylum: Crustacea > Class: Malacostraca > Order: Isopoda - Pillbugs, sow bugs and woodlice are neither insects nor arachnids, but crustaceans, members of the same class as shrimps, lobsters and crabs. Anyone who has ever turned over a log or rock is familiar with these primitive critters. They are omnivores and scavengers, feeding upon decaying vegetable matter, fungi and animal remains. They form an important link in the food chain by recycling dead and decaying material.

Classes Diplopoda (Millipedes) and Chilopoda (Centipedes)
Millipedes do not bite, pinch or sting, but may emit foul-smelling or irritating defensive chemicals. Centipedes will bite defensively, and the bite can be painful, but no worse than a mild bee sting. The house centipede (pictured at left) can complete its life cycle indoors.

Order Opiliones: Harvestmen are often mistaken for spiders; they aren't spiders. About 1900 species of harvestmen are distributed over the world in forests, fields and other land habitats. They can and do walk on water. These oddball creatures are some of the most abundant on our forest floor.