Purpose and Layout Guide

PURPOSE AND L AYOUT GUIDE

Purpose

This guide began as an important component of the UCLN Pollinator Corridors project. The project aims to increase habitat, the diversity of pollinators, and pollination activities in our natural environment and gardens by linking and enhancing suitable patches for our insect, bird and mammal species.

We are conducting two years of initial insect sur veys to establish a baseline against which we can measure the results of our revegetation activities over the coming decades. A huge part of this project involves community interest and engagement, and we hope that the production of this guide will increase awareness about our fascinating insect fauna and the critical role they play in sustaining our environment.

While it is not possible to cover more than a few species in a guide of this size, we believe you will readily find many of the species illustrated here in your garden or nearby bushland. Other species have been included to demonstrate the diversity of insects and yet others to illustrate the bizarre forms some insects take. We hope that this guide helps you determine if your latest insect find is a bee or a wasp, or to separate a bug from a beetle. You may also recognise that flies are sometimes beautiful and that even termites have their role to play. Above all else, we hope that you will take some time to explore the fascinating world of the insects.

Layout Guide

We have not followed the traditional taxonomic sequence or language when setting out this book. Instead, we use commonly understood terms and include common names for species where they are available.

Each section is colour coded with the group name appearing in the “bubble” at the top. With two species appearing on each page (mostly), the common name of the first is on the top left of the page with the second (lower) species appearing on the right.

Sub-group names appear in the “bubble” of some insect orders, e.g. Butterflies changes to Moths and Dragonflies changes to Damselflies although layout restrictions have limited this. All insects have been identified to the highest level possible based on current knowledge and resources.