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Insects and other arthropods

Search for an insect or an arthropod

  • Siphonaptera

    Fleas are tiny, dark-coloured, wingless insects. They have a laterally flattened body and powerful long legs (especially the hind ones) well adapted for jumping.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Siphonaptera
  • Megarhyssa atrata

    These insects look like large, slender wasps. They have a yellow head with a dark stripe between the eyes. The thorax and abdomen are dark, either black or dark brown.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
    Family
    Ichneumonidae
  • Lethocerus americanus

    The giant water bug is the largest aquatic insect in Quebec. Its flat, hydrodynamic body and the long hairs on its middle and back legs make it a fast and efficient swimmer. It has large compound eyes on its head.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hemiptera
    Family
    Belostomatidae
  •  Goldenrod spider

    These spiders, like the other Thomisidae, have characteristics normally associated with crabs: their first two pairs of legs are longer and often held apart, ready to catch their prey, and they scuttle sideways when disturbed.

    Class
    Arachnida
    Order
    Araneae
    Family
    Thomisidae
  • Grapevine beetle

    These large, oval beetles are 1.7 to 3 cm long. Their colour varies from yellowish orange to reddish brown. Their short antennae end in clubs made of plates called lamellae, which unfurl into a fan.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Coleoptera
    Family
    Scarabaeidae
  •  Sphex ichneumoneus

    These insects owe their name to the short golden hairs that cover the thorax and head. 

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
    Family
    Sphecidae
  • Speyeria cybele

    Adults have bright rust-coloured wings with several black spots. Females have black marks on the edges of their wings.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Lepidoptera
    Family
    Nymphalidae
  • Anax junius

    These large dragonflies are 6.8 to 8.4 cm long with a wingspan of more than 9 cm. The thorax is green and the abdomen is bluish to dark brown. The extremely mobile head has short antennae, well-developed mouthparts and two huge compound eyes.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Odonata
    Family
    Aeshnidae
  • Green stink bug

    The adults in this species are 14 to 19 mm long. They have shield-shaped bodies, like all bugs in the Pentatomidae family. They are green, with orange edges, and a few dark spots on the edges of the abdomen.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hemiptera
    Family
    Pentatomidae
  • Pediculus humanuscapitis

    Head lice are tiny wingless insects with a flattened body. They have three short pairs of legs equipped with claws that grasp the host’s hair.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Anoplura
    Family
    Pediculidae