Class Insecta
Insects
See a drawing here to help you with the key. Key below family list.

There are more animals in the class insecta than in the rest of the Kingdom Animalia. With this in mind, I have put together a rough Order Key to guide you through the basic body types of the different Orders under Class Insecta. Right now it is rough, but as I study the Class, it will get better.

If you merely want to peruse the Orders yourself, click on any one of the Orders listed below and forge ahead.

Orders of Class Insecta
Anoplura Sucking Lice
Coleoptera Beetles
Collembola Springtails
Dermaptera Earwigs
Diptera Flies
Embioptera Webspinners
Ephemeroptera Mayflies
Hemiptera Bugs
Homoptera Cicadas, Hoppers, Whiteflies, Aphids, Scale Insects
Hymenoptera Sawflies, Ichneumons, Chalcids, Ants, Wasps, Bees
Isoptera Termites
Lepidoptera Butterflies and Moths
Mallophaga Chewing Lice
Mecoptera Scorpionflies
Neuroptera Dobsonflies, Fishflies, Alderflies, Lacewings, Antlions
Odonata Dragonflies and Damselflies
Orthoptera Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches, Mantids, Walkingsticks
Plecoptera Stoneflies
Protura Proturans
Psocoptera Booklice and Barklice
Siphonoptera Fleas
Strepsiptera Twisted-Winged Parasites
Thysanoptera Thrips
Thysanura Bristletails
Trichoptera Caddisflies
Zoraptera Zorapterans

Insect Order Key

1. Are all wings obvious and membranous, but sometimes covered with scales or hairs?
YES -- Go to 2.
NO -- Wings are absent, or front wings thickened and concealing membranous hind wings. Go to 14.

2. Are wings covered with minute scales; mouth parts are a coiled tube?
YES -- Order Lepidoptera.
NO -- Wings are not covered with scales, usually clear, and mouth parts are not a coiled tube.
YES -- With 1 pair of wings -- Order Diptera.
YES -- With 2 pairs of Wings. Go to 3.

3. Are wings long, narrow, and fringed with hairs; length of 5 mm or less?
YES -- Order Thysanoptera.
NO -- Wings are not narrow or fringed, length usually over 5 mm. Go to 4.

4. Abdomen 2 or 3 segmented with filaments and the hind wings small?
YES -- Order Ephemeroptera.
NO -- Abdomen with short filiments or none at all, hind wings are larger. Go to 5.

5. Are the front wings clearly longer and with greater area than hind wings?
YES -- Go to 11.
NO -- Front wings are not, or slightly longer, than hind wings, and same or less area than hind wings. Go to 6.

6. Is the head prolonged ventrally to form a beaklike structure?
YES -- Order Mecoptera.
NO -- Head not prolonged ventrally. Go to 7.

7. Are the antennae ver short and bristlelike; eyes large?
YES -- Order Odonata.
NO -- Antennae are not short and bristlelike, eyes moderate to small. Go to 8.

8. Are the hind wings broader than front wings, cerci present?
YES -- Order Plecoptera.
NO -- Hind wings are little if any broader than front wings. cerci not present. Go to 9.

9. Are they mothlike; wings hairy and opaque, antennae as long as the body or longer?
YES -- Order Trichoptera.
NO -- Not mothlike, wings not hairy, usually clear, antennae generally shorter than the body. Go to 10.

10. Do the wings have few cross veins, tarsi is 4-segmented, and length to 8 mm?
YES -- Order Isoptera.
NO -- Wings with numerous cross veins, tarsi 5-segmented, length to 75 mm. Order Neuroptera.

11. Are the wings hairy and opaque, palps long, and antennae as long or longer than the body?
YES -- Order Trichoptera.
NO -- Wings transparent or translucent, not hairy; palps are short or absent, antennae are shorter than the body. Go to 12

12. Are the tarsi 5-segmented, usually wasplike or beelike?
YES -- Order Hymenoptera.
NO -- Tarsi are 2 or 3 segmented, not wasp or beelike. Go to 13.

13. Are mouthparts sucking; beak rises at rear of head; small to large?
YES -- Order Homoptera.
NO -- Mouth parts chewing, beak absent, length 7mm or less. Order Psocoptera.

14. Are they narrow-waisted and antlike?
YES -- Order Hymenoptera.
NO -- Not narrow-waisted or antlike. Go to 15.

15. Is the body flattened laterally, small jumping insects?
YES -- Order Siphonoptera.
NO -- Body rarely flattened laterallly, usually do not jump. Go to 16.

16. Are they parasites of birds or mammals, body nearly always flattened dorsoventrally?
YES -- Go to 17.
NO -- Never parasitic, body usually not flattened. Go to 18.

17. Is the head as wide or wider than the thorax?
YES -- Order Mallophaga.
NO -- Head is narrower than thorax. Order Anoplura.

18. Is the abdomen with stylelike appendages or threadlike tails?
YES -- Order Thysanura.
NO -- Abdomen has neither stylelike appendages nor threadlike tails. Go to 19.

19. Does the abdomen have a forked taillike jumping mechanism?
YES -- Order Collembola.
NO -- Abdomen lacking a jumping mechanism. Go to 20.

20. Is the abdomen usually with 2 short tubes; small, plump and soft-bodied?
YES -- Order Homoptera.
NO -- Abdomen is without tubes, usually not plump or soft-bodied.

21. Is it lacking pigment, whitish and soft-bodied?
YES -- Go to 22.
NO -- Distinctly pigmented, usually hard bodied. Go to 23.

22. Are the antennae long and hairlike, tarsi 2 or 3-segmented?
YES -- Order Psocoptera.
NO -- Antennae short, beadlike; tarsi 4-segmented. Order Isoptera.

23. Is the body narrow, length less than 5 mm?
YES -- Order Thysanoptera.
NO -- Body shape is variable, length over 5 mm. Go to 24.

24. Are the antennae 4 or 5-segmented, mouth parts sucking?
YES -- Order Hemiptera.
NO -- Antennae many-segmented; mouth parts chewing. Order Orthoptera.

25. Does the abdomen have forcepslike cerci?
YES -- Order Dermaptera.
NO -- Lacks cerci. Go to 26.

26. Are the mouth parts chewing?
YES -- Go to 27.
NO -- Mouth parts sucking, beak usually elongate. Go to 28.

27. Are the front wings with veins, at rest they are held over abdomen or overlapping?
YES -- Order Orthoptera.
NO -- Front wings without veins, meeting in a straight line down back. Order Coleoptera.

28. Are the front wings nearly always thickened at base, membraneous tip, beak rises from the front or bottom of head?
YES -- Order Hemiptera.
NO -- Front wings of uniform texture throughout; beak rises from hind of head. Order Homoptera.