Key to Freshwater Arachnids (Spiders & Mites)

Key to Freshwater Arachnids (Spiders & Mites) This key is apart of the Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates. The Arachnida belongs to the Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Chelicerata, and is typically placed at the level of Class.  Arachnids are characterised by having 4 pairs of legs as adults and lacking antennae.  Their mouthparts are chelicerae; however,…

Key to Families of Australian Aquatic Molluscs

Key to Families of Australian Aquatic Molluscs This key is apart of the Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates. MOLLUSCA This large phylum is divided into several classes of which only the Bivalvia (bivalved molluscs) and Gastropoda (snails and slugs) are found in inland waters. BIVALVIA Bivalved molluscs occur commonly in marine and estuarine environments.  Four…

Key to Families of Australian Aquatic Crustacea

Key to Families of Australian Aquatic Crustacea This key is apart of the Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates. This key attempts to cover all families of Crustacea known to occur in Australian inland waters, fresh or salt, permanent or temporary, running or still. The first two characters enable a quick assignment to subclass or order.…

Key to Orders of Australian Aquatic Arthropoda

Key to Orders of Australian Aquatic Arthropoda This key is apart of the Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates. This intermediate-level key covers the huge and diverse phylum Arthropoda. The major classes of arthropod found in inland waters are Crustacea (all life stages) and Insecta (adults and/or larvae and/or pupae).  Lesser components of the fauna include…

Key to Class and Order of Australian Aquatic Flatworms

Key to Class and Order of Australian Aquatic Flatworms This key is apart of the Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates. The phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms) is divided into three classes and a large number of orders and families.  The class Turbellaria contains free-living and commensal species, and the majority of aquatic flatworms are members of this…

Key to Phylum and Class of Australian Aquatic Invertebrates

Key to Phylum and Class of Australian Aquatic Invertebrates This is the central key in this series of linked Keys to Australian Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates.  The key is designed to identify any specimen to a level corresponding approximately to Phylum or Class. For most major invertebrate groups this key points directly to a family-level subkey.  For arthropod…

Relhania and Macowania groups

Key to the southern African species of the Relhania and Macowania groups in the Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae) Southern Africa is an important distribution centre for the family Asteraceae as well as for the tribe Gnaphalieae. For this tribe it houses 24% of the world’s species. More remarkable is that 75% of the Gnaphalieae genera in southern…

Interactive key to Genera of Euphorbiaceae s.l., Salicaceae and Achariaceae

Interactive key to Genera of Euphorbiaceae s.l., Salicaceae and Achariaceae Current version. The current version of the Key was developed as a special joint project between Emma McLarnon (BSc Biology, Leeds University, 2008 – 2012; work placement at Kew 2010 – 2011) and the Malpighiales Team at Kew (Gill Challen, Sue Zmarzty). Taxonomic Scope: all genera of…

The South African Sarcophaginae

The South African Sarcophaginae The flesh flies (Family Sarcophagidae) are comprised of three subfamilies Sarcophaginae, Miltograminae and Paramacronychiinae. This project proposes to focus on members of the subfamily Sarcophaginae found within South Africa. Identifying flesh flies is generally recognized as a difficult challenge because the group is rather uniform in its external morphology. The identification of species within this subfamily is…