I have always been interested in invertebrates.
All my life I have observed them, and for may years I have photographed them. I have always found it hard to ID those I have seen. Many books relied on detailed entomological knowledge. More generally accessible books often have rather a northern Australian bias; not useful when I spent most of my time in southern Victoria.
The World Wide Web aimed to make information sharing much easier, and so it has.
There are some wonderful sites that can help you identify and learn about the invertebrates that you see. Here are just a few that I find useful.
I hope you enjoy looking at these, and discovering MANY more.
- Wendy Moore
Australian caterpillars, moths and butterflies
Lots of photos and information about the these diverse animals. This was the site that introduced me to, and hooked me on, the wonderful resources to be found on-line.
This site was created by a Brisbane family to share their passion for the invertebrates they find, and the results of their research into them. The photos are absolutely stunning. Their passion and dedication is inspirational!
Victorian Fauna - Butterflies, Snakes, Frogs, Mammals and Lizards on the Web
This is the Museum of Victoria's website. If you want to ID a Victorian butterfly, for instance, look here.
The Victorian Dragonflies Group
This site comprises wildlife enthusiasts who, over the course of the last three years have been compiling information about these fascinating insects. This website contains everything from species accounts and identification information, to a sightings atlas and flight periods.
Spiders of Australia with information and pictures
This site aims to show the common spiders of Australia by means of colour photos and some informative text. All the pages together contain over 600 pictures with 240 species of spiders that were photographed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Northern-Territory and Western Australia. Amazing photos and lots of interesting information.
Photos of moth museum specimens. Useful for ID.
The Guide to the Australian Ant Fauna S. O. Shattuck & N. J. Barnett. Includes scientific ID keys and lots of other information.
Most multipedes are millipedes. Tasmania has at least nine introduced millipede species and at least 160 natives. The introduced species are abundant on farms and in gardens, and are familiar to every householder. Few people, however, are aware of the remarkable diversity of our native millipedes, which are found in all terrestrial habitats from sedgeland to rainforest and from coastal dunes to rocky alpine areas. There are also cave-adapted millipedes in Tasmania and at least one semi-aquatic diving millipede. While this might be about Tasmanian multipedes, it has lots of interesting information.