Hemipepsis ustulata

Portrait of a tarantula hawk wasp. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Eurybunus

Portrait of a desert harvestman. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Cysteodemus armatus

The inflated beetle Cysteodemus is one of the most recognizeable insects of the southwestern deserts. Larvae are parasites of soil-nesting bees. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Cysteodemus armatus

The inflated beetle Cysteodemus is one of the most recognizeable insects of the southwestern deserts. Larvae are parasites of soil-nesting bees. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Solenopsis xyloni

Some of the native North American fire ants are more granivorous than the pesty imported species. Here, a southern fire ant worker carries a seed back to her nest. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Solifugae

An eremobatid windscorpion. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Solifugae

Focus-stacked portrait of an eremobatid wind scorpion. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Messor pergandei

This black harvester ant carries an old battle ornament on her antennae: a Solenopsis xyloni fire ant head capsule. Presumably the fire ant was killed in a fight, but her mandibles had latched so firmly to her opponent that it remains attached even as the rest of her body has fallen away. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Nylanderia hystrix

Mojave Desert, California, USA.

Pheidole yaqui

Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Veromessor pergandei

A busy colony of black harvester ants in the Colorado desert. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Veromessor pergandei

A busy colony of black harvester ants in the Colorado desert. Anza Borrego, California, USA.

Aphaenogaster texana

Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Aphaenogaster texana

Portrait of a Texan winnow ant. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Aphaenogaster texana

Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Aphaenogaster texana

Portrait of a Texan winnow ant. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Oncopeltus fasciatus

The large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, feeds on the seeds of milkweed plants. Austin, Texas, USA.

Nylanderia arenivaga

After a spring rain, a male sand-roaming crazy ant appears at the nest entrance. Stengl Lost Pines Biological Station, Texas, USA.

Nylanderia arenivaga

The sand-roaming crazy ant, Nylanderia arenivaga, is a small insect native to the southeastern United States with the distinctive habit of nesting in yellow sandy soils. It can be recognized by its color and by the dense mat of hairs on its head. Stengl Lost Pines Biological Station, Texas, USA.