CLOSED: Um...bugs are a type of insect....Bugs and Insect ID?

Why not, say, insects and crawlies? Or Bugs and other insects? There's (true) bugs (hemiptera), Dragon/damselflies (odonota), wasps/ants/bees (hemiptra), coleoptera (beetles), moths/butterflies(lepidoptera), caddisflies (trichoptera), grasshoppers/crickets (orthoptera) stoneflies (plecoptera), flies/mosquitoes et. al (diptera), etc.... bugs are just one group of insects.
Bugs and Insect ID, if you really think too hard about it, would be rather like saying plants and ferns, or possibly andgiosperms and dicots (I think I've got all my names right, it's been a few years since those classes).
Just curious-I know most people call anything that moves and is smaller than, say, a marshmallow and isn't furry-especially if it's got shiny, non-feathery wings, more than 4 legs, or antennae-- a 'bug'...how many people out there actually pay attention to bugs vs. beetles vs. etc?
Maybe it's just me, I tend to over-analyze things.
Thanks for your thoughts!

I agree, absolutely. It's just plain wrong. And "Bugfiles" is worse. There are lots of spiders in this forum and the bugfiles.
About your question,"how many people out there actually pay attention to bugs vs. beetles vs..." - it seems to me they're the people who would post here and care to find out what their "bug" is. I guess there will be no getting around having to say "true" bug.

But English is a funny language, and getting funnier all the time!

This title has always bothered me. How about Insect and Spider ID? One of the things I try to teach is the recognizable differences between beetles and bugs, insect and spiders. Then it is easier to search for the insect that is causing damage to a plant - sucking or chewing, etc. Most people are unaware and using the word bug for insect just makes it more confusing for them.

All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs!

You should take a look at the Dave's Garden thread on creating it. We argued about the name a lot. Here's the thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/630068/

Had I been a member at that time, I likely would have proposed something along the lines of 'Arthropod Identification,' 'Arthropods and Other Invertebrates,' or 'Insects, Spiders, and Mites, Oh My.' That aside, even though I consider myself somewhat of a traditionalist taxonomy-wise, this forum is for the general public rather than taxonomists, and I see nothing really wrong with the current title.

I support suunto's position. Bug and Insect is a lot more likely to attract new dues paying members than Arthropod and Invertebrates. We don't need to ID stuff for the scinece people- they already know- but for the common folks, who call everything bugs.
But for the record I do know the difference between bugs, insects and spiders. and so do my kids, well the boys...LOL
(P.S.-Is it just me or does it "bug" you when somebody calls a caterpillar a "worm"? That grates on my nerves.)

lol... I've never had someone around me call a caterpillar a worm, but I bet it would get on my nerves.

Or when beetle larvae are called worms....

True, Arthropods is a little too scientific for many...but I still think that Insects and Spiders is better than Bugs and Insects! And everyone would understand it.

True, I wanted to call it FaunaFiles and include all animal. I argued that birds and beasts have as big an impact, and there is probably more general interest in, as bugs etc...

I still think a bird and wildlife "file" would be a good idea.

I love all of your comments! Clearly, it boils down to the difference between the strict definition of the term "bug" and the loose definition as "any small thing that moves"!
I argue for the loose definition. In my 30+ years as a research microbiologist, most of my colleagues in the lab referred to bacterial cultures, e.g., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and even yeasts and viruses as "bugs". In that sense, I would think the category could better be called "ID of insects and other bugs" - as long as you are willing to allow insects to be loosely called bugs. As was mentioned before, there are plenty of arachnids and other arthropods that we refer to, however incorrectly, as "bugs".

Oh boy, guess my name will be a problem for ya'll.............LOL. I DO know to differentiate the arachnids from bugs, but, beyond that it is too technical for this "bug".
Cymbalariadave, I'm reaching for the dictionary even now!!

Holy cats! I didn't mean to open a can of worms (the anelid kind). I can see the positives on both sides, most people do use 'bug' in a way-loose sense (kind of like "germs" on those commercials that say "Kills 99.9% of germs" or better "bacteria and germs"...), but
at the same time I'm the kind of person who goes likes to be precise.
How about the title: "Living things with more than 4 legs, probably an exoskeleton, exothermic, multiple joints per appendage..." it would be better than a sleeping pill or a tax regulation!
How about Critters and Crawlies?
Thanks everyone for the comments (and yes, catipillars/worms gets me too, so does 'koala bear' bleaachh!)

I vote for "Critters and Crawlies".

Now it's the Insect and Spider Identification forum. I think it's an improvement!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/bugid/all/

I agree!!!

I like the new name, it makes my brain itch less!