Megischus bicolor
Silhouetted against the dusk sky, a parasitic wasp lays her egg in the dead trunk of a redbud tree. Her target is probably wood-boring beetles. Urbana, Illinois, USA.
Derbidae
A long-winged planthopper sits on a banana stem. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Megachile
A leafcutter bee gathers pollen from a summer aster. Saint Louis, Missouri.
Cotesia congregata
A hornworm rears up when attacked by a parasitic Cotesia congregata wasp. The wasp injects not only her eggs, but a specialized virus that disables the caterpillar's immune system. Laboratory animals at the University of Illinois.
Phanolinus
A colorful rove beetle from the Ecuadorian cloud forest. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Pseudacteon solenopsidis
An ant-decapitating fly attempts to separate a fire ant (Solenopsis macdonaghi) from her nestmates. Lone ants make easier targets. Parque Nacional El Palmar, Entre Rios, Argentina
Hogna
Up close with a large female Hogna wolf spider. Rumley, Texas, USA.
A leaf-litter inhabiting cricket has rather spectacularly fallen prey to an entomopathogenic fungus. Armenia, Belize
Aedes aegypti
The eclosion of a female mosquito. Mosquito larvae and pupae live underwater, but the mature pupal casing spilts on a seam at the air/water boundary, releasing the adult to the atmosphere. Laboratory culture at Rockefeller University.
Fireflies
A 10 minute night exposure in a restored Illinois prairie reveals the signals of several different species of fireflies, each with a unique pattern. Homer Lake, Illinois, USA.
Plectrodera scalator
Portrait of a cottonwood borer beetle, Plectrodera scalator, one of the most beautiful longhorn beetles in eastern North America. Austin, Texas, USA.
A male straight-snouted weevil (Brentidae) silhouetted against a leaf in an Australian rain forest. Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Paraponera clavata
Biologist Yajaira Bautista volunteers herself as pincushion for an ant sting photo shoot. La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.
Magicicada
A recently eclosed periodical cicada waits for her new cuticle to harden. Panther Creek State Conservation Area, Illinois, USA.
Mermithid nematode
Breaking the abdomen of a parasitized Odontomachus haematodus trap-jaw ant reveals a mermithid nematode coiled within. Worms infect the ants as larvae and result in stunted adults. Armenia, Cayo District, Belize
Dermacentor variabilis
A male dog tick questing.
Onthophagus taurus
Onthophagus taurus dung beetles, showing size and horn variation among males.
Trissolcus sp.
A tiny parasitoid wasp lurks among a clutch of stink bug eggs. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Musca domestica
Young house flies (Musca domestica) fill an inflatable structure- the ptilinum- with hemolymph to break free from the hard shell of the puparium. Once free, the ptilinum collapses back into the head. Urbana, Illinois, USA
Lasioglossum sp.
A sweat bee vists the first spiderwort of spring in an urban prairie garden. Austin, Texas, USA.
The various colors of pollen in a honey bee nest indicate different source plant species.
Heteronotus
A cloud forest treehopper. Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Photinus pyralis
A male big dipper firefly, Photinus pyralis, signals to females with an illuminated upward swoop. Urbana, Illinois, USA
The saucer-shaped eyes of Phidippus jumping spiders help them to track and capture prey. Urbana, Illinois, USA
Castes of the western honey bee Apis mellifera: worker, queen, and drone.
