Acanthoponera minor

Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.

Pseudoponera stigma

A worker huntress ant rescues larvae after the photographer disturbs her nest. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.

Xenos

Strepsipteran parasites protrude from between the abdominal sclerites of this Polistes metricus paper wasp. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Xenos

The odd little bodies of twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera: Xenos) protrude from between the abdominal sclerites of a Polistes metricus paper wasp. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Polistes metricus with Xenos sp. parasites

Wasps with distorted abdomens are worth a close look, as often the odd bulges indicate parasitism by Strepsiptera, a strange lineage of insects that live partially inside the bodies of their hosts. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Melanoplus differentialis

A differential grasshopper. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Melanoplus differentialis

Rumley, Texas, USA.

Phidippus carolinensis

Rumley, Texas, USA.

Phidippus carolinensis

Rumley, Texas, USA.

Tenuirostritermes

Nasute termites form a nocturnal trail to carry bits of dead vegetation back to their nest. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Tenuirostritermes

A nasute termite soldier stands guard at the edge of a foraging column. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Tenuirostritermes

A worker termite (right) carries a bit of dead vegetation back to her nest. Soldiers of this species (left) are considerably smaller than the workers. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Phidippus carolinensis

Portrait of a male carolina jumping spider. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Hogna

Up close with a large female Hogna wolf spider. Rumley, Texas, USA.

Dolichoderus plagiatus

Ridges Sanctuary Beach, Wisconsin.

Temnothorax sp. nr. whitfordi

The Texas-Mexico border region is one of the biologically richest yet poorly studied parts of North America. Home to many rare and undescribed species, the region has largely been lost to agriculture and many of the remaining fragments are under threat for the construction of a misguided border wall. One such species is this undescribed Temnothorax, a wood-nesting ant similar to the Southwestern T. whitfordi. Brownsville, Texas, USA.

Pogonomyrmex desertorum

Ants in the southeastern extent of the range of the desert harvester, P. desertorum, are more slender, lighter in color, and have shinier heads than the western morphs. Brownsville, Texas, USA.

Pogonomyrmex desertorum

Brownsville, Texas, USA.

Proceratium mexicanum

Brownsville, Texas, USA.