| 1a Wings absent or if present hidden beneath thick, sometimes hard and shiny, sometimes leathery, front wings, or wing coverings (Be careful here. If there’s a crack down the back, probably that’s where the front wings or wing coverings meet and there are regular flying wings folded below…) | Go to… 7 |
| 1b Wings clearly visible when the insect is at rest | Go to.. 2 |
| 2a Butterflies & moths; mouthparts consisting of coiled tubes for sucking; wings covered with tiny colored scales | LEPIDOPTERA; butterflies & moths |
| 2b Not butterflies & moths; mouthparts not coiled tubes; wings not covered with tiny colored scales | Go to.. 3 |
| 3a One pair of wings | DIPTERA; flies |
| 3b Two pairs of wings | Go to.. 4 |
| 4a Front wings longer and with considerably larger surface area than hind wings | Go to.. 5 |
| 4b Front wings with about the same area as hind wings | Go to.. 6 |
| 5a Wasps and bees; tarsi (“feet”) 5-jointed, usually thin-waisted | HYMENOPTERA; wasps & bees |
| 5b Not wasp or bees; tarsi 2- or 3-jointed, waist usually thick | HOMOPTERA; cicadas, aphids |
| 6a Antennae short stubs, compound eyes very large, body slender | ODONATA; dragonflies |
| 6b Antennae hairlike, eyes not particularly large,thick-bodied | ISOPTERA; termites |
| 7 a Wings entirely absent | Go to.. 8 |
| 7 b With wings, though they may be hidden beneath a wing covering | Go to.. 12 |
| 8a Bodies narrow-waisted, antlike | HYMENOPTERA; wasps & bees |
| 8b Bodies thicker | Go to.. 9 |
| 9a Egg-shaped, rear end usually equipped with 2 short tubes (aphids) | HOMOPTERA; cicadas, aphids |
| 9b Bodies more slender shaped, rear end without 2 short tubes (not aphids) | Go to.. 10 |
| 10a Most of body whitish, soft-bodied (termites) | ISOPTERA; termites |
| 10b Most of body not whitish, usually hard-bodied | Go to.. 11 |
| 11a Antennae with 4 or 5 segments, mouth parts sucking | HEMIPTERA; true bugs |
| 11b Antennae with many segments, mouth parts chewing | ORTHOPTERA; grasshoppers, crickets |
| 12a Rear end (abdomen) with tweezerlike appendages | DERMAPTERA; earwigs |
| 12 Rear end without tweezers-like appendages | Go to.. 13 |
| 13a Mouth parts sucking, usually straw-like | Go to.. 14 |
| 13b Mouth parts for chewing | Go to.. 15 |
| 14a Front wings thick (leathery) and often colored at the base, but clear at the tip; beak rises from head’s front or bottom | HEMIPTERA; true bugs |
| 14 Front wings of same texture throughout; beak rises from back part of bottom of head | HOMOPTERA; cicadas, aphids |
| 15a Front wings with obvious veins, when at rest the edges over the back often partly overlapping one another, usually not conspicuously hard | ORTHOPTERA; grasshoppers, crickets |
| 15b Front wings without veins, when at rest the edges over the back meeting one another in a straight line, usually hard like thin plastic | COLEOPTERA; beetles |
