Insect Identifier - Part 4 - Wingless Insects

Narrow waisted, ant-like
Ant Bee Wasp Sawflies
Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies
If anything is going to look wasp-like or bee-like, it will have to be a wasp or bee.  .   Order Hymenoptera 
Not narrow-waisted or ant-like

Not Narrow-waisted or ant-like
Body flattened laterally.  Small jumping insects.

Fleas
Small, wingless, laterally compressed; adults ectoparasitic on warm-blooded animals; compound eyes absent; usually a pair of ocelli; short antennae in grooves on head; mouthparts modified for piercing and sucking; both maxillary and labial palpi present; thoracic segments free; coxae of legs very large; larvae slender, eruciform and legless; pupae exarate, enclosed in cocoon. Order Siphonaptera
Body rarely flattened laterally. usually do not jump

Body rarely flattened laterally. usually do not jump
Parasites of birds or mammals - Immediately below.

Never Parasitic. - Three entries down.

Parasites of birds and mammals
Head as wide as or wider than thorax


Chewing lice
Wingless ectoparasites, chiefly on birds; eyes reduced, no ocelli, antennae with 3 to 5 segments; mouthparts modified for biting; prothorax distinct and free; mesothorax and metathorax often partly fused; thoracic spiracles ventral; cerci absent.Order Mallophaga
Head narrower than thorax

Sucking lice
Wingless ectoparasites of mammals; eyes reduced or absent; antennae with 3 to 5 segments; mouthparts, highly modified for piercing and sucking, retracted into head when not in use; thoracic segments fused; thoracic spiracles dorsal; cerci absent.Order Anoplura

Never Parasitic
Abdomen with style-like appendages or thread-like tails
Silverfish
Mouthparts ectognathous (exposed) adapted for biting; antennae many-segmented, only basal segment with muscles; compound eyes present or absent; tarsi of legs with 2 to 4 segments; 11-segmented abdomen ends in segmented median filament plus a variable number of lateral, styliform, pregenital appendages and a pair of many-segmented cerci; tracheal system and malpighian tubules present; metamorphosis slight or absent.  Order Thysanura
Abdomen with neither styles nor tails

Abdomen with neither styles nor tails
Abdomen with a forked tail-like jumping mechanism
Springtails
Mouthparts entognathous, adapted for biting; antennae with 4 segments, the first 3 with muscles; compound eyes absent; abdomen 6-segmented, usually with a ventral tube on segment I, a retinaculum on segment III, and a forked springing organ (furcula) on segment IV; tracheal system usually absent; no malpighian tubules; metamorphosis absent.  Order Collembola
Abdomen lacking a jumping mechanism

Abdomen lacking a jumping mechanism
Abdomen usually with two short tubes.  Small, plump, soft-bodied

Cicada Leafhopper Aphid Whitefly
Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Whiteflies
     Plant feeders; mouthparts adapted for sucking; beak arises from back of head; wings, when present, usually number four; front wings with uniform structure, either membranous or slightly thickened; wings at rest usually held roof-like over body; male scale insects with only 1 pair of wings; ocelli present or absent; compound eyes usually well developed. 
 Order Homoptera 
Abdomen without tubes.  Not usually plump or soft-bodies.  Continued below.

Abdomen without tubes.  Not usually plump or soft-bodies.
Lacking pigment, whitish; soft-bodied.   Continued below.

Distinctly pigmented.  Usually hard-bodied.  Continued below.

Lacking pigment, whitish; soft-bodied

Antennae long, hair-like; tarsi 2 or 3 segmented
Barklice or Psocids
     Small or minute insects with long filiform antennae, delicate membranous wings (though many are wingless), head with Y-shaped epicranial suture, enlarged post-clypeus (sclerite on the face); maxilla with a rodlike lacinia (inner lobe) partly sunk into head capsule; labial palps much reduced; cerci absent. Order Psocoptera
Antennae short, beadlike, tarsi 4-segmented
Termites
Social insects polymorphic in form (i.e., live in large communities consisting of reproductive forms, wingless sterile soldiers, and young stages, or workers); biting mouthparts; wings alike, elongated, membranous, capable of being shed by basal fractures; anterior wing veins strongly sclerotized; fine network between other veins; cerci short; genitalia rudimentary in both sexes; show affinities with cockroaches. 
Order Isoptera

Distinctly pigmented.  Usually hard-bodied.

Body narrow.  Length less than 5mm

Thrips
     These are generally very small, many species are only 2-3 mm.  Most species are plant-juice suckers and live on flowers and vegetation.  Some are predators and eat other insects, such as whiteflies.  Although most species pass unnoticed, and some are even beneficial, some are serious pests and can destroy crops, especially, flowers, coffee, and tobacco.  For more information, see: Order Thysanoptera
Body shape variable.  Length over 5mm - Continued below.

Body shape variable.  Length over 5mm
Antennae 4- or 5-segmented.  Mouth parts for sucking.
  assassin bug water bug Bark bug Shield Bug
True bugs
Mouthparts adapted for piercing-sucking, with slender segmented beak arising from front of head; basal portion of front wing (called a hemelytron) thickened and leathery, with tip membranous; hindwings entirely membranous; wings at rest held flat over abdomen with membranous tips of front wings overlapping; ocelli present or absent; compound eyes usually well developed. Order Hemiptera
Antennae many-segmented.  Mouth parts for chewing.
Grasshopper Cricket Katydid
Mantis Walking Stock Cockroach
Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids, Mantids, Walkingsticks, & Cockroaches 
Although fixed physical features such as wing characteristics are all technically the same, there is a great deal of variety in actual apperance.  Order Orthoptera