Insects ... and Frogs, Too

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Based on work started by the U.S. Geological Survey, this site is an ambitious effort to collect, store, and share species information and occurrence data. In addition to being an excellent resource for images and data, they encourage people to take a photograph of a butterfly or moth they encounter, and submit it to them. Would be a great class project for older students.

Ask an Entomologist

Ask an Entomologist tackles your student's hardest questions about insects, their biology, ecology, physiology, or whatever else your curious about.

The have a whole section devoted to Entomology Resources and have Entomology Lesson Plans broken out by grade level.

The Wonderful World of Insects

Everything you could imagine about learning about insects --the orders of insects and classification specs, glossary, clubs, ask-an-expert and odd beliefs. The contents are solid and accessible. Also, look at the Lost Ladybug site, very accessible to young children.

Monarch Butterfly Migration

Monarchwatch is a popular online activity, because students and scientists in many locales can plot the annual paths within a telecollaboration model. This site is maintained by the University of Kansas and the University of Minnesota.

Arthropods - Invertebrate Powerhouses

About 75% of all animal species are arthropods. There are more different types of arthropod than any other group on the plant. Arthropods include insects, spiders, crabs, lobsters, barnacles, centipedes, and even hundreds of extinct species in fossils.

This post from Biology4Kids explains the four major types of arthropod, their exoskeleton, metamorphosis, and the 26 orders in the Class Insecta. That's a lotta bugs!

14 Beneficial Insects for Natural Garden Pest Control

Not all insects are bad pests. There are some insect species referred to as beneficial insects that may provide a long-term sustainable pest control solution by preying on the bugs that do a great deal of damage to fields, gardens and backyard plants. Beneficial insects are considered a biological control solution, which refers to methods of controlling pests using other living organisms.

Organic Lesson lists 14 Beneficial Insects and includes pictures, what other insects they control, how you can attract them, and interesting facts.

Pesticides and Food

Take a moment to learn about pesticides and food.

Butterflies of Japan

Butterflies of Japan has pictures of 120 species of Japanese butterflies.

Spider Myths

Learn all the myths about spiders, courtesy of the Burke Museum.