INSECTS & SPIDERS DICHOTOMOUS KEY
Directions: Choose one picture at a time. Start at #1. Follow the key until you classify the organism.
Write the name on the line by the picture below.
1. a) Vertebrate… .........................................................................Rattlesnake
b) Invertebrate………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Go to 2
2. a) 6 legs………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Go to 3
b) 8 legs…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Go to 5
3. a) Wings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Go to 4
b) No wings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…Go to 7
4. a) Colorful wings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Go to 8
b) Transparent wings…………………………………………………………………………………………………….Go to 9
c) Front wings are hidden with wing casings ............................ Beetle
5. a) Very Hairy body… ................................................................ Tarantula
b) Light hair covering the body………………..………………………………………………………….Go to 6
6. a) Black with large red symbol on body…….…………………………………………………Black Widow Spider
b) Often brown body and makes funnel webs…………………………………………Hobo Spider
7. a) Jumping hind legs… ......................................Grasshopper
b) No jumping…............................................................................. Ants
8. a) Antenna are club-shaped with a bulb at the end… ................ Butterfly
b) Antenna are feathery with no club at the end… ................. Moth
9. a) One set of transparent wings… ........................................ Housefly
b) Two sets of transparent wings…………………………………………………………………….Go to 10
10. a) Hairy, wide body… ................................................................ Bee
b) Few hairs, longer body… ..........................................................Wasp
©Cara Baldree, From the STEM Up, 2017