What would be

I own Beetles of Eastern North America, so I will look at it.

I still find all the terms kind of hard.

… Christian Jacobs, 28 August, 2021 - 6:04pm

You’re not alone

I’m in middle school too, and I still struggle with most of the terms. Here is a list of pretty basic terms/meanings to help you out:
Setae = hair
Pilose = hairy
Femur/femora = main part of leg
Tarsi/tarsus = small segments towards or at the tip of a leg
Ocular = relating to in or around the eye
Mandible/rostrum = mouthparts
Elytra = fore wing of a beetle
Scutellum = part of the thorax preceding the main thorax (for beetles, the triangle at the base of the elytra).
Pronotum = the usually flexible part of the thorax behind the head, most prevalent in beetles

… BugIdentifier, 28 August, 2021 - 7:19pm

Thank you for the compliment! I do have to take a lot of pics.

… Christian Jacobs, 28 August, 2021 - 6:02pm

I just want to say that I really like the images you post on this site, as they have been photographed with a skill that I do not have. I also think that you prepare your specimens really nicely, and with great care. I respect that you have taken the care to research these insects and share your knowledge with others on this site. I will say one thing. It is quite impressive to me that you are able to this at age 12, seeing as there are not many 12 year olds I know that are able to do this. I do not say this degradingly, intending to talk down to you, like "Oh, you know a lot for a kid," your knowledge of insects has passed up the knowledge of some adults on this site, and that is saying something. Personally, I am 15 years of age, and still don't know as much as you do.

Keep up the great work!

… Silas J. Eckhardt, 28 August, 2021 - 3:47pm

I've already chosen Beetles

… Christian Jacobs, 17 July, 2021 - 10:03am

Beetles - an excellent choice!

The beetle species diversity and the ranges in size, shape, & coloration are immense; they are eye candy with an aesthetic jewel-like quality; they are plentiful and easy to catch on any collecting day (always a "ground beetle" beneath ground cover even on rainy days); their sturdy bodies make them easy to pin with little breakage and without special preparations; most beetle groups are well described in the literature which puts species identification in the reach of most collectors; there's still plenty room to make new discoveries regarding their taxonomy and their natural history.

… Peter W. Messer, 17 July, 2021 - 10:59am

I would suggest you check out

I would suggest you check out the back page of Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans. It has a very detailed diagram of a ground beetle's body parts, and the book itself is written by a beetle expert whom I have met and talked to.

… Silas J. Eckhardt, 28 August, 2021 - 3:18pm

We also have a Glossary

- Use the Taxonomy tab to navigate. More information is listed in the keys on DiscoverLife.org and wings on DrawWing.org.

… Bob Biagi, 10 July, 2021 - 1:47am

Insect anatomy references

Here are some freely available references that have good sections on insect anatomy –

flies: Volume 1 of the Nearctic Diptera (1)
Hymenoptera in general: Hymenoptera of the World (2)
ichneumon wasps: The American Entomological Institute's website: http://www.amentinst.org/GIN/morphology.php and illustrations from Royal Entomological Society's handbook at https://cargocollective.com/dawnpainter/Ichneumonidae-Handbook-Royal-Entomological-Society
braconid wasps: Manual of the New World Genera of the Family Braconidae (3)

The Wikipedia has useful sections like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_morphology as well as a glossary of entomological terms at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_entomology_terms. There's also the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology Portal at http://portal.hymao.org/projects/32/public/ontology/. Just googling terms like "beetle anatomy" can bring up lots of useful diagrams.

Keep in mind that older papers may use different terms for a structure than used in more modern papers; that's especially true for the nomenclature for wing veins.

… Steve Scholnick, 7 July, 2021 - 11:51pm

I will have fun!

… Christian Jacobs, 7 July, 2021 - 2:19pm

A whole new "exotic" world of creatures

opens up in front of your eyes when you start looking at insects under strong magnification. You'll see what I mean when you get your hands on a binocular stereo-microscope. It's natural to start out as a generalist. Eventually you might gravitate to a favorite few insect groups. Have a fun and productive journey!

… Peter W. Messer, 7 July, 2021 - 6:45pm

To learn all the differences will take a lifetime

and you probably still won't finish - but it will be fun! Start with a field guide, maybe BugEric's book (1) or Tom Murray's (2). Both will give you lots of info and you can work your way up from there. There are a lot of small single issue publications published for Kansas, see here as the Kansas school naturalist. Many are available online and you may be able to order backcopies. That way you can focus on one thing at a time. Take your time. Have fun!

… john and jane balaban, 7 July, 2021 - 2:12pm

Field Guide

By Bug Eric's book, I suspect you mean the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. In that case, I too would recommend it. I have used it to identify each of my insects, which are either pinned in my insect collection, or on this site. I would also recommend Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans if you live in the East, or if you live in the West, Beetles of Western North America, by the same author. I have found the Eastern one very useful, especially seeing as I live in VA. Both, I believe, have the Beetle anatomy diagram in the back.

… Silas J. Eckhardt, 28 August, 2021 - 3:26pm

What you will also find

Is when you get a bunch of specimens you want to start identifying, as you work with them you will start to fish around for publications that focus on what you are looking at and your resources will build in your areas of interest… I had collected a boatload of weevils when I started back in the early 1990’s… one day I got an urge to figure out what I had, which turned out to be several species of the genus Listronotus…during the process I acquired all the available papers to ID them, then I learned the only reliable way to ID them was to dissect the genitalia, so I learned how to do that, then I learned the ID papers can be quite a mess trying to figure out species, so then I learned to take high resolution images and started to communicate with other folks working on similar things… that led to me now having imaged many of the available holotype specimens, and to a better understanding of how to better ID a difficult genus… all from some weevils I collected at MV lights at night in car dealership lots! The journeys you may find along your way will be exciting!

… Guy A. Hanley, 1 August, 2021 - 10:01pm

I am Id-ing my specimens right now. I don't know what my favorite kind of beetle is.

… Christian Jacobs, 2 August, 2021 - 4:47pm

Let me suggest "ground beetles",

my bias. Some great names in carabidology have left us recently (death or retirement) and the country needs young taxonomists to fill the void. Many agriculture and ecology studies depend on accurate "ground beetle" species identifications. Ground beetles are indicators of environmental health and species diversity. Experts in ground beetle identifications are definitely needed to help our ecology colleagues! Once you gain a reputation in this field, ecology students and researchers will want your expertise. I could help to get you started on published keys. I am familiar with the Nebraska carabids and know well a Tiger Beetle expert at Chadron Sate College, NE who might help. I can email you a checklist of the known ground beetle species in Nebraska if you like. Please don't worry - you won't hurt my feeling if you are still undecided in your choice of beetles!

… Peter W. Messer, 2 August, 2021 - 6:03pm

I am still undecided, I will comment on this page If I chose Ground beetles. Thank you for the offer, I will consider.

… Christian Jacobs, 2 August, 2021 - 7:03pm