How to search Bugs (arthropod, insects etc.) on RikenMon's nature guide.

Itchy bugs, filthy bugs, small bugs, creepy bugs, scary bugs who has not seen one? Spiders, flies, snails, beetles, ants, bees, millipedes are all grouped into the bugs. All the small creatures in and around the house, garden and forest, visible and sometimes beautiful or a bit scary. Scientifically they are animals and categorised in several groups. The most obvious is with or without vertebrae, the last have no spine or even no bone at all. Our category bugs is not scientific, however everyone knows which animals are referred to. One thing to mention is bugs do not incorporate butterflies, though they are insects, for butterflies we have a separate category.

To get to the search page choose the fly pictogram. There are 8 search items. If you are uncertain of the size you can select 2 and both will be shown (OR-function). All other selections have to be present (AND-function) giving you the option to limit your search results. By clicking the tile you wil get more details of the specific animal. If your animal does not show up remove a characteristic you have doubts about.

	By clicking the picture tile you are redirected to the correct detailspage.
	By clicking the star (left side) the search selection is undone.

Bugs (arthropod etc.) are small, from head to tail they measure between 0.2 mm and 35 cm. A large spider, all though it is a small creature, can be impressive and even quite dangerous. For lots of bugs the female is a bit larger than the male and the male is prone to be eaten after the fertilisation. Furthermore lots of bugs have several larva and imago (adult) stadia, each stadium can be different in size and colour. We mention the size of an average adult.


A snail crawls on its belly like a centipede, a cricket has long legs to jump, a fly has wings. There are clear differences in the shape of these animals. A spider is evident, not because you counted its legs but you recognise the shape. Beetles are mostly able to fly, but keep their wings mostly tucked below a shield and therefore do not look like bees or dragonflies. A woodlouse looks shape wise like a beetle, however it can not fly, has 14 legs and even has hidden gills. Measurements are of adult bugs.


Bugs (arthropod etc.) can be very colourful or very dull. All colours on the animal can be used since sometimes a tiny red spot on a black bug is very remarkable. By clicking the arrow on the right side you leave colour selection, with the star on the left side you clear the color selection.


How many legs does it have? A spider has 8 legs, a insect 6, a centipede not a thousand but certainly a lot and a worm none. Some say the snail has one leg, since it is not visible we say it has zero.


Lots of Bugs (arthropod etc.) you will see from above and so you can give the back a good look. The bumblebee has lots of hair, a love bug has a shield and a wasp has a smooth back.


Sometimes they are called antennas. Some bugs use them to taste, some to smell and others to hear with them. What we can see is how large and thick they are. A slug can retract them and has its eye on them, the cockchafer has a complete fan on them and on spiders and flies you usually don’t see them. If they are longer than half the body length we denote long. If hardly visible we denote none/small. If visible but not retractable or forked you will find them under visible.





Not all Bugs (arthropod etc.) have wings, however if you don’t see them it does not mean they are not there! Some bugs are very handy in concealing the wings, even in literature it is sometimes not very clear if a bug has wings. It is an important characteristic even though some wings are too small to fly. We start with what is visible. All winged bugs separated in 2 or 4 wings and how the wings are kept when not flying. A dragonfly has the wings hooked as where damselflies have the wings alongside the body, a bumblebee has them flat on the back, a fly pointed backwards and a beetle below its shield.


Apart from all previous mentioned characteristics some things are immediately noticed. The cricket has long hind legs, the dragonfly a long slender body, the green drake long tails, the mole cricket sturdy front legs, the stag beetle has horns and some slugs always carry their house. Some bugs even have several striking things, the crane fly has a long thin body with long front legs and long hind legs.