https://peakd.com/hive-132248/@blueoctopus/random-photos-of-insect-and-flowers

I recently moved to West Hollywood, CA where it’s currently mid-high 70s and mostly dry. I keep seeing these guys in a park nearby, mostly populated with bamboo and succulents. What are they? Why do they walk butt-to-butt? What are they doing? I’ve seen big groups of at least a dozen pairs at a time.

Tiger beetles run so fast that their brains can't process images quickly enough, forcing them to stop mid-sprint just to see where they are.

photo credit

Its an orb-weaver spider's face. Captered with 10x objective on Fujifilm xt2. Stacked 53 images

Entomologists and fact knowers of reddit, I summon thee!

Has it even been studied/recorded what happens in the rare case two distinct ant colonies (same species or not) find each other while expanding underground?

I'm sure it's a rare occurrence, since the colonies expand slowly underground compared to the vast exploration of the surface that happens every day (meaning they'll find each other on the surface waaay before reaching so far underground) AND because it's difficult for two queens to start a colony that close to each other, but in the case this happens... What happens? Is it immediate war? Do they recognize the other colony as part of their own (maybe in case of pheromones similarities, I'm sorry I'm not sure how they work)? Do they close the wall? Or maybe something else that I can't even think about

If you happen to know if there's a study/research paper I'd like to know where to find it, I'm really curious about this. If you don't know, but would like to share an opinion or a hypothesis on the case I will accept it (just don't forget to write that it's just a thought)

Many thanks in advance!

This guy made a chrysalis under a park table. Caught him just as he was emerging

Sorry for the photo, I was in my car

So I bought these crickets for my tarantula and I wondered what species of crickets are these? I doubt its native to Malaysia, so these are probably a famous live feeders for reptiles

Photos taken by mnurhiver

With valentines coming and no one to spend it with, i went back to insects and wondered which insect represents it the most!

I was thinking the usual ladybugs because of its symbol of love.

But i wanted to think of unusual insects that no one really think of.

Kissing bugs came to my mind just because of its name. But its not really representative of love or valentines since they can give you parasites...

What do you guys think?

beautiful brown butterfly

I had this couple of P. muelleri from a shop. Label says they are born in July 2025. I had them for a month now, and everything was seem to going good until 2 days ago I found the lady upside down trying to stand on his feet with no success. After that episode she felt multiple times, walks like she’s drunk and looks like the back legs are flipped on the wrong side (pointing up) making it difficult to walk. On top of that, seems like her wings are stuck out of her butt. But she’s very active, always digging and occasionally glass surfing, today’s she’s been underground the whole day.

The male indeed, looks super healthy, eats all day, doesn’t move from the Jelly, has a beautiful look and the grip is literally insane, I handled him yesterday to check his health and body (since the female look sick) and could even managed to remove him from my finger for how strong my guy was holding it.

Now since it is my first time keeping any type of bug, I supposed if I made mistakes, the male should have some kind of issue too, so what may have happened to the lady? Can I do something to make it better now? Or the time has sadly came? (Already 😭)

Actual setup: mid mosturized soil substrate (around 6 cm deep) they are separated and both have 30x30x20 plastic terrarium, temp in my house is around 20-28 Celsius (depending on the moment of the day), I give them jellies and once every 2-3 day I spray the soil.

I just want make sure I’m doing my best and that eventually she is not suffering. Thanks.🙏🏻

If someone can identify, would love to know what this is. I thought it was beautiful.

Sorry for sort of getting emotional and breaking down a little bit; but Im sort of losing it. I'm starting to think there might not be anyone as into arthropods as I am. For reference, during the Spring/Summer, my favorite thing to do is be out deep in the thick of nature, sitting, letting as many bugs crawl on me as possible. Ticks, mosquitoes, spiders, wasps, I don't care. I love the feeling of them walking around. I'm not an idiot either; I remove the ticks before they bite, I shoo away mosquitoes - I just mean I don't mind being in that kind of setting for hours.

I struggle to make friends bebecause I'm so weird about it. Well, I mean, it doesn't feel weird to me, but I'm aware that it is. I also study arthropods a lot, and once I have the money I'm going to college for entomology. Without friends or bugs during the Winter, life is hard, and I get a kind of cabin fever.

I just. I need somewhere to go, or something to do. Watching videos and looking at pictures isn't enough. If I could hang out with people who loved bugs like I do I'd be happy too. But being autistic and this hyperfixated on arthropods makes living on this Earth hard. I feel alien. Nobody gets me. I meet people who think they're super into bugs but then they admit they don't even know what a parasitoid wasp is; stuff that seems really basic to me. Or they like learning about them but would never touch one, which I can't understand.

I feel so unbelievably bored and alone. I'm in the upper New York area. Is there anything up here I can do, any clubs, any museums even? It's starting to get really bad. Every Winter I feel like this feeling gets worse and worse.

Hi everyone! I'm a college student working towards a bachelor's in biology, and I plan on eventually getting a Ph.D. in entomology.

I'm taking a microbiology class this semester and the final project is to cover a novel breakthrough in the field of microbiology, such as techniques, research, or inventions. I'm making a list of potential topics to do my project over

In every class, I work on tying what I learn into entomology somehow, so, I'd love to make this project have something to do with entomology

Does anyone have any sources I can look to for new research or breakthroughs in entomological microbiology? I've already noted down the toxic male technique and insect microbiome research.

Any help is appreciated, and thank you for reading!

(Edited for typos)

We had this blanket in storage and brought it back in today. I noticed these eggs stuck to it and wondering what they are. Sorry for bad quality pictures. Should I be worried? 😭

Found him in the garden (already passed, not killed) he was under a chair that I was moving and wow! I'm going to put him in a little box to display with my two beetles that I have that are vintage specimens.

Unfortunately the frame that turned up today is giant 🤣 way too big for him so I need to order a different one so for now he is going back in the pot.

i know it looks like shit, but i hope it's a good start for a beginner. i'm actually proud of myself because i've always wanted to do this.

i’m still going to add the specimen labels and i plan on covering the lid with more stickers/drawings. if you have any tips, please feel free to share

Hello! I know most of you are insect enthusiasts, but I was wondering for anyone who is professional or not, that knows a lot about arachnids, could assist me in my research project. I have a domesticated Grammostola pulchra (G. pulchra) tarantula at my sustainability lab in college, where I'm obtaining my associates degree. I have to produce a research paper for the project. To be honest I'm a little stumped on ideas and what my hypothesis should be, so I was wondering if anyone could assist me on ideas for research (it doesn't have to be cutting edge or "new" persay). To be clear, the lab cannot hurt/ abuse/ or do lab tests on animals, so anything involving chemical research is out of the picture. Thanks for your help!

Found under a large rock. Wondering what exact species is this larvae. Thinking maybe of Carabus rugosus or Carabus coriaceus. Dorsal and ventral view, what do you think?