Insects!!!

Hazel Scientific illustrator and insect enthusiast! I work primarily with moths — if you need help with an ID send me a message!

[creditednature]

Trithemis festiva immature male 3702 West of Epta Piges, Rhodes, Greece. - Description and photo by Henrik Gyurkovics

[alcnfr]

Ichneumon Wasp, likely (Trogus pennator) out looking for a caterpillar to parasitize.

[mlleclaudine]

Photo by marie1179

[grrl-beetle]

Paul Wright

[bugkeeping]

why he standing like this...

[fivetrench]

*Whimpers*

[onenicebugperday]

This is the jumping spider Neobrettus tibialis photographed in Indonesia by wildsumatra on iNaturalist.

Dorsal view by the same photographer:

And from the side:

[weevilsdaily]

Seriously this is my second weevil ever. First the tiny guy now this heckin chonker. Inat says its a palmetto weevil. Deceased sadly.

weevil 1236

[textless]

[waspdaily]

Today's wasp of the day is Ropalidia saussurei!

Credits: photo 1, photo 2

Most other wasps that have green on them are not a true green, and instead only appear green due to what is called "structural color"— the micro-make up and surface of the scales reflect light to make it appear that color as opposed to true pigment, which is a chemical mix that results in the color. This is why so many green wasps (and birds for that matter) have a metallic sheen to them, as the angle the light hits at will also effect the perceived color.

There are only a handful of wasp species with true green pigment, the majority of which can only be found in Madagascar.

[herpsandbirds]

Emeraldine Moth (Ceroctena amynta), family Erebidae, Brazil

photograph by Enio Branco

[razehider]

as usual, ignore the logistics behind this mating Dicladispa testacea couple, it works for them. one thing i have to say about finding these is that they're not as exploitable of a find as your average mating insects, who are usually less likely to run away, because these barely ever react to their surroundings regardless. but they do look funny

(August 23rd, 2025)

[razehider]

as you might guess from the name, Milesia crabroniformis is a mimic of european hornets (Vespa crabro) and does a surprisingly good job of it, from the size to the buzzing, often giving me false hopes that i've found an actual hornet since they're not common here. ironically, what tends to give them away is their overly aggressive behavior - only a hoverfly would divebomb your face repeatedly the way they do

(August 21st, 2025)

[natureisthegreatestartist]

Take a look at these African peach moths (Egybolis vaillantina). The shades of blue on their wings are so striking against the bright hues and dark edgings. Living art, right?

[platycryptus]

Systropus macer is a species of beefly (Bombyliidae) that mimics a sand wasp in the genus Ammophila. This gives it a strange appearance for a beefly, as most other species are round and hairy.

S. macer is a parasitoid of slug caterpillars, which is also somewhat unusual since bombyliids typically target ground-dwelling hosts like burrowing bees and beetle larvae.

(Massachusetts, 8/11/24)

[beausbugbiome]

May I interest y’all in some weevils?

[bugshroom]

Selenoperas caustiplaga

Malaysia, March 2026. By David Fischer.

[wasp-with-a-computer]

I wanted to find a leaf insect but close enough ig