Explore our favorite species! Many of the student websites feature insects that are widely distributed and have close relatives worldwide. Some species highlighted here are not native to the area and have been introduced from elsewhere, so even if you don't live in the Pacific Northwest, you may see some familiar insects. Click on a photo below to hop to a new page!
The photos above were taken by the students in the Taxonomic Entomology course.
As part of the class, the students searched for their insect species of interest in the MT James Entomological Collection, which is our insect museum at WSU. This is a scientific research collection with over 1.5 million specimens. Some students used the microscope + photo system in the museum to take the photos shown above.
species page authors & photo credits for links above (left to right, by row):
Odonata: Jeremy Roberts. Mantodea: Daniel Gallegos.
Hemiptera: Cesar Reyes Corral, Jillian Foutz, Pooja Malhotra, Megan Blance, Lucas Ripa.
Hymenoptera: Kiersten Ritchie, Stephen Onayemi, Jenny Gan, Kendra Chambless, Mario Luppino.
Diptera: Kellen Pautzke, Danny Marshall, Connor Auth. Coleoptera: Anjila Thapa.
Lepidoptera: Samikshya Aryal, Lara Amiri-Kazaz. Neuroptera: Anna Webb.
mite, order Trombidiformes: Anwar Bushnaq.
As part of the class, the students searched for their insect species of interest in the MT James Entomological Collection, which is our insect museum at WSU. This is a scientific research collection with over 1.5 million specimens. Some students used the microscope + photo system in the museum to take the photos shown above.
species page authors & photo credits for links above (left to right, by row):
Odonata: Jeremy Roberts. Mantodea: Daniel Gallegos.
Hemiptera: Cesar Reyes Corral, Jillian Foutz, Pooja Malhotra, Megan Blance, Lucas Ripa.
Hymenoptera: Kiersten Ritchie, Stephen Onayemi, Jenny Gan, Kendra Chambless, Mario Luppino.
Diptera: Kellen Pautzke, Danny Marshall, Connor Auth. Coleoptera: Anjila Thapa.
Lepidoptera: Samikshya Aryal, Lara Amiri-Kazaz. Neuroptera: Anna Webb.
mite, order Trombidiformes: Anwar Bushnaq.
top photo: View of the native Palouse Prairie in May. This is the Kramer Prairie Ecological Reserve managed by WSU.
The flowers are abuzz with native bees, from sweat bees to bumble bees, many of which have never been studied!
The flowers are abuzz with native bees, from sweat bees to bumble bees, many of which have never been studied!
This website was developed for the course "Taxonomic Entomology" (Entom 539) taught in the fall of 2020.
This is a graduate-level course in the Department of Entomology at Washington State University, taught by insect systematist Dr. Elizabeth Murray. Students from both WSU and the nearby University of Idaho enroll in this class.
This is a graduate-level course in the Department of Entomology at Washington State University, taught by insect systematist Dr. Elizabeth Murray. Students from both WSU and the nearby University of Idaho enroll in this class.