Entomology B/C

[SOnerd]

I just had regionals yesterday, and the test was pretty easy.
It was a Power Point with 49 questions and 40 slides. They played it through twice; the first time, we had 45 seconds on each slide. The second time, we only had 25 seconds. Some of the questions asked about defining characteristics of orders, and there was a lot of human impact stuff and identification. One of the questions had a picture of a clear winged moth, and it asked for the order. The moth looked exactly like a Hymenoptera, so I think it was just a trick.
There were also a couple of questions that asked for the family of an insect the list only goes to the order on, and I just put like Thysanopidae or something like that. If I had time, I looked through my field guide and tried to find the actual family for that insect (not on the list) and just wrote that down.

My partner and I were the only ones to actually stay for the whole time; most of the teams left after the PPT had played through once. There was a misspelling (GRRRR ) on the test. They spelled Thysanoptera like Thysanaptera.

[ceg7654]

I just had regionals yesterday, and the test was pretty easy.
It was a Power Point with 49 questions and 40 slides. They played it through twice; the first time, we had 45 seconds on each slide. The second time, we only had 25 seconds. Some of the questions asked about defining characteristics of orders, and there was a lot of human impact stuff and identification. One of the questions had a picture of a clear winged moth, and it asked for the order. The moth looked exactly like a Hymenoptera, so I think it was just a trick.
There were also a couple of questions that asked for the family of an insect the list only goes to the order on, and I just put like Thysanopidae or something like that. If I had time, I looked through my field guide and tried to find the actual family for that insect (not on the list) and just wrote that down.

My partner and I were the only ones to actually stay for the whole time; most of the teams left after the PPT had played through once. There was a misspelling (GRRRR ) on the test. They spelled Thysanoptera like Thysanaptera.

I have my Regional on Friday and I think I have ID and characteristics ok but the things that mess me up are anatomy and economic/environmental impact. I think I'll do okay though, my partner and I are working hard to memorize many random facts. Congratulations on your win!

[SOnerd]

I have my Regional on Friday and I think I have ID and characteristics ok but the things that mess me up are anatomy and economic/environmental impact. I think I'll do okay though, my partner and I are working hard to memorize many random facts. Congratulations on your win!

Thanks
I have found that it's a good idea to take up a lot of space (1/2 pageish) of your notes with anatomy diagrams.
That is, if you organize your notes by putting info about family/orders.

[Shreyas1030]

Recently at the New Albany invitational there was a section of the test about wing types. My partner and I knew most of them just from prior knowledge, but we got a couple wrong in that section. Does anyone know if there is a section of the Audubon Guide which specifies which orders have what type of wing types? Links to webpages about wing types would also be helpful.

[ceg7654]

Recently at the New Albany invitational there was a section of the test about wing types. My partner and I knew most of them just from prior knowledge, but we got a couple wrong in that section. Does anyone know if there is a section of the Audubon Guide which specifies which orders have what type of wing types? Links to webpages about wing types would also be helpful.

I don't use the Audubon, I use the NWF, but I also have the Audubon and I can't seem to find wing types in there. However, I have this really good site that has wing types as well as mouthparts, antennae types, etc. and it's super helpful. The wings section is kind of far, keep scrolling 'til you find it.
http://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/4015/morpology/
I really recommend this site to anyone who, like me, has trouble with anatomy(especially insect anatomy).

[PastorisFilius]

Has anyone found a reliable way to distinguish damselflies (coenagrionidae and lestidae) other than by wing venation?

[khuedang129]

Has anyone found a reliable way to distinguish damselflies (coenagrionidae and lestidae) other than by wing venation?

To me, coenagrionidae is more wider than lestidae. This probably might not help you, but it sometimes helps me!

[PastorisFilius]

Has anyone found a reliable way to distinguish damselflies (coenagrionidae and lestidae) other than by wing venation?

To me, coenagrionidae is more wider than lestidae. This probably might not help you, but it sometimes helps me!

Hey, thanks! Wing venation is reliable, but you often can't see them. The same is probably true for size, but it is an alternative.

[Anonymous2]

Can someone help explain the difference between Passilidae and Elateridae? I know the legs help some, but there has to be an easier way.

[PastorisFilius]

Can someone help explain the difference between Passilidae and Elateridae? I know the legs help some, but there has to be an easier way.

In passalidae, the elytra and pronotum are distinctly separated, like a bottleneck. In elateridae, there is some spacing, but very minimal. Elateridae's "posterior corners of the pronotum are pointed" or, more simply put, the pronotum has two points that point down the side, like flat spines. In addition to this, there is the leg differences and also passalidae usually has obvious mandibles while elateridae does not.