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Really quick...here is a breakdown of animal life in reference to insects:

There are many different groups (orders) of insects, but many of the orders do not make very impressive displays…for example: fleas, flies, earwigs, and silverfish.  For an impressive and comprehensive collection, large and colorful specimens of the most popular orders and families are recommended.

Examples of orders include "Coleoptera"- the beetles; another "Hymenoptera"- the ants and bees.

I would recommend one insect from each of the just over 20 orders, but since many of those orders are small, unimpressive bugs, most people prefer to delve within the orders, and into the families.  There are still very big differences between the various families.  Since the order Coleoptera (beetles) is such a large group, and perhaps most familiar to you...I will use them as an example below:

Order: Coleoptera (Beetles)...note, this is a partial list.

Now, Scarabaeidae is such a large family of beetles, that it includes such diverse and impressive "sub-families" like the following.  The Sub-family distinction was not listed above (in the first table, at the top of the page).  It is just another grouping within the family level, but still above the Genus level.

So, each family of beetles is very different from other families of beetles.  They may behave differently, as well as look different.  Further breakdowns can be made within the Sub-family.  For example, the Sub-family Dynastinae* includes various genera (plural of Genus) of beetles like Dynastes, Megasoma, and Strategus.  Finally, the genera can be broken down into the species.  The species level is defined by a group of organisms that can breed with one another.  So, even though Dynastes granti and Dynastes tityus are in the same genus (Dynastes), they cannot successfully interbreed because they are different species.  In some cases there is one further breakdown.  This is the subspecies level.  Goliath beetles (Family= Cetoniiae, genus= Goliathus) have several subspecies.  For example, the species Goliathus goliatus is sub-divided as Goliathus goliatus apicalis, or Goliathus goliatus goliatus, or Goliathus goliatus undulus, etc.  These variations indicate differences worthy of being noted, for example coloration, patterns, and even slight differences in shape.  These variations are likely perpetuated by slight geographical barriers, so that most Goliathus goliatus found in one region would be of one subspecies, while Goliathus goliatus found in another region would consist mostly of a different subspecies.  But subspecies are able to breed with other subspecies.

Since we're at the species level of the discussion, I'd like to mention a little bit about common names and scientific names.  A common name is a name given by people, usually in an area where a bug occurs.  For example, a leaf-insect to somebody in Malaysia means a "Walking-Leaf-Insect" (Phyllium sp.).  To somebody in Nebraska it could be a katydid, while to somebody in Australia it might mean the stick-insect Extatosoma tiaratum.  The scientific name of any organism on earth contains two parts- its genus, and its species.  It is recognized and used by all persons, worldwide.  For humans it is Homo sapiens.  Note the the Genus is always capitalized.  The species is always lowercase.  Scientific names are also always italicized.

Here are a few other need-to-knows:

Here are some examples of popular Orders and families (to the right, linked where available on this site).

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