Achurum carinatum (Longheaded Toothpick Grasshopper)
Can you find this incredibly well camouflaged grasshopper. I certainly would have missed it had I not seen it fly and land here. It blends perfectly with the dead grasses and such around it.
Can you find this incredibly well camouflaged grasshopper. I certainly would have missed it had I not seen it fly and land here. It blends perfectly with the dead grasses and such around it.
This was identified by Stephen Giamari at the PPDC in Sacramento. It's a Stiletto Fly in the family Therevidae
This brightly colored bee are often found around flowers. They're also attracted to sweat, but relatively harmless.
Family Halticidae (Sweat Bees)
This Assassin Bug specializes in catching bees, hence the name. Unfortunately I didn't catch this little insect while it was feeding.
Family Reduviidae
My friend said it would be amazing to have a photo of a Bee Assassin feeding on a bee. I like to oblige my friends so after a bit of searching my photos, I finally found this one I took of a feeding Bee Assassin. It's eating a common Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Anyone who has ever enjoyed honey has to thank this European native bee, they are used all across the US to produce honey for commercial consumption. This individual was feeding on the nectar from a Manzanita tree.
Family Apidae
This very large and fairly common Assassin Bug derives it's name fore spiked half wheel-shaped pronotum. Despite being common I don't run across them too often.
Family Reduviidae
Still don't know the genus or species of this large Asilid. Still pretty, none-the-less
This is a rather colorful stinkbug that came to my blacklight.
Family Pentatomidae
This was found in Presidio in San Francisco, it resembles a true wasp in pattern but is actually a Digger Wasp in the family Sphecidae.
I had a real hard time figuring out what this fly was, or even that it was a fly. It's actually a member of the family Bibionidae, or March Flies.
This was only recently identified to species. Its one variation on the classic bumblebee motif.
Family Apidae (Bees)
This was identified by the amazing people at Bugguide.net, where I get virtually all of my insect ID's. I usually try to have at least a genus ready to start with. I'm usually on the genus, but beyond that I leave species to the experts... usually
Here's another Bee Fly from the family Bombylidae. The hairy yellow body and distinctive wing pattern is indicative of Bombylius major
This is a member of the ubiquitous Blow Fly family Calliphoridae, and is in fact from the namesake genus Calliphora.
No genus for this. It was confirmed by Bugguide as a member of the family Cephidae or Stem Sawflies. As such, they can't actually sting you, which is a trait of all Symphyta.
This colorful grasshopper really stands out in a crowd. Don't know anything else about them though.
What you see is what you get with this photo, its as high a resolution as it can be. This is a member of the family Coelopidae, which are found flying around piles of Kelp and other seaweeds on the beach. The extremely hairy legs are a good field mark for separating these from the other flies often found in the same place.
Identified by Eric Fisher, only saw two of these, they're about 1cm long or less, I just happened to spot it on a rock.
This member of the family Empididae was found sitting on the beautiful Fairy's Slipper Orchid.
These aren't ants at all. In fact these are female wasps in the family Mutillidae, the Velvet Ants. The female are all flightless and fuzzy-looking but the males are winged and look like regular wasps. However, don't let their cuddly appearance fool you - the species Dasymutilla occidentalis is also known by the name Cow Killer, after its extremely nasty sting. Of course, you only have to worry about the female. As with all Hymenoptera, only the females can sting.
Don't let the fuzziness fool you, not only is this not an ant, its a wasp in the family Mutillidae and has the name Cow Killer for a reason ,and unless your really want to find out why, these are a "Look but don't touch" species
One of the insect species I photographed over Spring Break in Florida. This is in the family Acrididae.
This is a Robber Fly in the family Asilidae. They are very accomplished hunters and can be very large, over 3cm!
This member of the true wasp family was feeding on Coastal Buckwheat on the beach.
Family Vespidae
Like many hover flies, this is a bee mimic, and a rather convincing one at that.
Family Syrphidae
This is another species from the family Apidae. This particular individual is from a Tribe (one down from subfamily) Eucerini. This one is feeding on Manzanita blossoms.
Much better photo of a Small-headed Fly, forgot I even had it.
Family Acroceridae
These flies are often found flying around carrion. One useful marking to look for is a red tip to the abdomen.
Family Sarcophagidae
These are seriously ugly looking insects, and this species is a visitor from Europe.
Family Forficulidae
About as common as they come, this is a normal field cricket.
Family Gryllidae
For a leafhopper, this genus is particularly large, and quite distinctive with the vertical lines on the thorax.
Family Cicadellidae
This pretty green fly is a member of the family Stratiomyidae, the Soldier Flies. They were common on this odd little plant and nowhere else.
Another fuzzy member of Bombyliidae. It's not H. sinuosa, but some other member of the genus.
This is a female robber fly in the subfamily Laphriinae, though it's not as fuzzy as many of them are. ID'd by Eric Fisher
This beautiful bee-mimic Robber Fly was one of the insect highlights of my Florida trip. The hunter has become the hunted in this photo. The prey is an adult Assassin Bug in the genus Pselliopus.
This large male is a species of Laphria, thought which one it is can't really be determined from a photo. ID'd by Eric Fisher
Eric Fisher kindly identified this for me as a Lestomyia species of Robber Fly. It's not possible to ID further without the specimen and he said it might be undescribed!
This is a member of the family Leucospidae, which is closely related to the family Chalcididae, and they are parasitic
Ubiquitous and hard to identify are the key features of the Miridae family to which this belongs
Like the Blue-bottle Fly, this is also a member of the family Calliphoridae
This big robber fly was quite cooperative since he was eating. This photo turned out better than some of the other Robbers, getting them in perfect focus isn't easy (this isn't perfect either)
Here's another image of this neat Robber Fly
Family Asillidae
This isn't a bee, but actually a Robber Fly. The Asilids of the genus Mallophora strongly resemble bees in the genus Bombus. They actually prey on them as well. This is a mating pair, though the second one is out of focus
Family Asillidae
I thought this was a Scudderia Katydid, but my Entomology TA informed me that it is a species native to the Mediterranean area that he recently described from Southern California.
This family of bees is best known for collecting pollen under its abdomen as opposed to the sides of its legs, like the bees in the Family Apidae.
Family Megachilidae (Leaf-cutter Bees)
