TasmanianIntertidal species guide

Key for common species found in Tasmania

How many pairs of jointed legs does the specimen have?

0

3

4

7

More than 7

Key to Classes

MillipedesHome

Phylum: Arthropoda. Class: Diplopoda. Description: Millipedes have two pair of legs on most body segments. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments being fused together, thus the name Diplopoda in Greek means “double-foot” Despite the name “millipede” no Diplopoda has a thousand legs, the most is 750 legs. Size: 2mm-35cm. Habitat: Millipedes occur in all continents except Antarctica and are mostly forest-floor dwellers living in leaf-litter, dead wood, and soil. Behaviour: Most species eat decaying vegetative matter, faeces, or organic matter mixed with soil. A few species are omnivorous. Millipedes defend themselves by coiling up into a tight ball protecting their legs and secrete a foul smelling liquid to deter predators

Malacostraca: Key to orders

Are all the specimens legs the same shape and similar size?

Yes

No

Home

Woodlice

Subphylum: Crustacea. Order: Isopoda. Description: Woodlice are easily recognised by their 7 pairs of similar sized legs. Size: 4-9mm. Habitat: Woodlice are usually found in dark damp places such as under rocks and logs. Behaviour: They are usually nocturnal and are detritivores, feeding mostly on dead plant matter, although they have been known to feed on cultivated plants, such as ripening strawberries and tender seedlings

Home

Side swimmers/Scuds

Subphylum: Crustacea. Order: Amphipoda. Description: Sideswimmers are easily recognised by their 7 pairs of different sized legs. Size: 5-15mm. Habitat: Sideswimmers are strictly aquatic and are found in both freshwater and salt water environments. Behaviour: Most amphipods are detritivores or scavengers with some being grazers of algae, omnivores or predators] on small insects and crustaceans

Home

Nematoda: Round wormsHome

Phylum: Nematoda. Description: Nematodes are recognised by their cylindrical shape with no segmentation. Size: 0.3mm to over 8 meters long in some parasitic worms. In diameter they range from a few millimetres to about 5 microns. Habitat: Nematodes are one of the most diverse phylum in the world and are found in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats and are also parasites of animals and plants. Behaviour: Different species feed on a variety of materials such as algae, fungi, small animals, faecal matter, dead organisms, and living tissue.

Key to Classes

Does the specimen have internal or external mouthparts?

Internal

External

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders

Is the specimen an adult or larvae? Larvae are easily recognised as being grub-like and soft bodied

Adult

Larvae

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders (Larvae)Home

Does the specimen have pro-legs (abdominal protrusions that look like legs, except they are not jointed)

No

Yes

Insecta: Key to Orders (Larvae)Home

What type of mouth does the specimen have?

Specimen has a “trap” type mouth

Specimen does not have a “trap” type mouth

“trap”

Water Scavenger BeetleHome

Class: Insecta. Order: Hydrophilidae. Description: The larvae of a water scavenger are easily recognised by having three pairs of legs, large mandibles and no prolegs. Habitat: The larvae are often found in ponds, shallow lakes, and along the shoreline of flowing water. Behaviour: The larvae of the water scavenger beetle are carnivorous, and eat nymphs, larvae, tadpoles, beetles and other small animals. They even eat snails in which they use their strong mandibles to saw at the shell to get to the soft body of the snail.

Dragonflies and DamselfliesHome

Class: Insecta. Order: Odonata. Description: Dragonfly larvae are easily recognised as having 3 pairs of thoracic legs, no abdominal prolegs, and a trap type mouth. Size: 2-5mm. Habitat: Most dragonfly larvae live in aquatic environments including streams, ponds, bogs, lakes, and rivers. Behaviour: All larvae are predacious, ambushing their prey (other insects and small fish) from the concealment of rocks and crevices.

Moths/ButterfliesHome

Class: Insecta. Order: Lepidoptera. Description: Butterflies and moths are easily recognised by their proboscis and the scales that cover their wings. Their larvae are easily recognised as having five pairs of abdominal protrusions that look like legs, as well as three pairs of segmented legs.

Insecta: Key to Orders (Adults)How many pairs of wings does the specimen have?

Remember, all insects have wings at some stage in their life cycle; including ants in which the queens and some males have two pairs of wings for a short time. If your specimen does not have wings and you are sure that is an adult then assume it has two pairs

of wings and no wing covers.

1 pair

2 pairs of wings or; 1 pair of wings and 1 set of wing covers (elytra)

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders (Adult)

What kind of mouthparts does the specimen have?

Chewing

Sucking/piercing

Lapping

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders (Adult)

Does the specimen have cerci (abdominal protrusions)?

yes

no

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders (Adult)Home

Does the specimens have enlarged tarsi on its front legs?

yes

no

Insects: Key to Orders (Adults)

How many segments are the tarsi (feet) composed of?

2

3 or more

Home

Insecta: Key to Orders (Adults)

Does the specimen have wing covers?

yes

no

Home

Coleoptera: Key to Families

Is the specimens head elongated to form a rostrum?

yes

no

Home

Coleoptera: Key to Families

Does specimens’ wing-covers cover the entire abdomen?

yes

no

Home

Coleoptera: Key to Families

How many segments are the tarsi composed of?

Front and middle tarsi are 5- segmented (the claws are not included as a segment), hind tarsi are 4- segmented

Front, middle, and hind tarsi are 3 segmented

Front, middle, and hind tarsi are 5 segmented

Home

Coleoptera: Key to Families

Specimen’s antenna is short and clubbed?

yes

no

Home

Ground Beetle

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Carabidae. Description: Most are shiny black, metallic, and have ridged wing covers. Size: Range of sizes. Habitat: Common habitats for ground beetles are under the bark of trees, under logs, or among rocks or sand by the edge of ponds and rivers. Behaviour: Ground beetles have a pair of pygidial glands in the lower back of the abdomen from which they secrete a noxious or even caustic substance to deter predators. Toxicity: Ground beetles are not venomous

Home

Scarab Beetle

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Scarabaeidae. Description: Scarabs are easily recognised from their clubbed antenna and having 5-segmented tarsi. Size: 2-70mm. Habitat: Scarabs are found worldwide and in a variety of habitats. Behaviour: Adult scarabs mostly feed on leaves and some species such as the well known Christmas beetles can build to huge numbers, devouring almost all leaves on favoured eucalyptus trees. Some scarab species are also known to feed on the nectar of native blossoms.

Home

Lady BeetleHome

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Coccinellidae. Description: Lady beetles are recognised by their oval shape, short legs, and short clubbed antenna . Size: This is a family of small sized beetles ranging from 0.8-18mm. Habitat: Rove beetles can be found in a large range of habitats. Behaviour: Lady beetles are beneficial to agriculture as they eat aphids and scale insects. Toxicity: Lady beetles are not venomous.

Darkling Beetle

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Tenebrionidae. Description: Darkling beetles are recognised by their front and hind tarsi having 5-segments and their hind tarsi having 4-segments. Size: 2-30mm. Habitat: Darkling beetles can be found on the ground, hiding under the bark of trees and under logs and stones. Behaviour: Most species are nocturnal and eat both fresh and decaying vegetable matter.

Home

Rove Beetles

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Staphylinidae. Description: Rove beetles are easily recognised from their short wing covers that exposes more than half of their abdomen. Size: This is a very diverse family so the size ranges from 1-35mm. Habitat: Rove beetles can be found in a large range of habitats. Behaviour: Most rove beetles are predators of insects and other kinds of invertebrates. Toxicity: Rove beetles are not venomous.

Home

Weevils

Class: Insecta. Order: Coleoptera. Family: Curculionidae. Description: Weevils are easily recognised by their elongated head, their clubbed antenna which is usually elbowed and their rigid body. Size: Less than 6mm. Habitat: Most weevils live on their host plants, the weevils found in pitfall traps may have been travelling between host plants. Behaviour: Weevils are herbivores and most species are associated with a narrow range of hosts with some only living on a single species.

Home

Web Spinners

Class: Insecta. Order: Embioptera. Description: Web spinners are easily recognised by the pair of cerci at the end of the abdomen and enlarged forelimbs used to spin silk as its name suggests. Habitat: Web spinners live beneath the soil making tunnels lined with their own silk Behaviour: Web spinners eat only plant matter including leaves, bark, mosses and lichens. Web spinners extend their silken tunnels to obtain new food sources. Adult male web spinners however, do not feed as they die soon after they mate.

Home

Hymenoptera: Key to Families

Does the specimen have a node/nodes on its petiole (strong constriction between thorax and abdomen)

yes

no

Home

Hymenoptera: Key to Families

Is the specimens antenna shorter than half the length of its body?

yes

no

Home

Hymenoptera: Key to Families

How many major veins does each of the specimens wings have?

one

More than one

Home

Chalcid wasp

Class: Insecta. Order: Hymenoptera. Superfamily: Chalcidoidea. Description: Most chalcid wasps are only a few millimetres in size and are of a dark metallic colour. They also have very simple wing venation. Habitat: Chalcid wasps have a large range of habitats. Behaviour: Most chalcid wasps are parasitic, laying their eggs in other insect’s eggs and larvae.

Home

Bees

Class: Insecta. Order: Hymenoptera. Superfamily: Apoidea. Description: This is a super family made up of bees. Apoidea are adapted to eating pollen and nectar and have a long tongue (proboscis) Habitat: Apoidea bees are present on every continent except Antartica. Behaviour: Bees are either; social, in which they have specialised structures (scopa) on their hind legs to carry pollen back to their nest; cleptoparasitic, in which the female bees lack scopa and instead lay their eggs in the nests of social bees; or nocturnal bees, which have enlarged ocelli (eyes) and often pollenate flowers that only bloom during the night.

Home

Ichneumonidae

Class: Insecta. Order: Hymenoptera. Family: Ichneumonidae. Description: Ichenumon wasps are recognised by their pinched abdomen, antenna with 16 or more segments and at least half as long as its body and females have a long ovipositor at the end of their abdomen. Habitat: Ichneumon wasps live in a wide variety of habitats. Behaviour: The

Home

Ants

Class: Insecta. Order: Hymenoptera. Family: Formicidae. Description: Ants are easily identified by their elbowed antenna, and their pinched abdomen that forms a nodular waist. Size: 4-6mm. Habitat: Ants live in a variety of terrestrial habitats. Behaviour: Most ants are omnivorous generalists with a few specialist feeders.

Home

Booklice

Class: Insecta. Order: Psocoptera. Description: Pscoids are very small ranging from 1-10mm. They have chewing mandibles, large compound eyes, simple wing venation, and have slender legs for walking rather than for gripping as with the true lice. Habitat: Psocids live in a wide range of habitats, preferring moist habitats. Behaviour: Psocids feed mainly on fungi, algae, lichen, and organic detritus.

Home

Earwings

Class: Insecta. Order: Dermaptera. Description: Earwigs are easily recognised from their elongate bodies and the pair of pincers on the end of their abdomen. Size: 7-20mm. Habitat: Earwigs are commonly found in dark, sheltered environments and are common under rocks, logs and the bark of trees. They are common over most of Australia and many species frequent suburban backyards and homes. Behaviour: Earwigs are nocturnal. Most species of earwigs are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of plant

Home

Hemiptera: Key to Families

The only Hemiptera family found so far at the intertidal zone is the Cicadidae

Home

Cicada

Class: Insecta. Order: Hemiptera. Description: Cicadas are easily recognised by their large eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head, short antennae protruding between or in front of the eyes, and membranous front wings. Habitat: Temperate to tropical climates. Diet: Adults and nymphs drink plant sap

Home

Order Diptera

Flies are easily recognised as having only one pair of wings, the second pair has been modified to halteres which act as rudders, balancing the fly as it flies. There are many species of flies found at the beach but due to their small size most are very difficult to identify. Some of the recognisable flies found at the beach include mosquitoes, and crane flies.

Home

Entognatha: Key to families

What shape is the specimens body?

Compact and almost spherical

Elongate and cylindrical

Home

Springtail: Sminthuridae

Class: Entognatha. Order: Collembola. Family: Sminthuridae Description: Springtails have three pairs of legs but do not belong to the class insecta as they have internal mouthparts instead of external. Size: less than 6mm. Habitat: Springtails are often found in leaf litter and other decaying material. Behaviour: Springtails have an abdominal, tail-like appendage, the furcula, which is folded beneath the body to be used for jumping when the animal is threatened. Toxicity: Springtails are not venomous

Home

Springtail: Brachystomellidae

Class: Entognatha. Order: Collembola. Family: Brachystomellidae. Description: Springtails have three pairs of legs but do not belong to the class insecta as they have internal mouthparts instead of external. Size: less than 6mm. Habitat: Springtails are often found in leaf litter and other decaying material. Behaviour: Springtails have an abdominal, tail-like appendage, the furcula, which is folded beneath the body to be used for jumping when the animal is threatened. Toxicity: Springtails are not venomous

Home

How many body segments does the specimen have?

3

2

0

Arachnida: Key to OrdersHome

Mites

Class: Arachnida. Subclass: Acari. Description: Mites are recognised by having no body segmentation and no antennae. Size: Microscopic to a centimetre. Habitat: Mites are found in almost all habitat types including terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments Behaviour: Most species of mites are predatory and will feed on a variety of small invertebrates, while others are more herbivorous and often feed on plant sap, sometimes causing damage to agricultural crops and garden plants. Ticks are adapted to feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals such as humans, dogs or livestock. Toxicity: Mites are not venomous; however some individuals are allergic to them

Home

Wood/Forest Scorpion

Class: Arachnida. Family name: Bothriuridae. Species name: Cercophonius squama. Description: The wood or forest scorpion is the only scorpion found in Tasmania. Size: 25mm-45mm. Habitat: The wood scorpion is found in NSW, SA, VIC, ACT and Tasmania. It lives in burrows under plant litter on the ground. It can also live under bark of standing trees, preferring eucalypts. Behaviour: The wood scorpion feeds on small invertebrates generally less than 10mm in body length. Toxicity: The sting of the Southern or Wood Scorpion can cause inflammation and pain for several hours, and medical advice should be sought

Home

Araneae: Key to Families

How many rows of eyes does the specimen have?

3

2

Home

Wolf Spider

Class: Arachnida. Family name: Lycosidae. Description: Wolf spiders are recognised by having a top row of two large eyes, a middle row of 2 large eyes and a bottom row of 4 small eyes. Size: 2-15mm. Habitat: Wolf spiders can be found in a wide range of habitats from coastal to inland. Spiderlings disperse aerially and consequently wolf spiders have wide distribution. Behaviour: Wolf spiders are agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Toxicity: Wolf spiders will inject venom freely if continually provoked. Symptoms of their venomous bite include swelling, mild pain and itching

Home

Eye arrangement

Araneae: Key to families

What size are the eyes in the top row compared to the bottom row?

Eyes are all the same size

Eyes in the top row are larger than the bottom row

Home

Mesh Web Spider

Class: Arachnida. Family name: Dictynidae. Description: Mesh web spiders are recognised by having two straight rows of heterogeneous eyes. Size: 2-5mm Habitat: Mesh Web spiders can be found in a wide range of habitats. Behaviour: Mesh Web spiders make irregular webs in crevices, under leaves and between plant stems or at branch ends. Toxicity: There is no toxicity information on this family of spider.

Home

Eye arrangement

Nursery Web Spider

Class: Arachnida. Family name: Pisauridae. Description: Nursery Web spiders are recognised by having a top row of four medium sized eyes and a bottom row of four small eyes. Size: 2-15mm Habitat: Nursery web spiders can be found in a wide range of habitats. Behaviour: Nursery web spiders carry their egg sacs by means of their jaws and pedipalps (instead of attaching them to their spinnerets). When the eggs are about to hatch, a mother spider will build a nursery "tent," put her egg sac inside, and then guards them from the outside. Toxicity: There is no toxicity information on this spider.

Home

Eye arrangement