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Frequently Asked
Questions on Entomology
Each year, the Entomological Society of
America (ESA) receives from the public hundreds of questions on
insects and entomology that cannot be answered by ESA
staff. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below have been
created to assist you in finding the information you seek. If
the information you need is not included here, then ESA does not
have the resources to provide it; please check with other
sources.
For media, law enforcement agencies, law
firms, and pest control companies seeking expert information, please click
here.
Where
can I get information on a specific insect?
Where
can I get an insect identified?
Where
can I find literature on entomological research?
Where
can I get photos or graphics of insects?
Where
can I purchase insect specimens (live or preserved) or
entomological supplies?
Where can I get information on importing
and/or exporting insects?
Where
can I get information on rearing and caring for insects?
Where
can I get information about insects as human food?
Are
there any Internet indexes on entomology?
Where
can I get help regarding a pest problem in my home, office
building, etc?
Where
can I get an insect pest identified?
Where
can I get information about a certain pesticide?
Where can I find a certified
entomologist to help me with my pest problem?
I
was bitten by an insect, mite, or spider. Where can I find a
specialist on it?
What
is delusional parasitosis and where can I get information about
it?
What educational
materials does
ESA offer?
Where
can I get a copy of the brochure Discover Entomology?
Where
can I get information on careers in entomology?
Which
colleges or universities are best for an entomology education?
How
many entomologists are there in the world?
How
many insects are there in the world? And how many different
species of insects are there?
What
is the largest insect? What is the smallest insect? Etc.
Are
there any poisonous insects?
What
is the difference between an insect and a bug?
Is
it illegal to kill a praying mantis?
Are
spiders insects?
Does
the United States have a national insect?
General
Information
Where
can I get information on a specific insect?
A wide variety of resources exist on the
Internet and at libraries. You may want to check out Entomological Internet Resources,
indexes of entomological web sites, as well as our
list
of societies devoted to specific insects or specific
subjects within the science of entomology.
For information on an insect specific to
your state, contact your local
Extension Service office; click
here
to locate the extension office nearest you. Or you can check out a Department of Entomology at a university
in your state (click
here for
our listing), or your state's entomological society (click
here for a listing).
Where
can I get an insect identified?
There are several resources for insect
identification. You can locate insect identification keys in books at
your local library or on the Internet. You can also contact your local
Extension Service office; click
here
to locate the extension office nearest you.
For insect infestations that are causing
serious
medical or economic problems, you may try the
Systematic
Entomology Laboratory with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, or for
medical-related infestations, see the Centers for Disease
Control's
Identification
and Diagnosis of Parasites of Public Health Concern
or the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Computerized
Disease Vector Identification Keys.
For information on pest control, please
visit our FAQs on pest control.
Where
can I find literature on entomological research?
ESA publishes four journals that are
available on its web site for subscribers: Annals of the
Entomological Society of America, Environmental
Entomology, the Journal of Economic Entomology, and
the Journal of Medical Entomology. Some of the articles
are available for free via the web site, but others require a
subscription or a reprint purchase. To access the
journal, click
here.
BIOSIS
is a non-profit organization that offers an online database
containing a large collection of abstracts and bibliographic
references to worldwide biological and medical literature.
Another resource,
AGRICOLA,
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural
Library, is a bibliographic database of citations to
agricultural and related literature, including entomology.
Where
can I get photos or graphics of insects?
ESA does not offer photos or graphics of
insects. However, there are a variety of sources on the
Internet. Hosted by the University of
Georgia, the
Bugwood Network offers a wealth of photos.
In addition to insect images, Bugwood also
provides images related to forestry, invasive and exotic
species, and agriculture (through the integrated pest management
section).
There are also listings of image galleries
offered through Iowa State University's
Entomology Index of Internet Resources.
Other sources include image search engines offered by web sites
such as
Google's
Image Search
and
Ditto,
university
departments of entomology, and federal
government agencies, such as the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
Agricultural Research Service Image Gallery and the agency's
Office of Communications Photo Library.
Where
can I purchase insect specimens (live or preserved) or
entomological supplies?
Check out our online
Buyer's
Guide.
For particular species of live insects, if the Buyer's Guide
does not cover the species for which you are looking, search the
Internet for institutions where that insect is being studied,
and ask the researchers there where they acquired the insects.
Where can I get
information on importing and/or exporting insects?
There are a variety of resources on the
Internet about importing and exporting insects into and out of
the United States and other countries. They include:
Where
can I get information on rearing and caring for insects?
There are books and web
sites devoted to keeping insects and arachnids. On the Web,
check out Insecthobbyist.com
and Petbugs.com.
You may also want to search the Internet for insect "care
sheets."
Where
can I get information about insects as human food?
The act of humans eating insects
is called entomophagy.
The
Food Insects Newsletter offers articles, information
on entomophagical books, and a listing of food insect links.
Are
there any Internet indexes on entomology?
Yes, there are several Entomological
Internet Resources. Use them when looking for answers to
entomological questions not included in our FAQs. These indexes
include Colorado State University's
Entomology
on the WWW, the
Electronic
Zoo's Invertebrate page, the
Illinois State Academy of Science
Links
of Interest in Entomology, Iowa State
University's
Entomology
Index of Internet Resources, Texas
A&M University's
Insect
Lnks,
and Virginia Tech's
Insects
on the WWW.
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Pest
Control
Where
can I get help regarding a pest problem in my home, office
building, etc?
ESA offers for sale the
Handbook
of Household and Structural Insect Pests,
an
easy-to-understand manual on the different types of insects
pests infesting structures, how to identify them, and what pest
control methods work best. You also may view sample pages of the handbook
via the above link.
Also, check out the
National
Pest Management Association
(NPMA). Their Consumer Information section on their web
site provides FAQs on common insect pests, as well as tips on
preventing pests and on selecting a pest control professional.
NPMA also offers a consumer message board where a pest expert
will answer your questions, as well as a professional referral service,
should you need a professional.
Where
can I get an insect pest identified?
Click here
for information on getting an insect identified.
Where
can I get information about a certain pesticide?
ESA offers
Arthropod
Management Tests, a annual publication containing short
reports on preliminary and routine screening tests for
management of beneficial and harmful arthropods. The pest
management methods reported in this publication include the use
of chemical pesticides, as well as other materials such as
insect growth regulators, semiochemicals (pheromones, kairomones,
etc.), traps, biological control agents, pest-resistant plants,
and animals. Subscription information is available via the above
link.
Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA)
Pesticide
Product Information System
contains information on all pesticide products registered in the
United States. The files are presented in ASCII so they may be
used in a variety of database and spreadsheet software. EPA also
offers the
Pesticide
Product Label System, a collection of images of
pesticide labels that have been approved by EPA.
Where can
I find a certified entomologist to help me with my pest control
problem or contract?
ESA offers a certification
program for entomologists as well as pest control operators.
Rosters for
these certified entomologists are available on our website.
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Medical
Issues
I was
bitten by a spider, mite, or insect. Where can I find a
specialist on it?
First, consider seeking medical attention.
You may also consider contacting your local, county, or state
department of public health. For additional information on spiders, check out the
American
Arachnological Society or the
University
of California-Riverside. For mites,
check out the
Acarological
Society of America. For a
listing of web sites related to spiders, mites, and other
arthropods of medical importance to humans, check out the
Arachnology
web site.
For pest identification, click
here.
What
is delusional parasitosis and where can I get information about
it?
Delusional parasitosis is a
mistaken belief that someone is being infested by parasites such
as mites, lice, and other organisms. For information on this
psychological condition, please visit
MedScape on the subject.
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Education
& Careers
What
educational materials does ESA
offer?
ESA offer a small amount of materials that
educate high school and undergraduate students on the role
entomology plays in the world and careers in entomology. For
details, please click here. For educational materials for younger
students, please visit the
Entomological
Foundation's educational resources.
Where
can I get a copy of the brochure Discover Entomology?
Click here to view a PDF
version of the brochure and to print it, or you can request
printed copies of the brochure by e-mailing
sro@entsoc.org.
Where
can I get information on careers in entomology?
The science of entomology offers a wide
array of career choices. There is no stereotypical or
average work environment, pay range, duties, and education. For
more information on entomology as a career, click
here.
Another source is the Young Entomologists' Society's Careers
in Entomology.
For job opportunities in entomology
currently available in the United States, check out our
online listing.
Which
colleges or universities are best for an entomology education?
ESA does not rate educational
institutions. However, we do offer
a listing of North American universities
and colleges where entomology can be studied.
For opinions on certain
institutions, you may want to contact a university's student
entomology club and ask current students for their opinions;
click
here
for a listing.
How many
entomologists are there in the world?
There are a large number of careers that closely
relate to entomology, so a number of
professionals who work closely with insects may not necessarily
identify themselves as entomologists. No study has ever been
done on this, but ESA has more than 6,000 members.
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Insect
Trivia
How
many insects are there in the world? And how many different
species of insects are there?
According to ESA member and Pulitzer Prize
winner Dr. E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, there are nearly
10,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 quintillion) insects in the world.
More than one million different species of
insects have been identified, but some experts believe that
there may be as many as 30 million insect species in the world
that have yet to be discovered and identified.
What
is the largest insect? What is the smallest insect? Etc.
The University of Florida offers an
ever-growing collection of articles documenting insect records
in the
Book
of Insect Records.
Are
there any poisonous insects?
There are many insects that deliver a
venomous bite, but the harvester ant is considered to be among
the most poisonous of all insects. For information on other
poisonous insects, check out ThinkQuest's Poisonous
Plants and Animals web site.
What
is the difference between an insect and a bug?
All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. A bug, which has incorrectly become synonymous
with insects is a specific type of insect. These are
called true bugs and are part of the Order Heteroptera, which
includes stink bugs, water striders, and bed bugs. For
information on heteroptera, visit the
International Heteropterists' Society .
Is it
illegal to kill a praying mantis?
There seem to be no federal laws
regarding the protection of praying mantids. While states may
have laws pertaining to these insects, ESA is unaware of any
such laws that exist. You may want to check with your local Department of
Agriculture or your
Extension Service for information
specific to state laws.
Are
spiders insects?
No, spiders are arachnids. A key
difference between insects and spiders is that all insects have
six legs, and all spiders have eight.
Does
the United States have a national insect?
No, the United States does not have a
designated national insect. However, Congress did consider the
Monarch butterfly as the national insect, but the legislation
did not pass. Some U.S. states have "state insects,"
which are usually noted on state government web sites.
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Last updated
July 26, 2010
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