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Insect Taxonomy - Science topic

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I have three field margin types (grassy/shrubby/tree) and each type have 5 sites. I need to calculate Shannon index for insect counts from each field margin type....
Q1. In my case how should I calculate Shannon index? Should I calculate first for each sites and giving their mean in my table(refer attachment) or neglecting the sites and taking the total count among each field margin types to calculate Shannon index.. Which one will be the perfect?
Q2. And also I need to test the statistical significance of Shannon index between various field margin types.. which test will be best to compare Shannon indices?
Please refer my attached table to get idea of what I need exactly.
Thank you very much
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You can compare the values of Shannon Information across sites using free software PAST
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All having characteristic of Dermacentor marginatus e.g., palp articles 2 posterior spur length is short on the dorsal surface.
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it is better to keep them as Dermacentor spp because they exhibit a big variation of ornates and colors however you can look for D. variabilis nymph or D. andersoni and D. occidentalis adults which are lighter usually (these latter are not common to Asia!)
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Dear all, could someone help me to identify this species ? (photos)
It is a weevil that causes damage to our sweet potatoes in the field.
Thanks
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Thank you for your contributions.
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Dear colleagues
A colleague photographed and preserved this single specimen in ethanol 96%. It is collected in a small freshwater lake in the Netherlands. We think it belongs to the genus Prostoma. Can anybody confirm our ID? and would somebody be interested in this material for DNA analysis?
Thanks
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Yes, seems very much like Prostoma
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About 5 years ago,I found one Gomphus species that had a intermediate position between some other described Gomphus species. Some characters of this species are resemble to Gomphus simillimus, G. schneideri, G. kinzelbachi, or even G. vulgatissimus.
If anyone have a idea about this species or is a expert person can help me. Compare plate with resemble species is attached.
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Greeting everyone!
I have also a problem with identification of female Gomphus from Georgia(Caucasus). At first glance, it looks like Gomphus schneiderii, but closer examination revealed certain differences in vulval scale stucture - accordfng "Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe: 2nd edition" by Dijkstra and Asmus Schröter, 2020 the tips of vulval scale are pointy while the tips of my specimen are rounded. (picture attached).
Could it be intraspecific variation?
Thanks you in advance!
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    My research topic is to explore the biogeograpgic patterns of species richness of insects. I have the regional richness data of all insects and different orders from many locations. It's well known that insects include c. 30 orders with different numbers of species and phylogenies. I want to group different insect orders into several groups, and make a clear description of their diversity patterns. The problem is in grouping different insect orders into several groups.
    I'm also looking for someone interested in this project. Please contact me if you want to join me. 
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By taxonomic characters for example the order of Lepidoptera includes butterflies
The diptera order include flies
The hymenoptera order includes bees, wasps, hornets and ants
Coleoptera includes bettles
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A friend is sending me 15 Blattidae sp. "African Bullet" roaches so that I can formally ID them and publish the species description in a scientific paper. The roaches originate from a domestic colony- founding members were collected from a log at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. This species has been commonly misidentified as Bantua robusta.
This is my first time writing a species description paper. Does anyone have links to existing papers that would make good examples/templates for my paper? Or advice that I could use when going about this project?
I have the details about exactly how I will perform my dissections more or less straightened out. What I am less familiar with is the process of writing the paper, and exactly what information is usually included in these papers.
Unfortunately I am in a situation where I do not have the strength to leave my house due to an infection with a serious case of late-stage Lyme disease + co-infections. I figured this might be an important factor to mention.
I am hoping to write this paper as a sort of "screw you" to my disease, and so I can continue to make progress even while I cannot attend college. Any help that anyone could offer would be incredibly valuable, and I thank you in advance!
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The mycological side of things:
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Found in Turkey on peony flower buds.
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Yes, is Tropinota squalida
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I am interested in the size of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and would like to know what is the smallest known species of this group of insects. It is probably a Nepticulidae (pigmy moths). The species in my figure below (unidentified) measures about 4 mm with the wings spread, and its dry body weight was 0.3 micrograms (0.03 mg).
We are generally more impressed by the higher figures (the oldest tree, the heaviest vertebrate…) than by the minima. Thus for instance one can read about the largest moths (Thysannia, Attacus: http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/index.shtml). However 'smallness' has interesting biological implications (see the recent book by A. Polilov 'At the Size Limit - Effects of Miniaturization in Insects'). I have seen descriptions of other nepticulids in the same range of size as 'my' species (around 4 mm: Dooren weerd et al.: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.12212/full). Perhaps there are slightly smaller European species (some Stigmella spp., e.g.: http://lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Stigmella_Magdalenae).
So, does anybody know of any moth smaller than 3.5 / 4.0 mm?
Thanks!
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Dear Munira Nasiruddin,
Dear colleagues,
We kindly suggest, prior to providing your answers in this discussion, to read about results of the most recent study (attached above and in the current message). Do you know anything smaller among Lepidoptera than is mentioned in the paper? Let us know please if you possess such info. We can expect that there might be many more extremely small species in the tropics and subtropics.
So far, the minimal recorded forewing length was found to be around 1.2–1.3 mm and the wingspan around 2.6–2.8 mm in two families, the Gracillaridae and Nepticulidae. Among Lepidoptera, the following species have the smallest moths globally: the European Johanssoniella acetosae (Stainton), the Peruvian Simplimorpha kailai Stonis & Diškus, the Mexican Stigmella maya Remeikis & Stonis, the Mediterranean S. diniensis (Klimesh), the Mediterranean Parafomoria liguricella (Klimesh) (Nepticulidae), the South East Asian Porphyrosela alternata Kumata, and the Central African P. desmodivora De Prins (Gracillariidae) (see Stonis et al. 2021).
Kind regards,
Andrius
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These mites were found on strawberry plants (Belgium). Anybody an idea of the Family or Superfamily? Or recommended keys of mesostigmata?
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I confirm it is a soil mite of the Macrochelidae family
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Based on the many publications from several decades, we came across many classifications of Insects. Among them which one is more updated and approved classification that can be used for research, academics and teaching purpose?
Thank you.....
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The most recient is the Book "Insect systematics and principles of cladoendesis", wich is published in Russian in 2020. English version is in preparing. Information about the adopted basic classification is here: http://www.insecta.bio.spbu.ru/z/sys-ins.htm
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On July 20, 2020 at 2 p.m., 20 days before his eightieth birthday, the heart of Andrey Lvovich Lobanov stopped beating.
ANDREY LVOVICH LOBANOV - Leading Researcher of the Laboratory of Insect Taxonomy, Candidate of Biological Sciences, founder and permanent editor and webmaster of the supersite "Beetles (Coleoptera) and Coleopterologists".
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Everyone hopes that his project https://www.zin.ru/Animalia/Coleoptera/
will live
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I have a problem confirming some specimens which identified as B. neocognata using the Dorsalis CD-ROM however the costal bands of my specimens are confluent R+3. In many references such as Dorsalis CD-ROM, Drew & Hancock, 1994, and Drew & Romig, 2013, it's written that B. neocognata costal band is overlapping or slightly overlapping R2+3. Is there any chance of B. neocognata with costal band confluent to R+3?
Thank you very much.
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probably yes
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The insect was sighted in Mbarara - Uganda (Tropical Climate).
Coordinates of region sighted: 0.6072° S, 30.6545° E.
Feeding: The insect seems to be a pest preferring spicy vegetables and plants such as Rosemary (Salvia Rosmarinus), Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), Vegetable-Dodo (amaranth), & mint species.
Observable traits (see photographs attached): 3 pairs of Legs, a pair of short antennae (2 – 5 mm), no pronounced wing growth, and exo-skelton or outer cuticle soft to the touch.
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Hi Nelson. At last, I am almost 100% certain of the species of these nymphs. They belong to Dictyophorus griseus, the grey foam grasshopper. Once you upload a photo of an adult, we can confirm this without doubt.
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This Amegilla bee was observed foraging on small plant in suburban area of south Punjab, Pakistan. Will you please help me to identify its species? South Punjab climate is mostly hot and arid with annual precipitation of about 100-150 mm.
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We can diffentiate Amegilla based on their clypeus marking (black) also
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Despite of its economic importance little seems to be known about the development of the frequency of Hylotrupes bajulus (European House borer, house longhorn beetle, old house borer). In the fantastic study of Lindhe et al. (2010) evidence for a dramatic decline of the beetle in the last 100 years in Sweden was presented. A questionnaire returned by 104 experts allows the estimation of a similar decline in Germany (to be published 2016 or 2017). Does anybody know of data or estimates for other countries? Even a simple statement of your personal estimation of the development of Hylotrupes in your own country would be helpful. Thank you
Lindhe, A.; Jeppsson, T.; Ehnström, B. (2010): Longhorn beetles in Sweden - changes in distribution and abundance over the last two hundred years. Entomologisk Tidskrift 2010 Vol. 131 No. 4 pp. 241-508. ISSN 0013-886X .
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Here in C. Greece, although I search every summer quite a lot for saproxylic beetles in big, old coniferous forests (Mt. Ossa, Pindos Mts., Olympos Mt.,..) with many dead trees, I have encountered only very few specimens of Hylotrupes bajulus over the years (all females) there. Always, only single specimens encountered, and never found it to be common. It worths to mention that, in buildings, I only found it once in my life recently (1 female specimen) in the suburbs of Larisa city.
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All these moths (Family Erebidae) were photographed from Bhutan. About 140 species were photographed, of which around 120 has been identified. I am looking for a person who can help me to authenticate my identifications and suggest ID for the remaining unidentified species. (Unfortunately, all the moths are in photographs as the voucher collection in Bhutan is illegal)
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Pericyma cruegeri
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Applied entomology, Research work, PhD project
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As per stage of larvae is concerned, its really difficult to identify as I personally experienced. Some will say you to see caudal hair pencil, some will size, and some will of less body girth. But in actual phenomenon they could not work so far successfully. However, the followings might be assisting.
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Found in university campus, India
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Following
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I found these insect pests on the Sal (Shorea robusta) trees. I found these trees were dying due to an unknown pest. I found these two pest only on the affected trees. These does not seem to be Sal borers are they? Can anybody identify these pests for me please?
Thanks in advance
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Following
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A recent analysis made on Cerambycids sold by a local seller as collected in "Saraburi" during the late 80s years revealed that they are all Malayan or even Bornean species.
Moreover, the collection dates correspond to a season where no insect can be found on flowers in southern Thailand.
The "impossibility" to find such species in Saraburi is confirmed by the fact that Chrysomelidae collected in Saraburi in the 50s years  (Kimoto & Gressitt, 1979; 1981) does not include Bornean species, but only Indo-Chinese ones.
This problem concerns many species recorded as new for Thailand and even new species, whose original locality is "Saraburi".
The same problem can also concern all other group of insects subject to commercial trade, with patent biogeographic and/or taxonomic dramatic consequences..
Do you have further informations?
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Sabine Steinke is the wife of Hilmar Lehmann. They lived in Saraburi/Nakhon Rachasima area back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were dealing in insects, and I should say that their data should be treated with some suspicion.
As for Chiang Mai, which is where I have lived for more than 30 years, sometimes well-meaning Japanese collectors have given local catchers specimens from elsewhere as a gift, and of course they just take them to the dealers in town but don't tell them how they obtained them, so the dealers assume they caught them in the forest. I know of another instance where a researcher bought specimens from a dealer in Chiang Mai back in 1966 and recently these became type specimens of a non-existant new subspecies from northwestern Thailand. Unfortunately the dealer must have obtained these from eastern Thailand and not told the buyer, who assumed they came from Chiang Mai, but that species does not occur in NW Thailand at all.
One time a dealer called me asking why one of their collectors from Wiang Papao brought a specimen of Graphium phidias (an Annamese Mts species) in for sale. After some checking I found out that a Lao collector visited from Sam Neua, where the species can be found, and brought one with him as a gift. Of course this species does not occur anywhere near Thailand, it is only found on the mountains bordering Laos and Vietnam.
I am sure this can happen in many parts of the world, and caution should be exercised with data of all specimens. In fact even data of old museum specimens may be suspect, as sometimes it was falsified to protect the origin of valuable commercial material, as well as the issue mentioned above for the origin of very old material.
A more recent problem occurred with a recently deceased Chinese insect dealer who lived in Vientiane and used to sell specimens with false data in order to either sell more of them or sell them at an increased profit. I may be alluding to the same person as Michael Geiser above. This rogue dealer was well known for selling many different types of insects with false data, and unfortunately in future museum researchers will not be able to distinguish such specimens from those with reliable data. An Australian dealer once sent me some specimens of 2 species supposedly collected in Laos that he was suspicious about which came from this Chinese dealer. From the phenotype they clearly came from Sichuan. Those species do not actually occur in Laos at all, but the Chinese dealer was selling them for 5 times the price of the same specimens at source.
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We have as many as 6000 samples of insects (dragonfly, grasshoppers, moth, butterfly, beetles) in our insectarium. We are looking for collaboration to identify and publish them.
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Do you have Chalcidoidea specimens?
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During my field studies of water- and saproxylic- Coleoptera of Serbia I regularly use some non selective methods for attracting and collecting beetles (light traps, baited traps, pitfall traps…). Usually I separate all beetles from samples, including  the representatives of families that I am not interested. The separated material I conserve and pack; mainly in paper cylinders but also in 70% alcohol. Over time, a large number of individuals and species (Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Aphodidae etc…) were accumulated.  I am ready to provide this material to interested researches for further study. In return, I am not asking for anything. Only the list of identified species for my database.
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Dear colleague
I'm interested in Silphidae, Agyrtidae. Leiodidae (Catopidae, Cholevidae), Dermestidae. If yoy have any specimens of those families please contact with me.
Best regards, Sergey
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Hi Mehmet, since it is from E Anatolia, then it is P. koniae.
P. vulpes, proposed in various answers, is similar, but
- normally much less hairy (although quite hairy populations are known on Balkans)
- normally ochre to orange (unually reddish specimens may anyway occur)
- in Turkey, only known to occur in W Anatolia
P. monticola is also similar, but never so red and never so hairy and limited to Taurus rougly between Adalia and Mersin.
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This  green metallic bug with red abdomen was found on Coffea arabica plants in Colombia. Need to know the family and species. Thanks.
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Obviously it's from Sphictyrtus sp. May be the species is Sphictyrtus chryseis. But for being confirmed there's need more salient diagnostic features.
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DNA barcoding has various advantages over the conventional taxonomy in identifying a species. Can it eliminate the insect taxonomy in future?
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No, for sure not, it is a great tool, but not the silver bullet. Look at chromatography, cuticular hydrocarbons, karyotyping etc. They were very hot and sexy methods, many people were hired in great positions because they used them, and now, they are a side-note, not completely useless, but surely not as hot as 20 or 30 years ago.
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Dear researchers, Dr and Prof.
I'm currently working on the abundance and diversity of insects of MUST, Mbeya region, in Tanzania. Anyone please assist to identify the attached insects
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I confirme
3, 4 & 5 Coleoptera Tenebrionidae
I'am sure that
2 isn't a Dytiscidae and 4 isn't a Carabidae
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Please help me sharing some information on the identification keys of soil organisms in genera and species level
topics
Soil organisms, ants, termites, and earthworms in tropical soils 
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"The Soil Biology Guide" (Dindal 1990). This book is one of the
most important sources for soil fauna.
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I have found this structure attached to the abdominal sclerites of Hydraena (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae), from a high mountain river in north Spain. The beetle has about 2 mm length and the structure about 0,1-0,2 mm. Could it be a kind of ephippia?
Thank you for your help
Maria
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Dear colleagues,
It's nice to communicate that we have resolved the mistery. The specimen is a suctoria epibiont protozoan, a new species  that we have described in:
GREGORIO FERNÁNDEZ-LEBORANS, MARÍA VALLADOLID, MERCEDES ARAUZO,
ANDRÉS MILLÁN, REGINA GABILONDO, MANUELA GALLARDO, LUIS JIMÉNEZ & MIREYA RAMÍREZ-BALLESTEROS. 2017. Epibionts on Hydraena species (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae) from high mountain rivers of Pyrenees (Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park), with the description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4317 (1): 79-94. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4317.1.3.
Best wishes
Maria
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Anyone does have this paper ? I don't find it on Internet:
Mutin, Va, 1983: A review of the genus Graptomyza Wiedemann, 1820 (Diptera, Syrphidae) in the USSR. Entomological review 62(3): 170-174
Thanks in advance !
V.N.
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Hi Valentin, Andrew
We are actually working with morphological description of larvae of Graptomyza from SouthAfrica. Will be nice to know more details of your research in the future or collaborate in a common project.
best
Santos
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Specimens come from the Crimea peninsula, but age is unknown (presumably Eocene).
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Пока не пересёкся, видимо, на даче
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May someone help me in the identification of this specimen caught in Tuscany in June. Thanks!
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Felipe Gil-T, exactly identified the butterfly!!!!
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Dear all,
This moth was pictured some days ago resting on the lowest branches of an old spruce in a mountain area in northern part of Norway. The camouflage on its back was absolutely perfect compared to the lichen growing on the stem and branches.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a name?
 Regards,
Jostein Lorås
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I cannot say it for absolutely sure from this photo, but I think this is
Epinotia crenana (HÜBNER, [1817]); Tortricidae, Olethreutinae
Best,
Rudolf Ritt
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This beetle has been reared from one of the numerous larvae that a colleague of mine collected from bee corpses (Apis mellifera) found on a hive bottom board. Size: ca. 1.5mm. Location: NE Ukraine.
To my layman's eye, this looks like a Cryptophagus sp. (some species of which have been reported from bee hives), but I am not sure. So any help in its identification would be much appreciated. 
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I obtained three parasitoids from the same batch of eggs from a Reduviidae bug from Colombia possibly from the Platygastridae family. There are few published records of parasitoids in Reduviidae eggs. I would like to know if anyone knows what genus and species are? The yellow individual may be an hyperparasitoid. If you have published records  please let me know.
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Hi,
I think that you have specimens belong to Telenomus (Scelionidae, Platygastroidea), possibly T. polymorphus Costa Lima, 1943, but I  am not sure because is difficult to identify the species level using only the pictures.
Best regards,  Ovidiu 
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I found bark beetle, probably Hypothenemus eruditus Westwood, 1836 (Curculionidae: Scolytinae), but I can't find any identification key to confirm it.
If anyone has it I will be grateful for sharing.
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Thank you for answers! I hope I'll find everything what I need.
Best regards,
R. Witkowski
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I am Ph.D. Scholar working on biology of little millet shoot fly (Atherigona sp.). I need taxonomic keys for genus Atherigona for species level characters
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I can also recommend: 
Pont, A. C., and Magpayo, F. R. 1995.  Muscid shoot-flies of the Philippine Islands (Diptera: Muscidae, genus Atherigona Rondani).  Bulletin of entomological Research, Supplement 3: 123 pp., 750 figs.
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Can somebody please help me with collecting specimens of brackish water serpulid Ficopomatus miamiensis in it type locality, Miami River, FL, USA?
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Sorry, I did not understand the answer
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I would like any kind of information about Culex identification. Keys, points, suggestions...
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In this URL you can find a book with a good keys on mosquitoes:
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Dear all;
I have recently found this insect near a lake. I want to recognize the species and the impacts on human.
Sincerely
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The insect is an adult chironomid (Diptera Nematocera Chironomidae). The family Chironomidae is very large and homogeneous, so it is not easy or not possible to recognize genera and species by a simple photograph. The antennal shape indicates that the specimen is a male. In this family, the larvae develop into water. As regards the impact on humans, chironomids, though resembling mosquitoes, are not blood-feeding insects and do not bite. Allergic phenomena (by contact, by inhalation) for humans have been reported in case of very abundant presence of adults (scams of many individuals emerging at the same time) in wetlands (brackish coastal areas, lakes, etc.). Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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does anyone knows ıd of these insects
the first three pictures equal. From Muğla/Turkey and about  1,5 cm
also the second two pictures equal. From  Manisa/Turkey 
please 
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Does anybody has experience with measuring the wing length of large living beetles? Of course without damaging them so they can be released and followed up? 
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After you anesthetized the beetles through cold shock (using fridge at 4 degrees) or CO2 gas, put the specimen under a digital microscope along with PC (USB microscope), make the image focus and then take the pic. Now then you can measure by using the image.
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I am currently planning a study on identifying the prey of a recently discovered Hydraena species in the Philippines using DNA-based methods. I have been looking for references on the diet of water beetles in general and on more specific taxa that Hydraena is a part, to no avail. Most studies I have found were descriptions of the morphology and habitat of water beetles. What could be the possible diet of a Hydraena species located in Southeast Asia?
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Thank you for all your answers! I have actually found a reference from J.M. Glime's Bryophyte Ecology book that summarizes studies performed on many aquatic insects. Species such as Hydraena gracilis, H. minutissima and H. pygmaea have been observed to be correlated with moss substrates in Northern Spain. Other species such as H. rufipes, H. nigrita and H. pulchella have also been correlated with moss substares across Europe. I think that the species that I'm working, H. ateneo, was found in ponds with moss. I will double check but I suspect that H. ateneo feeds on moss as well.
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I am working to identify local drosophila species morphologically. For Identification, I have " Drosophila: A Guide to Species Identification and Use Book by Patrick M. O'Grady and T.A. Markow ". It's a nice and comprehensive book.
Can you provide names of some other books/articles/materials, that can be helpful for Drosophila identification?
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Khandaker:
You would find this link useful:
Best
Syed
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My workshop's external siding seems to attract various kinds of things that do at least some of their growing inside a case of twigs, stones, or other junk.  Some of them look like fine felt.  Yesterday one of the cases was abandoned but not too far from where it had been, I saw a creature that was about the color (orange) as the occupant of the case.  It looked like a big ant but with interesting patterns in its wings. I snapped picture after picture (It was running around).  When I was cropping them, I saw that it seemed to have a pair of flies or wasps probably mating underneath its wings.  I wonder if this is a case of parasitoid flies or wasps whose female will lay her eggs in the abdomen of the host.  Anything you can tell me will be so helpful!  The creature was about a 10 mm in length....Much larger than the ~6 mm case.
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If the insect in the first photo is a larva of a casebearer moth, not only the family Psychidae can be taken into account, but also other families of Lepidoptera, e.g.  Tineidae and Oecophoridae. The most typical cases of larval psychids are quite different from the one in the photograph. Tineids and oecophorids are generally small moths, so their larval cases can be only 5 mm in size even for a mature larva. Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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Dear Dr. Notton, I am very interested on resultes of your works on parasitoids' Hymenoptera. Excuse my "ignorance" about the gebnus Heriades. Is it truly one Hymenoptera'genus? Sincerely yours and best wishes. a-panis@orange.fr
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Genus Heriades: Hymenoptera Apoidea, family Megachilidae,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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Purposes:
1. Take the picture of an insect from the ARP system;
2. Compare this picture with those in a image database;
3. Provide relevant results if the image is similar to some insect images; 
4. Collect GPS data while confirm some interesting insect groups; 
5. Automatic raise the question on the taxonomy informations if the previous image was possibly wrongly identified.
6. Share the image with taxonomy if the author would like to do it for other public media.
I wrote a blog in Chinese asking the same question below - 
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In this paper there  is a review with some examples for insects, plants and animals using images in field guides and identification keys: review and recommendations with App systems.
MEDL iPhone apps: TreeID, FishID. MEDL Mobile, Inc.; 2010. MEDL Mobile Ihttp://www.medlmobile.com/apps/iphone?app_q=id. 26 February 2011
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I have a collection of wasps of the superfamilies Platygastroidea and Proctotrupoidea from various regions of Poland. The material is preserved in alcohol. Can anybody help with the identifications? I can mount the specimens if it is necessary.
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Hi Bogdan,
You see, proper mounting is critical for identifying tiny insects. I prefer to mount parasitoids by myself. However it would save a lot of time for me if you could provide dry mounted insects.
I can offer a compromise, will you mount only some insects from every series for brief identification and leave the rest of the series in alcohol in order to I could mount them personally if it is necessary.
Best regards,
Alexander
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Entomology, Phytopathology, Integrated Pest Management
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Sir Sheku Kanteh,
Thank very much about some suggest for method or technique to research about Bactrocera spp. and has been interest to reply of my question.
Best regards
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This freshwater organism found in our lab. Having 3pairs of leg but appearance quite different then insect and so can't identity accurately. 
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As always, an indication of the size (length) of the specimen would be helpful. The insect in the photo (on the basis of the shape of head and abdomen, antennae, ecc.) reminds a juvenile stage, maybe the first instar, of a dragonfly (Odonata Anisoptera). I believe that this is the right identification. Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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This insect collected from storage products in southern Iraq. Any help for identification will be appreciated. Thanks
Ali
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Unfortunately, an indication of the size of this beetle was not given: it would be helpful. A photo taken from the  back (dorsally) would also be useful, mainly to see the shape of the head and pronotum. I suggest the familiy Carabidae and - as hypothesis - the  subfamily Lebiinae (see for example genera MIcrolestes, Dromius, Cymindis ...). Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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This assassin bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)  of the genus Arilus is from Colombia, It looks similar to Arilus cristatus,  carinatus and gallus.  Thank you.
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Thank you Alfonso for your great and precise answer. According to the description made by Herrera 2013, my specimen belongs to Arilus gallus ( A. gallus has the edges of the abdomen rounded or slightly sinuous like in the picture, while in A. cristatus is heavily sinuous).
Regards,
Luis Miguel
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Here I have attached to genitalia photograph of 2 Loepa sp.
Location: Naga Hills, Manipur, NE India.
Date of collection: July 2016
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Dear Jatishwor:
Yes, It is Loepa katinka. The type locality of Loepa katinka is Assam, a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas.  Your specimen is  from the Naga Hills  a district  of the Assam Province in northeastern India too.
According to Nässig & Treadaway (1988: 175)  the accepted type species of Loepa, Saturnia katinka Westwood, appeared to be based on a misidentification, and later (Nässig & Treadaway 1998: 389) noted that the accepted authorship of the genus, as Moore, 1860 in Horsfield & Moore, “1858–1859“, was incorrect. Nässig & Treadaway (1998) corrected the latter to Moore, 1859 but reserved resolving the apparent type species misidentification until a thorough literature study had been conducted and, if necessary, the case had been prepared for submission to the ICZN. 
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I collected a tick specimen from a rescued Eastern Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii ranjitsinhi) in Kaziranga National Park, Assam during August, 2016. Can anyone help me with the identification based on few photographs of the same clicked under 4X magnified compound microscope? The photographs have been attached herewith.
Regards
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Thank you everyone for the inputs. I will definitely do the needful. Thank you once again.
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I need to identify adult Bradysia, does anyone know of identification keys?
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Bradysia is most difficult, because most species rich genus of Sciaridae and is distributed worldwide. It is probably not wise to start with that genus in Brazil, where so little is known. You might however want to get in contact with Werner Mohrig, who has best studied the Neotropical Sciaridae and already prepared a lot of unpublished descriptions and drawings.
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An image from Java (Serang: Bulakan: Rawa lake National Park, 120-340m asl. 13.III.2011. author: Guido Bohne) found in Flickr shows a 'squid pygmy grasshopper' (Phaesticus mellerborgi, family Tetrigidae) standing on a leaf and having parasitoid hymenopteran (family Eulophidae, ID provided by @Doug Yanega) on its discus of the pronotum. 
First of all, I would like to know if anybody is has any information on identity of this tiny wasp (grasshopper is 10-14 mm in length without antennae). If not, I would lke to know if experts think that the tiny wasp is P. mellerborgi specific parasitoid?
Secondly, I would like to get any information on parasitoids of Tetrigidae, published and observed.
Some further information: Phaesticus mellerborgi is species living in peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java (on Borneo there is P. insularis). Species incuded in this genus have nymphs that are squid-like in appearance, with coloration. The species live in wet habitats , on the ground, eating detritus algae and mosses.
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For Indonesian Tetrigidae, please contact Josef Tumbrinck, number 1 specialist on this region
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I am currently planning to measure the compound eye of dozens of closely related insect species and wanted to get some sense of the best metrics.  As a start, I had planned to count ommatidia.  I also wanted to generate a metric related to % of head the compound eye covers, and to comparatively measure the optic lobe relative to head size.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Cheers!
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Hi Ian, 
 this is a very interesting article devoted to optomotor response of coffee berry borer
Best wishes, Ivan
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the specimen was taken from a decomposing meat 
wing pattern suggests muscidae 
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I think it would also be useful to indicate the region where the specimen was collected, and the length of the body. Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
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I am not sure whether this larva belongs to genus Fissimentum or Nilodosis based on its mid-cleft mentum. 
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Dear Viktor, thank you for answering my question. No, I found it at highland stream (400-500 m asl). The 3rd segment antenna is not annulated so it's definitely not Diamesinae. This specimen has been cleared using KOH and has been mounted too. The mandible has long apical tooth and 3 clumped inner teeth and broad seta subdentalis. What really caught my attention was the vmp has a circular shape without striae. 
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I'm a looking for a good dataset of european beetles that could be used for calibrate a method. Thank you
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Thank you very much Michal!
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We are looking for an entomologist / taxonomist who is willing to identify this Phytomiptera species (Diptera: Tachinidae) that we encounter in the Bolivian Altiplano.
This Phytomiptera is an endemic parasitoid of Eurysacca quinoae (Gelechiidae). Eurysacca larvae cause damage in quinoa crop cultivation.
Since PROINPA is a Bolivian NGO, we are not able to pay you for this job. But of course the scientific credits if it turns out to be a new species are yours!
(Dead samples send upon request)