Insects

This page is the starting point to reach all my insect pages. The first few pages are designed to learn more about insects. Then follow some pages with proverbs and quotes about insects. And finally some scripts to simulate insect population growth.

Entomology for beginners

insect

When I started making web pages in 1995, the first page I made was Entomology for beginners. It gives a short introduction to what insects are, how they look, and how they reproduce.

 

Butterflies for beginners

The most popular insects are butterflies. Butterflies for beginners is a good place to start learning about these beautiful insects and their caterpillars. Also included are some proverbs and interesting facts about butterflies.

 

Good Insects and Bad Insects

Some insects are pests, they amage our crops or transmit diseases. Others are useful, such as the honey bee. Have a look at these : Good Insects and Bad Insects.

 

Insect classification

There are many thousand species of insects. To keep them apart they are classified in different orders such as butterflies and beetles. This page is an introduction to the classification of insects.

 

Key to insect orders

Recognizing insect orders is not always very easy. A dichotomous key to insect orders can sometimes be a useful tool especially when you are a beginner in entomology. Observe the insect and follow the questions in the key, and they will lead you to the correct answer.

 

Proverbs and quotes about insects and spiders

For years I have been collecting proverbs and quotes about insects and spiders. By now it is a big collection and still growing. Enjoy it and if possible help me to add more proverbs or quotes to the collection.

 

Insects and spiders in Harry Potter books

When reading the series of Harry Potter books I discovered a lot of insects and spiders and started collecting them. I still have to reread a few of the books to complete my collection of Insect, Spiders and Harry Potter.

 

The Butterfly Effect

One butterfly can change the world. The Butterfly Effect has certainly worked for me; because of one single butterfly I am now an entomologist

 

Insects alphabet

A is an Ant, B is a Beetle, C is ??? Find out in my Insect Alphabet if I have managed to cover all 26 letters of the insects ABC.

 

Simulation model of an insect population

Just for the fun of it I tried to make a simulation model of an insect population. The script tries to simulate population growth of a well-known insect pest, the Diamond-Back Moth (Plutella xylostella)

 

Simulation model of pest control

Another simulation script to run a simulation model of pest control in an insect population. The model first simulates pest control using pesticides and then it simulates the effect of predators and parasitoids to keep pest population under control.

 

Simulation model of an insect developing pesticide resistance

This script is a simulation of pesticide resistance development in an insect population. The model demonstrates how a ‘resistance gene’ gets selected by pesticide sprays and what happens when you stop spraying.

 

See also: Insects, mites and diseases recorded on crops in Ghana

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