# Identifying insects



## jackiex_x (Sep 11, 2011)

How do you all seem to know the name of all these insects? Is there an app or website you all use? I know spider, moth, ladybird and other basic ones and that's it.


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 11, 2011)

Reader's Digest North American Wildlife.


----------



## MTVision (Sep 11, 2011)

There is an iPhone app too.


----------



## Forkie (Sep 12, 2011)

Some people are just interested in wildlife!  Back in my school days we used to go on trips to the woods and find all the insects within a square metre, then name them.  We also learnt the names of trees, wild flowers, birds mammals and whatever other wildlife was in the area. 

Sadly it's a dying knowledge with the bureaucracy and health and safety involved in school field trips.  Kids these days can't tell a mighty Oak from a Sycamore or a Kestrel from a Thrush.

These may help get you started!:

Insects
Birds
Trees


----------



## Forkie (Sep 12, 2011)

480sparky said:


> Reader's Digest North American Wildlife.



Not much use in Wales, Sparky!


----------



## cgipson1 (Sep 12, 2011)

jackiex_x said:


> How do you all seem to know the name of all these insects? Is there an app or website you all use? I know spider, moth, ladybird and other basic ones and that's it.



Site I use primarlly are :

Welcome to BugGuide.Net! - BugGuide.Net

Insect and Spider Identification - Details on North American Bugs  (may not help much since you are in the UK!)

These are specialty sites... spiders and dragonflies...

Spider Identification Guide

OdonataCentral


----------



## cgipson1 (Sep 12, 2011)

Forkie said:


> Some people are just interested in wildlife!  Back in my school days we used to go on trips to the woods and find all the insects within a square metre, then name them.  We also learnt the names of trees, wild flowers, birds mammals and whatever other wildlife was in the area.
> 
> Sadly it's a dying knowledge with the bureaucracy and health and safety involved in school field trips.  Kids these days can't tell a mighty Oak from a Sycamore or a Kestrel from a Thrush.
> 
> ...



Forkie.. thanks! Some sites I didn't have! The more the better!  I do agree about the educational opportunities that kids miss today... with all of the liability, and "PC" crap that goes on. It is terrible.


----------



## subscuck (Sep 12, 2011)

They used to teach us some stuff in school.


----------



## Overread (Sep 12, 2011)

subscuck said:


> They used to teach us some stuff in school.



Sadly these days you're lucky if they teach the useful stuff past pre-school -- its all SATS tests and stuffs these days


----------



## jackiex_x (Sep 14, 2011)

MTVision said:


> There is an iPhone app too.


 
My sister checked her iphone for an app and couldn't find one, I can't find one on my android either


----------



## JG_Coleman (Sep 14, 2011)

> How do you all seem to know the name of all these insects? Is there an  app or website you all use? I know spider, moth, ladybird and other  basic ones and that's it.



I know this sounds _totally _crazy... but they do still make these awesome things called....... "books".  

Really though, there are excellent field guides that list anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of species of insects.  Another added benefit is that the good field guides also usually provide a key that helps you home in on the specific variety of insect such that you don't need to flip through every page waiting to find a picture that looks like what you've seen.

The one I use is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders (North America Edition).  But you can usually even find guides that outline the species found in a specific region, which helps to narrow things down a bit.

It's true that some online databases can list more species of insects than a field guide, however I find that in most circumstances, I check the field guide first.  Even if I can't find the EXACT insect I'm trying to look up, I can almost always find something close enough that when I finally resort to the internet, I don't have to mindlessly flip through a hundred pages to find what I'm looking for.


----------



## MTVision (Sep 14, 2011)

jackiex_x said:
			
		

> My sister checked her iphone for an app and couldn't find one, I can't find one on my android either



Bugs and insects

Garden bugs

Garden insects

Bugs in the garden


----------



## jackiex_x (Sep 15, 2011)

MTVision said:


> jackiex_x said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Thanks


----------

