With Spring officially starting in a couple days I figured this would be a good time to start a thread made just for the little pollinators, webslingers, buzzy-bois, and nectar lovers that are all around us! 
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“Polistes aurifer, the golden paper wasp are important pollinators and natural predators of pest insects, making them beneficial to have in gardens. These wasps will sting if handled or if the nest is disturbed. Queen paper wasps begin forming nests from wood and live plant fibers in the spring. As with most species of paper wasp, the nests are a single paper-like comb of open hexagonal cells. Nests are oriented downwards and can contain up to 200 cells with 20-30 adult wasps.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the golden paper wasp!
Edit: I’m definitely no entomologist, the information provided is based on guess work like location, color, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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Even though it only has four legs, do you think it would be okay if I post photos of centaurs on here? I’ve yet to see one; but, I’d like to know just in case.
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Most definitely post a picture of a centaur here, magical creatures are welcome. Four legs plus two arms equals six appendages, I say that counts 
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Ugh! What a relief!
That’s great to know! 
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“Lapposyrphus lapponicus, the common loopwing aphideater are commonly found on flowers from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein rich pollen. The larvae are beneficial as they prey on aphids, making them valuable for natural pest control. Adults are strong fliers, hovering and darting between flowers, mimicking bees and wasps.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the common loopwing aphideater!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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Happy first day of spring!!
“Apis mellifera, the western honey bee was one of the first domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day for both its honey production and pollination activities. Because of this high degree of sociality and permanence, western honey bee colonies can be considered superorganisms. The average population of a healthy hive in midsummer may be as high as 40,000 to 80,000 bees. Nectar from flowers is processed by worker bees, who evaporate it until the moisture content is low enough to discourage mold, transforming it into honey.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the western honey bee!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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“Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx are sometimes known as a “hummingbird moth” because of their bird-like size (2–3 inch wingspan) and flight patterns. Known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults. As adults, they use both visual and olfactory perception to locate plants from which they collect nectar.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the white-lined sphinx!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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“Sarcophagidae or flesh flies differ from most flies in that they are ovoviviparous, opportunistically depositing hatched or hatching maggots instead of eggs on carrion, dung, decaying material, or open wounds of mammals. The adults mostly feed on fluids from animal bodies, nectar, sweet foods, fluids from animal waste and other organic substances.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about flesh flies!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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“Stagmomantis limbata, common name bordered mantis, bosque mantis, Arizona mantis, or New Mexico praying mantis is one of the largest mantids native to North America, though it is much smaller than some African and Asian mantids. Females are most often fairly plain green (often with a yellowish abdomen), but sometimes gray, or light brown. Males are slender, long-winged, and variable in color, but most often green and brown with the sides of the folded tegmina green and top brownish. Their habitat is often in open semi-arid areas in tall forbs, shrubs, or trees, but more abundant in lusher, often riparian and wooded areas of streamsides, roadsides, canyons, in towns”
This image is of an infant, maybe 7mm in length!
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the bordered mantis!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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I’m not too much into animals with more than 4 legs, but I find this thread very interesting! Thanks for sharing! 
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I like them when they are outside! Inside, not so much! 
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“Aquarius remigis, the common water strider grows slightly longer than .5 inches, and is dark brown to black. It has a sharp rostrum that it uses to pierce the body of its prey and suck out the insides. They normally continue to move to avoid being eaten by predators. It has good vision, and can row quickly over the surface of the water. It uses its front legs to seize its prey. This predatory species feeds on mosquito larvae living under the surface, and dead insects on the surface, and other insects that accidentally land on the water”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the common water strider!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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“Eleodes obscura, commonly known as the obscure darkling beetle ranges from south-central British Columbia, eastern Washington and Oregon, south to northern Mexico and east to Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. Eleodes obscura is dull, black, 23–31 mm (0.9–1.2 in) long with grooved elytra. Each front femur bears an anterior tooth near the tibia. The pronotum lacks obvious forward projections from the anterior corners, and their diet includes dead plant material, animal remains, roots, and seeds”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the obscure darkling beetle!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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“Cypherotylus californicus, known commonly as the blue fungus beetle or blue pleasing fungus beetle are blue with black dots, with the blue turning gray as they age. The adult beetles typically are about 1.4–1.8 cm (0.6–0.7 in) long. The beetle starts its life in the spring when it hatches from an egg, and pupates in the summer. It mates and lays eggs in the late summer and early fall. It feeds on fungi that it finds growing on logs and trees.”
Link below is to the iNaturalist page about the blue fungus beetle!
I’m definitely no entomologist! The information provided is based on guess work like location, color/pattern, and size! Any corrections are wanted and welcome!
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thanks for inspiring me to shoot some macro.
black bumble bee. He was fast and challenging to get in focus.
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Amazing! So glad to have been an inspiration that led to such great shots! Anything with wings is terribly difficult to capture in focus! I’d say 1/100 shots of mine are in focus, definitely a lesson in patience 
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I got a handful of keepers out of a lot of shots.
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That shot of the green bottle fly is great, those bristles are so intense!
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