Insects surround us! They are big and small -- from showy swallowtails and darner dragonflies to minute parasitoids and leaf litter critters. Some insects are colorful and charismatic, and others are drab and obscure.
Insects are broadly subdivided into orders. The five largest orders include: Hymenoptera (sawflies, ants, bees, & wasps), Coleoptera (beetles), Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies), Diptera (flies, gnats, mosquitoes), and Hemiptera (stink bugs, aphids, cicadas, etc.). At Cornell, you can find representatives of 24 out of the 28 orders of insects!
Not only is there a diversity of insect species, families, and orders that can be found on campus, but at Cornell we also have a huge collection of museum specimens from around the globe. The Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC) houses over 7 million specimens which are available to researchers worldwide. Cornell undergraduate students are active participants in the curation of the CUIC specimens. Some of the insects collected by the students in our course will be deposited in the museum and be maintained for future scientific studies.
Header photo: winter stonefly (order Plecoptera, family Capniidae). This adult insect is about a quarter of an inch long and can be found walking on the snow! Stoneflies are a sign of a healthy stream. At Cornell, a winter stonefly may be encountered near Fall Creek or Cascadilla Creek. Look for them in late January into February while on your walk around campus. photo taken by E. Murray in late January 2017
