The Insect Orders

The animal Kingdom (Kingdom: Animalia) is divided into Phyla and there are thought to be about 35 extant phyla, which are further divided into Classes.

The 1 million or so species of the insect world (Class: Insecta) are divided into about 30 major groups called Orders, although there is dispute among entomologists on these divisions. There are also three orders of non-insect hexapods. This group differs from the insects in that their mouthparts are enclosed within a pouch, which is located on the underside of the head.

The orders are further split into Families, whose names all end -idae. Carabidae for example is the Beetle family known as the Ground Beetles and the Muscidae is the Fly family containing the house-flies. Each family contains a number of Genera containing a number of closely related Species. A species is an individual kind of insect or other organism and each has a scientific name that can be understood all over the world. This scientific name is always printed in italics and it consists of the name of the genus and a specific name.

To illustrate this, take a Rose Chafer, scientific name Cetonia aurata. This beetle can be classified in the following way:

Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)

Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods - meaning 'jointed leg')

    Sub-phylum: Mandibulata

    Super-class: Hexapoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera (Beetles)

Family: Scarabaeidae (Dung Beetles & Chafers)

Genera: Cetonia

Species: Cetonia aurata

In the UK, there are 24 orders of insect (and 3 orders of non-insect Hexapod), and each order contains varying numbers of species, from 1 (Mantodea) to over 7,000 (Hymenoptera) British representatives.

In due course, I will include information on all the worldwide insect orders listed below. However, this is a fairly lengthy project so it may take me some time to complete.

Insect Orders

Beetles (order: Coleoptera) - 166 families & 370,000 species

True Bugs (order: Hemiptera) - 134 families & 82,000 species

Dragonflies & Damselflies (order: Odonata) - 30 families and 5,500 species

Butterflies & Moths (order: Lepidoptera) - 127 families & 165,000 species

Flies (order: Diptera) - 130 families & 122,000 species

Bees, Ants & Wasps (order: Hymenoptera) - 91 families & 198,000 species

Grasshoppers & Crickets (order: Orthoptera) - 28 families & 20,000 species

Earwigs (order: Dermaptera) - 10 families & 1,900 species

Fleas (order: Siphonaptera) - 18 families & 2,000 species

Termites (order: Isoptera) - 7 families & 2,750 species

Thrips (order: Thysanoptera) - 8 families & 5,000 species

Cockroaches (order: Blattodea) - 6 families & 4,000 species

Mayflies (order: Ephemeroptera) - 23 families & 2,500 species

Mantids (order: Mantodea) - 8 families & 2,000 species

Scorpion Flies (order: Mecoptera) - 9 families & 550 species

Alder-flies & Dobsonflies (order: Megaloptera) - 2 families & 300 species

Lacewings, Antlions & their relatives (order: Neuroptera) - 17 families & 4,000 species

Stick & Leaf Insects (order: Phasmatodea) - 3 families & 2,500 species

Mantophamotodea - 1 family & 1 species. New order to science in 2008

Parasitic Lice (order: Phthiraptera) - 25 families & 6,000 species

Stone-flies (order: Plecoptera) - 15 families &2,000 species

Booklice & Barklice (order: Psocoptera) - 35 families & 3,000 species

Snake-flies (order: Raphidioptera) - 1 family with 150 species

Stylopids (order: Strepsiptera) - 8 families & 560 species

Silverfish (order: Thysanura) - 4 families & 370 species

Bristletails (order Archaeognatha) - 2 families & 350 species

Caddis-flies (order: Trichoptera) - 43 families & 8,000 species

Angel Insects (order: Zoraptera) 1 family with 29 species

Web-spinners (order Embioptera) 8 families & 300 species

Rock Crawlers (order Grylloblattodea) 1 family with 25 species

Non-insect Hexapods

Springtails (order: Collembola) 18 families & 6,500 species

Order: Diplura - 9 families & 800 species

Order: Protura - 4 families & 400 species

Back to Invertebrates