The interface is a bit quirky but I've been able to identify quite a few things I had wondered about. And it's free.

http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/

Also scroll down and there are links to other useful resources.

Cool, I like it.

-Blast

Honestly, I don't see how it could be more useful for identification than a plain google images search? Just a bunch of pictures with minimal descriptive text.

"I don't see how it could be more useful for identification than a plain google images search?"

If you know what you're looking at, there's no problem, you just google it by name.

It's when you DON'T know what it is that it can take hours of going through google to find what it is. Insect? There are over a million different species of insects, all with their variations.

A woman I know saw a walking stick (insect) for the first time, saw it move, didn't have any idea what it was or what it was called, never had any idea that such a thing existed. Looking up 'bug' will take a lot of time.

Sue

That's correct. However, did you see the site above? It's even worse than that. Open Insects, select flies, and you will end up in a bunch of Latin names to select from. I'd rather go google for "long green bug with big eyes in the grass" (in the images) and hit the walking stick on first page.

I just come and ask you guys here, haha!