Shirley, MA Area Insects and Spiders

Introduction: The inspiration for this webpage arose out of the goodness, kindness, and dedication of the Administrators and members of the Facebook group 'Insects and Spiders of New England'. Each and every one of you were more than happy to share your knowledge of 'creepy-crawlies' with those of us that found ourselves in need of a little help, myself included. Because all of you graciously passed your knowledge on to others, I am now able to pass something forward, something to aide those who are beginning their journey into the wonderful world of Insects and Spiders.

Mission: The 'Insects and Spiders of New England' group is shedding light onto the roles that these creatures play in sustaining a healthy environment. As our native plants decline, so too do the insect populations that have evolved with them, and, in turn, so too will the birds and other creatures that have grown to depend on these insects and plants for survival. For these reasons, and many others, we greatly encourage homeowners, those who are in charge of private landscaping projects, and those who head our public parks and recreation areas to seriously consider the bountiful benefits of growing our precious native plants, which in turn, will benefit the creatures that depend on them.

Navigation: The navigation bar contains 7 clickable Items; they are:  1) Home  2) About,  3) Photo ID,  4) Gallery,  5) Links,  6) Books,  and 7) Contact.

1. There is a 'Home' button is present on all pages; clicking it will bring you back to the page that you see upon entering this site.


2. The 'About' tab brings up this page; it offers a brief description of this website, and a bit of instruction on how to use it, as well as some info about the website Insects and Spiders of New England.


3. The 'Photo ID' tab is a dropdown menu whcih, at this time, holds 10 options, each of which contain photographs with an identification attached. These options are:  1) Bees & Wasps,  2) Beetles,   3) Butterflies,  4) Caterpillars,  5) Dragonflies,  6) Flies,  7) Grasshoppers,   8) Miscellaneous,  9) Moths, and  10) Spiders.  I am by No means an expert in identifying insects and spiders. Some of these critters have been ID'd by my friends in the 'Insects and Spiders of New England' group, and some have been ID'd by me, using i-nat, which isn't always that dependable. I am quite sure that there will be some mis-identifications on my part; please feel free to relay any corrections to me by way of my Facebook page. Thank you!
   
   
   
   • The 'Bees & Wasps' contains photos of the Bees & Wasps that I have identified.
   • The 'Beetles' contains photos of the Beetles that I have identified.
   • The 'Butterflies' contains photos of the Butterflies that I have identified.
   • The 'Caterpillars' contains photos of the Caterpillars that I have identified.
   • The 'Dragonflies' contains photos of the Dragonflies that I have identified.
   • The 'Flies' contains photos of the Flies that I have identified.
   • The 'Grasshoppers' contains photos of the Grasshoppers that I have identified.
   • The 'Miscellaneous' contains photos of the Miscellaneous that I have identified; this category is for the insects that do not seem to fit into any of the other catergories?
   • The 'Moths' contains photos of the Moths that I have identified.
   • The 'Spiders' contains photos of the Spiders that I have identified.
   
   
4. The 'Gallery' tab is a dropdown menu; at this time, it holds 11 options:  1) Bees & Wasps,  2) Beetles,   3) Butterflies,  4) Caterpillars,  5) Dragonflies,  6) Flies,  7) Grasshoppers,   8) Miscellaneous,  9) Moths,  10) Spiders, and  11) Unknown
   
   
   • As you can see, the first 10 tabs are the same as those in the 'Photo ID' list, minus the Botanical and Common Names. The 'Unknown' tab brings you to a page filled with the photos of critters that I cannot ID...Please Help!🙏
   
   
5. The 'Links' tab is a dropdown menu which holds a list of helpful insect sites; please feel free to send your favotites and I will add them to the list.
   
   
6. The 'Books' tab opens a page that contains a collection of helpful books for insect identification and other technical information; please feel free to send your favotites and I will add them to the list.


7. The 'Contact' tab connects you to my Facebook Page; I welcome any questions, suggestions, or corrections in regards to this website. Also, because I do not travel all around New England, I do not have photos of many of our native insect and spiders. Feel free to send your photos of insects that do not appear on this site; with your permission, I will be more than happy to incorcorate them into these pages; in advance, Thank You!


8. The last clickable item on the navigation bar is a Facebook icon; this will bring you to the Insects and Spiders of New England's Facebook page.

Photos: At the bottom of each photo frame is the insect's botanical name, in Bold font; below that, in parenthesis, is a common name...if I could find one.

In Closing: I have a lot to learn about HTML, so I kept this site as simple as possible. I also have a lot to learn about insects and such, so I welcome all comments, thoughts, suggestions and contributions. I hope this sight will be at least a little bit helpful to those in search of insect/bug knowledge. Mostly, I hope the information in this site, as well as all the information you can gather from our Facebook group members, will encourage others to promote the use of our New England treasures, our Native Plants, and, in turn promote the health and survival of the insects that we unknowingly depend on for our own survival.