Insects Charts, Zoology, School Education

Quick Answer: Insects Charts are zoology wall charts that show the features shared by all insects, a head, thorax and abdomen with three pairs of jointed legs, together with insect life cycles and common useful and harmful species. Schools use them to teach arthropod diversity and metamorphosis.

Recognising an Insect and Following Its Life Cycle

The core diagram on most insects charts is the body plan: a head with compound eyes and one pair of antennae, a thorax bearing three pairs of jointed legs and usually one or two pairs of wings, and a segmented abdomen. This gives students a quick test they can apply to any specimen, and explains why a spider, with eight legs and two body parts, is an arachnid rather than an insect.

Life-cycle panels compare complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult), seen in butterflies, houseflies and mosquitoes, with incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult), seen in grasshoppers and cockroaches. Some sets also compare mouthparts, such as the biting and chewing type of the grasshopper, the piercing and sucking type of the female mosquito and the coiled proboscis of the butterfly.

Sheets on economic importance usually place beneficial insects such as the honeybee, silkworm and lac insect beside crop pests and disease carriers such as locusts, houseflies and mosquitoes.

Care & Handling

• When students bring insects in for identification, keep collecting jars on the bench below the insects charts, never propped against the paper.
• Mount the two life-cycle sheets side by side so complete and incomplete metamorphosis can be compared at a glance.
• Store the set in a closed tube or cupboard, since silverfish, themselves wingless insects, feed on paper in dusty store rooms.

Applications

• Identifying insects collected on a nature walk or in the school garden
• Teaching metamorphosis while rearing silkworms or watching caterpillars
• Lessons on vector-borne disease and removing mosquito breeding sites
• Classifying arthropods by comparing insects with spiders, centipedes and crabs

Specifications

Why Choose LabEquip

Biology departments usually add insects charts to invertebrate teaching alongside the Cockroach Charts, which treat one insect in type-study detail. Related titles are listed under Educational Charts, and quantities can be sent through the LabEquip contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I tell whether an animal is an insect?

Count the legs and body parts. An adult insect has six jointed legs, a body divided into head, thorax and abdomen, and one pair of antennae. Spiders have eight legs and two body parts, so they are not insects.

What is the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis?

In complete metamorphosis the young is a larva quite unlike the adult and passes through a pupa stage, as in butterflies and mosquitoes. In incomplete metamorphosis the young nymph looks like a small wingless adult and grows through several moults, as in grasshoppers.

Why are some insects called useful?

They provide products or services people depend on. Honeybees make honey and wax and pollinate crops, silkworms spin the silk cocoon, and lac insects secrete lac, which is used in varnishes and polishes.

Which insects carry diseases?

The female Anopheles mosquito transmits the malaria parasite, and Aedes aegypti transmits the dengue virus. Houseflies carry germs on their legs and mouthparts from waste to food, which spreads diarrhoeal infections.

Do all insects have wings?

No. Most adult insects have one or two pairs, but silverfish never develop wings and worker ants are wingless. Larvae and nymphs do not have working wings either.

Can the chart be used with real specimens?

Yes. Students can compare dead insects found in the lab or garden with the body-plan diagram using a hand lens, then label the head, thorax, abdomen, legs and antennae on their own sketches.

Last Updated: September 2026