Insects

yanmary(44)

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#macrophotography

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Even insects get bitten by others. Here we see biting midges (family Ceratopogonidae) feeding on a stink bug (Edessa rufomarginata).

This is the kind of samples you get by collecting insects via sweep netting: a large abundance and diversity of specimens. Here I separated the parasitoid wasps, and these represent around 20% of the ones collected in a 5 m^2 area of a small urban garden. How many families can you identify?

Automeris larvae (family Saturniidae) have very urticating spines. This is a caterpillar I'm rearing to adult to confirm if it is Automeris boops or not.

Aganacris velutina (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) is a katydid that mimics tarantula hawks (genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis), which are wasps in the family Pompilidae. These wasps have an incredibly painful sting, and by looking like them, the katydids have an advantage since their predators tend to avoid them.