Created by software developer and amateur insect photographer Troy Bartlett, BugGuide.Net is an "online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information." Site visitors can locate animals by browsing the extensive and image-rich indices for Arachnids, Centipedes, Millipedes, Hexapods, and Malacostracans. At present, the main...

Maintained by the US Geological Survey (USGS), this modest site is a nice starting point for younger users interested in butterflies. All users, however, will enjoy the butterfly photo gallery, which offers pictures of common butterflies from around the world, organized by continent. The section currently contains thumbnail images of butterflies from Western Europe and Britain and North America,...

Associated with the University of Alberta, the EH Strickland Entomological Museum has some unique features on its Web site. Along with information on some of the research being conducted and some of the interesting volunteer opportunities, this site has some cool online features. Visitors to the site can take a panoramic virtual tour to see what's behind the scenes at the entomological museum....

Best known for research on high-energy physics, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or "Fermilab," hosts a surprising amount of data on flora and fauna. For example, bird lists (for the 6,800 acre Fermilab site) are posted regularly, with links to additional information on each of the 270 species seen on site. Located 40 miles west of Chicago, the Fermilab also records presence of insect...

This Web site from the Cornell Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development contains a newly developed prototype of the "Global Crop Pest Identification and Information Services in Integrated Pest Management (IPM)." Available in English and Spanish, this online guide aims to "increase crop pest diagnosis and IPM information capability among extensionists and farmers of developing countries."...

Located at Harvard University, the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) "insect type collection, one of the largest in North America, currently preserves the primary types of more than 28,000 species, representing 29 orders, 565 families, and 7, 578 genera." This database makes records from the MCZ insect type collection available to Internet users. Records include high resolution images, Type...