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Insect Identification Guides
- Practice and good reference material -
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Summary: Basic insect identification requires a few inexpensive tools, some reference materials and a little practice.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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 LivingWithBugs is about insect identification. Our aim is make make you better at identifying and understanding insects in the hope that you will be less likely to try and control what are often harmless, or even beneficial, insects and spiders. Take a look at the Guides Menu and Topics Menu to see what we cover.
There are many excellent guidebooks available, both printed and online, that can help you identify an unknown specimen. The big advance in recent years is that you now have access to high quality bug images online (see the Links below). Be cautious however -- occasionally images you find online are misidentified. Be sure to judge the overall reliability of a site before depending on the stated identification and check at least two different sites if possible.
Using printed and online resources makes insect identification possible even for novices. With a little practice you'll be able to "sight id" the major groups. You should be able to tell the many insects orders apart as well as distinguish spiders from insects, identifiy some ticks and so forth.
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| External anatomy of a flea. Original drawing from CDC Pictorial Keys To Arthropods, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals of Public Health Significance. 1967. |
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Arthropod Classification
The word "arthropod" means jointed leg or foot. It includes the crustaceans - crabs and their relatives - and the insects, and their relatives like spiders, ticks, scorpions, centipedes, and millipedes.
The Class Insecta, or Hexapoda, includes the insects, and their close relatives, while the Class Arachnida includes the spiders, mites, ticks, scorpions, and some other minor groups. There are well over 20 insect Orders alone. The major insect groups for gardeners are true bugs, aphids, scale insects, beetles, ants, bees, and wasps, mosquitoes and other flies, and, moths and butterflies.
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| The best way to learn insect identification is to make a reference, or synoptic, collection. Start slowly with a few specimens you find in the garden. Use pictures and "keys" to identify these as best you can. If you have access to a university you'll likely find people there willing to help. Stick with it. You'll start to see patterns and soon things will begin to make sense.
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Help with insect identification
How to Know the Insects (more information ) -- spiral-bound reference for adult insects with excellent drawings, keys to insect orders
How to Know the Immature Insects (more information) -- spiral-bound, excellent drawings of immature insects with identification keys
Tools you'll need - a good hand lens or stereo-microscope, reference materials, and collecting equipment. If you intend to make a permanent display, see "Collecting & Preserving Insects - Part 1, Part 2" for more information.
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
Please see the Disclaimer statements as well (sorry, but these really are necessary).
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