Insect Identification

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Insect Identification Key
Identify Insects in Michigan ... and beyond!

Your answer to the previous question was that your insect has two pairs of wings.

This ladybug (bottom photo) displays its hard forewings and the larger, filmy hind wings that are used for flight. When the insect isn’t flying, the hind wings are folded and hidden away beneath the forewings (top photo). Ladybugs are also known as ladybird beetles, and are in the family Coccinellidae. Top photo by Leslie Mertz. Bottom photo: public domain.

Do the two pairs of wings differ greatly in structure, with the first being thick and hard or fibrous?

As an example, consider a ladybug (which is actually a type of beetle).

A ladybug has two pairs of wings, or four wings total. Two of the wings in a common ladybug are red with black spots. These wings are shiny and hard, and when the insect isn’t flying, they lay flat against its body. To fly, however, the ladybug uses a second pair of wings that unfold from beneath the black-spotted red pair. This second pair of wings is membranous (filmy and flexible). Ladybugs, therefore, have two pairs of wings that differ greatly in structure.

Click one of the following:

Yes, my insect has two pairs of wings that differ greatly in structure, with the first being thick and hard or fibrous.

No, my insect's wings are all similar in structure.

I would like to return to the start of this key.

Unless noted otherwise, photographs on this website are the property of the photographers and may not be reused without written permission from the photographers. To obtain permission, email the photographers here. High-resolution versions of the photographs are available.

Photos at the top of this website are (from left to right): potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) — photo credit: Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture; ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)— photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; sweat bee (Agapostemon splendens) — photo credit: Natalie Allen and Stephanie Kolski, U.S. Geological Survey; preying mantis, monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), hellgrammite (aka toe biter) larva and eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus) — photo credit: Leslie Mertz, DailyGraceCards.com; Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) — photo credit: Kay Meng, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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