68 Introduction

Introduction

This lab is the second covering the mecopteroid orders. As usual, your goal is to learn how to identify various common insects to order and/or family level using the keys in your text, online resources, other students, and me (when in doubt, ask an entomologist). The lab should take you approximately three hours to complete. A short quiz will be available when you have finished the lab, so that you can practice your identification skills.

The mecopteroids include five orders of insects:

• Trichoptera, the caddisflies;
• Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths;
• Siphonaptera, the fleas;
• Mecoptera, the scorpionflies;
• and Diptera, the true flies.

We saw the first two orders in the previous lab, and the last three orders are covered in this lab. If your collection includes orders or families not covered in the lab, they still need to be identified to family. If you need help with that, please let me know!