Ornate Ichneumon Wasp (Thyreodon sp.)

This wasp was huge with beautiful orange antennae and orange striping on the abdomen. What really caught my eye was the violet iridescence of the wings. I'm not sure what these would look like under ultraviolet light (the spectrum that many insects see the world in), but the wings look mostly black until the light hits the surface just so.


ornate ichneumon wasp (Thyreodon sp.) with iridescent wings

A Goofy Looking Insect - The White-Headed Fly (Archytas apicifer)

Insects are almost always interesting in one way or another – at least for me. It is not lost on me that many people find the crawling, flying and creeping denizens of the insect world creepy if not completely revolting.


Nonetheless, it is rare that an insect makes me laugh. This little white-headed fly seems to have an abundance of personality simply because it has a face that can be anthropomorphized – an unusual occurrence in the world of diptera (flies)












white-headed fly (Archytas apicifer)