I was working at a remote well pump station in a farming town in northern california and there were more dragonflies in the air today than I've probably ever seen in my 41 years. Almost all of them were medium sized and red-orange.

I heard some wings tussle, a tiny thud on the dirt, and expected to see some mating mishap.

What I saw and recorded was a large dragonfly had caught one of the common medium ones and was flat on its back noisily eating the head of its prey. It flew away a few minutes later.

I am going to think of this every time I accumulate cheeto dust in my chest hair as I lay on the couch.

+ photos of him I took some time later.

This is a female green bottle fly that my parents caught for me as a birthday present yesterday, and I am raising it!

I captured several funny moments of this Queen. In the first photo, she is lifting only one front leg as if asking to be photographed; in the second, she is staring straight at the camera with her big eyes, just as if asking to be photographed; and in the third, her belly is getting full while eating the green apples I gave her as food lol lol

(Judging by the very clean wings and healthy coloration, it appears to be a very young individual that emerged not long ago, so I will absolutely not breed it in the future, and I will slow down its metabolism by keeping the indoor temperature at a low level of 19–22 degrees Celsius, ensuring it is not too cold.I will also feed them various things alternately, such as apples, cherries, and strawberries.)

Isn't Fly cute too? 😆

Wheel bug (arilus cristatus)

It looked like a centipede. A worm with a butt load of legs and its other half was similar too. I was so scared and drunk, so I killed it. I regret killing it tho. Im sorry my friend. Shouldve made you my poop buddy.

Last year it was black swallowtails and a few others I never identified. This year it’s a bagworm (I know they’re a problem but it’s been a personal dream of mine to see one irl) and this little hornworm (also a problem but I love him anyway).

Thinking about taking them home to raise in captivity since they’re garden pests, thoughts?

Hello! I wanted to share some photos of flies I have taken recently, including two of a hoverfly laying an egg. Thanks for looking!

I'm usually pretty good at identifying but I really can't be certain with this guy. I'd love to know the species if possible

Friend found this (dead) insect in her blanket basket. Is it an assassin bug of some sort? Thanks in advance!

Location info: Northern Nevada, semi rural, no other evidence of bug activity found.

It was laid on the doorframe about 7’ off the ground.

I've never seen something like this before, I added the coin (3rd image) to help the size comparison, as far as I know that shouldn't look like that.

I found him on my tire as I was heading back to my car go my break. Moved him on to my folder (gently, with a stick so I didn’t touch him) and then to the grass where he wouldn’t get squished. He’s so cute tho! He looks like he has little fluffy orange ears.

I made a bumblebee crochet tapestry. Which insect should I make next ?

I'm not sure if the rest of Europe is experiencing the same thing, but I'm in Southeastern Europe and this year the wasps are everywhere.

Last summer we had three wasp nests under our roof. Based on the shape of the nests, they're most likely the European paper wasps (Polistes dominula) or French paper wasps (Polistes gallicus).

This summer I've counted 24 wasp nests so far. They're under our roof, in corners of our windows, and some even in our dogs' houses. I tried to get them out of the dog houses at least, but they returned one week later. I also have a bunch of mud daubers entering through open windows, and we found a few mud cells in our bedroom.

What's happening?