Insects make up the largest group of animals, with over a million described species, and an estimated 5.5 million species in total, though such estimates vary widely. Insects are 6-legged arthropods (segmented animals with jointed legs and an exoskeleton), with 3 main body sections, one pair of antennae and 4, 2 or no wings.

Insects are divided into major groups, or orders; members of these groups share combinations of certain characteristics derived through their common ancestry, such as wing type and number, arrangement of feeding structures (“mouthparts”), types of antennae, life cycle, and the like.

The Garden is home to many insect species with a variety of ecological roles and habits. They are herbivores, scavengers and detritivores, pollinators, parasites, or predators of other insects, for example. Most are terrestrial, but some are aquatic.

Some you will see easily and often, such as butterflies and their caterpillars, many of our larger bees, or some common beetles. Others might only present themselves indirectly by leaving “signs”: stippled, chewed or mined leaves; frass (insect poop); sticky honeydew (another form of poop); or abnormal plant growths (galls) inside of which they feed.

This guide is meant to help you find and appreciate a few of the insects that make their homes here. There are about 30 major groups of insects; included here are 8 you are likely to encounter in the Garden.

• Flies

• Bees, wasps, and ants (order Hymenoptera)

• Beetles (order Coleoptera)

• Moths and butterflies (order Lepidoptera)

• True bugs (order Hemiptera)

• Grasshoppers and crickets (order Orthoptera)

• Dragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata)

• Thrips (order Thysanoptera)