Key to Australian Freshwater and Terrestrial Invertebrates



Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Hexapoda


Key to the Classes and Orders of Hexapoda

Common name: hexapods

The hexapods are the most diverse group of invertebrates. Like all arthropods, hexapods have a segmented body and limbs and a thick chitinous cuticle called an exoskeleton. All species have three body parts (head, thorax, and abdomen) and six legs, for which the group is named. Hexapoda contains the class Insecta as well as the smaller, wingless orders Diplura, Protura and Collembola. Nearly 70,000 species have been described from Australia, with over 700,000 species described worldwide. Diplurans, proturans and collembolans are soil dwelling, whilst some larval forms of insects can dominate freshwater environments. Many insects are winged as adults, and exhibit a wide range of behavioural traits, lifecycles, feeding habits and body forms.

Fly from Canberra, Australia
Insecta - Diptera - Fly from Canberra, Australia
Image credit: Wi Bing Tan
used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
Euzosteria sordida
Insecta - Blattodea - Euzosteria sordida
Image credit: Jean and Fred Hort
used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license
Collembola - Katianna sp. from Hobart
Collembola - Katianna sp. from Hobart, Tasmania
Image credit: Tony Daley
used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license
Rhinoceros beetle
Insecta - Coleoptera - Rhinoceros beetle
Image credit: Jeff Webb
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Rhinoceros beetle
Insecta - Odonata - dragonfly from NSW
Image credit: Richard Taylor
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Rhinoceros beetle
Insecta - Phthiraptera - human head louse
Image credit: Gilles San Martin
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Rhinoceros beetle
Insecta - Lepidoptera - hawk moth larva
Image credit: Dark Morelia
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Mating grasshopers from Queensland
Insecta - Orthoptera - Mating grasshopers from Queensland
Image credit: Matthew Kenwrick
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Monarch Butterfly
Insecta - Lepidoptera - Monarch Butterfly
Image credit: Jeff Smallwood
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Hymenoptera - native bee
Insecta - Hymenoptera - native bee, Western Australia
Image credit: Wi Bing Tan
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References and further information


ABRS Australian Faunal Directory: Hexapoda
Atlas of Living Australia: Hexapoda
Encyclopedia of Life: Hexapoda
Tree of Life: Arthropoda: Hexapoda
CSIRO Entomology: What Bug is that?

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