I think of 'total length' and 'body length' as the same thing, although I suppose total length could include antennae etc. I tend to use 'total length' because some of the moths (and others) that I photograph have wings that extend posterior of the abdomen and I just measure (or estimate) from the front of the head to the back end, whether it be the posterior of the abdomen or the tip of the wings if they extend past the abdomen. Maybe not the most logical way to do it?

in beetles, the default size measurement is the body length [sans appendages, of course], so putting just "XX mm" would mean exactly that, while any additional language would be construed to refer to a different kind of size measurement --thus my question