Pictures of Insects

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Luna Moth
The full-grown luna moth has transparent circles bordered by light yellow and blue rings on its light green wings. Luna moths reproduce twice a year and eat the leaves of trees in the deciduous forests they inhabit. Now endangered because of contaminated food sources and pesticides, the luna moth is found only in North America.




Peacock Butterfly
The conspicuous eyespot markings of the peacock butterfly, Inachis io, make the insect unmistakable. The butterfly uses its patterning in self-defense, opening its wings if threatened by a bird and attempting to alarm the attacker by turning the pattern towards it. The butterfly also rubs its wings together to make a noise that helps scare off predators.





Praying Mantis
The praying mantis is so named for the prayerlike posture it assumes while waiting for its prey. Although the praying mantis generally eats insects and small tree frogs, the female will devour part of her own mate. Commonly found in tropical and warm temperate climates, the mantis was introduced into the United States to help control certain insect populations.







True Locust
The true locust is one of over 5000 species of grasshopper in the family Acrididae. Locusts travel in huge numbers capable of feeding on and destroying entire fields of cultivated plants and any nearby vegetation. Approaching swarms create an ominous hum and sometimes are large enough to block out sunlight.






Tumblebug
The tumblebug is one of 30,000 species of scarab beetles, which include dung beetles and chafer beetles. The tumblebug forages on decaying plant material and lays its eggs in small balls of dung, which then serve as a food source for the emerging larvae.



Walkingstick
Walkingsticks have the colors and shapes of the plants on which they live, resembling twigs, or dried leaves. The eggs of many species resemble seeds. Walkingsticks are vegetarians, feeding on leaves. Shown here is Extatosoma tiaratum, an Australian species resembling a spiny, leafy twig.





Worker Honey
As they fly from flower to flower, worker honey bees collect pollen grains and pack them onto their hind legs in special hair-fringed pockets known as pollen baskets (shown here holding a glob of yellow pollen on the hind leg). Nectar, the sweet liquid produced by flowers, is sucked into the honey stomach, an internal storage sac. In the hive, field bees deposit their pollen pellets into empty storage cells of the comb and regurgitate nectar to waiting hive bees. The hive bees mix some nectar with the pollen to make bee bread, a spoilage-proof larval food, and gradually concentrate the rest of the nectar into honey by dehydration.

Pictures of Insects

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American Cockroach
The American cockroach is one of the hardiest species of cockroaches. Unlike most other cockroach species, the American cockroach can fly and is also attracted to light.







Aphids
Aphids are small insects found throughout temperate regions of the world. They parasitize a variety of wild and commercially important plants by sucking out plant fluids. Because aphids exude a sweet, sticky fluid that can be used by certain species of ants, herds of aphids are often found guarded and tended by ants.





Blue Damselfly
After mating, blue damselflies deposit their eggs in water. The eggs hatch and develop into an aquatic larval form, which eventually leaves the water, undergoes metamorphosis, and changes into an adult.







Caterpillar
The larva of a butterfly or moth, known as a caterpillar, has a plump cylindrical body and chewing mouthparts. Most caterpillars eat leaves or other parts of plants and grow rapidly, shedding their skin several times as they grow. The caterpillar of a death’s head hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, is pictured here.



Firefly
The firefly, belonging to the family Lampyridae, is one of a number of bioluminescent insects capable of producing a chemically created, cold light. Both males and females can generate the light, which is believed to attract them to each other. The light is produced when two chemical substances created by the firefly, luciferin and luciferase, come into contact with oxygen.





Forager Ant
A forager ant searches for food among blades of grass in South Africa’s Karoo National Park.






Fruit Fly Laying Egg
The small vinegar flies of the family Drosophilidae, commonly called fruit flies, have been exceptionally useful in scientific research. Their short reproductive cycle (a new generation of adults develops in only two weeks) and uncomplicated genetics make them ideal subjects for studies of heredity. This fly lays its eggs in rotting fruit and therefore does not need the stiff, sharp ovipositor that other fruit flies use to drill into fruits and stems.

Great Diving Beetle
The great diving beetle has adapted to an aquatic environment. A voracious predator, the diving beetle feeds on tadpoles, small fish, and other insects and their larvae. Not strictly limited to the aquatic environment, diving beetles are capable of flying from one pool to another.






Hornet
The European hornet is the wasp Vespa crabro, common on the east coast of the United States, where it is also called the giant hornet. This wasp, introduced from Europe in the mid-1800s, constructs its nest of hexagonal cells inside hollow trees. Wasp nests are paper, made of partially digested wood and plant fiber. Hornets may emerge from their nests at night and cluster around sources of light. Like other wasps, hornets have a painful sting.




Katydid
The katydid gets its name from the characteristic sound made by males as they rub their wings together to attract females. It is a tree-dwelling insect in the grasshopper family. The katydid resembles a folded green leaf in both color and appearance and uses this mimicry to escape detection from predators. Pictured here is an insect of the scudderia species.

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