Identification Guides

Dragonflies and Damselflies in Vermont

These links provide detailed information at the species level where different members of Odonata can be found in Vermont. Also excellent pictures with identifications are provided to help you identify any specimens you may have found or photographed.

Cougar Identification Guides

These guides provide information about how to properly identify a cougar. The first .pdf compares identifying characteristics of other wild cats; differences in the tracks made by cougars and members of the dog family; and what a carcass looks like if it was killed by a cougar. The second .pdf provides much greater detailed information about cougars and their ranges as well as identifying characteristics.

Amphibian Eggs & Larvae Key

This 6-page .pdf helps with identifying amphibian eggs and larvae.

Vernal Pool Indicator Species ID Sheet

These PDF files provide descriptions, images and areas that will help in identifying potential vernal pools by what amphibians you find there.

Identify a Butterfly, Moth or Caterpillar

This site by Butterflies and Moths of North America will help you with identifying specimens that you have found, seen or photographed. It helps immensely to also have information about the plant and location where you saw this insect.

Key to the Bee Families of the World

This simple guide can help the novice discover whether their specimen is a bee or not and if so, which family it belongs to. They use high resolution images to help explain the different defining characteristics, making it a great guide for anyone new to bee identification.

Insect Identification .org

With over 1 million species of spiders and insects identified, it can be rather difficult to identify the species of your particular specimen. This website has photos and identifications for many of the common insects and spiders you might find using terms that the lay person can understand. They also have their data sorted by state and other categories and allow you to search their database using characteristics one can see by eye.

Identification Atlas of the Vespidae

Vespidae are one of the numerous families of wasps. This group consists of over 5,000 species. This guide helps with identifying subfamiles and genera of specimens you may have found in northeast North America.

Handbook of Nearctic Chalcidoidea

If you know what a nearctic chalcid is and need help identifying them, then this guide is for you. For everyone else, a chalcid wasp gets its name from khalkos, which means "copper" in Greek and refers to their metallic color.

BugGuide

BugGuide is a wonderful collection of images of insects, spiders, and other arthropods, grouped into their taxonomic categories all the way down to the species level. These people know their stuff and can help if you're stuck trying to identify a specimen. It helps to have a little knowledge of how these animals are organized before you start, however the search feature works well too.