Described is an analysis of the content, tasks, and strategies needed by students to enable them to identify insects to order by sight and to family by use of a standard dichotomous taxonomic key. Tasks and strategies are broken down and arranged progressively in the approximate order in which students should progress. Included are listings of insect identification variables, a network of identification procedures for each variable, a flow-chart utilizing five variables for ordering insects into 14 "order sets," and characteristic charts of variables for 22 orders of insects. (SL)