Using the Key
For accurate identification of species, the key requires a high magnification hand lens or a low magnification microscope.
The key is written for people with no prior knowledge of Stink Bugs, to help with understanding the terminology an extensive glossary is supplied.
The glossary can be accessed via the general information icon 
at the top of the page or via any of the notes pages.
It is strongly recommended that first time users read the accompanying notes pages. The notes are accessed by selecting the circular icon next to the state name.
The user interface of lucid is a four panel window. The top two panels are devoted to characters and their states. The bottom two are devoted to taxa.
The top left panel displays the characters and a list of variations (the states). When a character and its associated state are selected they are listed in the upper right panel.
When a character state is selected, the taxa that do not satisfy the criteria of that state are moved to the lower left hand panel. When the list of taxa in the right hand panel is reduced to one, the keying process is complete.
Learn how to use the key by simply opening it and trying various characters. The key cannot be broken or modified, so clicking on the icons will help you understand how the key operates.
The key can be navigated in two principal ways:
1. To display states belonging to a particular character click on the wording. To select a state double click on it and it will be transfered to the top right panel. More than one state can be chosen for any character. Images and associated notes for each state can be accessed by selecting the adjacent circular icon 
.
2. Select the circular icon adjacent to a character. This presents a window displaying all images associated with the character. To select a state double-click on the image of choice. In this mode the user may move between characters using the blue arrows in the top left hand corner of the image window. Associated notes are accessed by dragging images across to the small book icon.
For numerical characters double click on # and a window will appear in which values can be entered.
The following icons are available in the toolbar:
1. Best: selects the character recommended in order to distinguish between remaining taxa. This function is very useful for keying out specimens using
2. Similarities and dissimilarities: provides a summary of all characters, and their corresponding states, in which the remaining taxa differ.
3. Prune redundants: a function that discards all characters and states that do not apply to the remaining taxa. To return to the characters that were discarded, select the "sets" icon and tick the box entitled "all".
4. Bingo: provides a summary of all characters and states that can be used to reduce the remaining list of taxa to one.
If the specimen is broken, or only part of it is of interest you can select character sets.
The set icon allows you to select character sets. For example, by ticking the box "head", all characters associated with the head will be displayed and the others discarded. To return the other states just reselect "all".
At any time the descriptions and images of the individual species can be viewed by clicking on the green icon 
next to the name.
Just double click on the wording of the character state in the top right panel and the state will return to the character list.
It is best not to guess. If you are still unsure after reading the notes then it is best to leave that character and investigate one of the other characters.
Copyright © Australian Museum 2002
Authors: Gerry Cassis, Emma Betts and Michael Elliott