Insects Galleries

Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies : Hymenoptera is a diverse order of insects that contains wasps, bees, and sawflies. Many species are parasitic on other insects and are important in biological control of pests. Several groups have evolved complex social behavior, particularly in the bees and ants.

Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies

Bountiful Bugs : True Bugs, insects in the order Hemiptera, are an abundant and diverse assemblage that includes hoppers, cicadas, aphids, scale insects, and others. These insects have beak-like mouthparts specialized for piercing/sucking.

Bountiful Bugs

Beautiful Beetles : Beetles are older than the dinosaurs and contain more species than any other order of insects. My current research at the University of Arizona traces the evolutionary history of the major beetle lineages using DNA sequence data, and consequently I have started paying more photographic attention to these charismatic insects. This gallery showcases some of the beetles I have recently encountered.

Beautiful Beetles

Fabulous Flies : Flies are the most underappreciated of the major insect orders. While they are best known for pests like the domestic house fly and their association with mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, in truth the harmful species are a small minority of the flies. These insects are the most adept of all the flying animals, they were instrumental in building the science of genetics, and they are among the most important pollinators of flowering plants.

Fabulous Flies

A Plague of Bed Bugs : Bed Bugs are re-emerging as a major urban pest after half a century of relative dormancy. These wingless insects take blood meals at night, hiding during the day in dark crevices. Below are images of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius.

A Plague of Bed Bugs

Amazing Arachnids : Amazing Arachnids Images of the eight-legged arthropods among us.

Amazing Arachnids

all images and text © Alex Wild 2010

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