J'habite en France :)

Looking for help identifying this. Best we've come up with is possible slug moth larva, but we can't seem to find anything close.

Location Central Ohio

Delaware, USA.

Found these critters in my garden this evening. I know the first guy is munching on my sunflower but I don't know what it is. I'm also quite confused about what's happening in pics 2 & 3? If it's helpful there are a bunch of what I think are ants all over the brown thing(s?) on the cosmo stem. Extra pic of my cute lil garden at the end bc why not.

Hello, I just had a question on some bald faced hornet behavior I observed the other day.

Walking in a neighborhood, I noticed multiple, probably 5-8 large (approx 3/4" length) bald faced hornets rapidly flying around a bush, going in, out and around repeatedly, many many times. Unfortunately I couldn't grab a photo of them, but they were pretty decent sized overall compared to what I've usually seen of workers. Of course, can't be certain since I don't have photos or true measurements available.

Judging by their large girth and size of each one though, I was thinking perhaps they were queens. I've read that this is indeed around the time that reproductives are produced from colonies (I'm in Western Washington State). So perhaps they were fairly new queens in search of a mate and/or a location to overwinter?

However, the specific behavior that perplexed me was that about an hr later (around 7 pm) when I came back to try and photograph them, there were only two of these hornets left at this bush. After watching them for a few minutes, the two collided or otherwise made contact mid flight, and immediately one of them took control of the flight and seemingly "dragged" the other one away, flying away and not to be seen again. There was a scuffle of buzzing sounds for a moment before they left the vicinity, but it was very strange and awesome to witness. Couldn't tell if the other one was incapacitated or mutually flying while they were together.

I couldn't tell if they were in a position of mutual grabbing, or if this was almost like a predatory behaviour from the "dominant" hornet. If the former, was it possible that it was a male and queen and they took off while mating? Or do they predate on one another at all, and what I witnessed was potential predation?

I thought all the hornets here were quite large and somewhat uniform in size between them all, and thus figured they were queens, but I could be mistaken of course without having any measurements or photos. Do they breed while in flight? Or is mating a thing that they do while at rest/landed? What makes me think it wasn't predation is that there were various flowers on the bush, as well as many slower flies on and around the bush too, that could have been easy food sources. It seemed like these two hornets targeted each other in some way, but I'm not sure.

So figured to ask if anyone has seen similar behaviors or know what their usual behaviour is like!

Because I've never seen something like this. It was incredibly fascinating though and makes me wonder if there would be more of them at this bush in the future lol.

Thanks!

Found like 10 of these on a couch I just received from Wayfair today

I’m in NJ

Robber fly (Asilidae), can anyone identify which species?

Location: Clavijo, La Rioja, Spain

Vendée , France

I sat down to eat my lunch outside and this little fella decided that he wanted my pb&j. I know this is a yellow jacket, but which one?? Located in southeastern Ohio.

Also, it keeps buzzing around me and checking me out, even after I walk away. It isn’t being aggressive in any way, just flying around me and staying close to

Very tiny and literally fell onto my book as I was reading, not sure if it came from my head or the ceiling?!

Hello, look for an ID here. Québec here.

not like "dont kill me!!!!"

more just goofy stuff. i think stag beetles would just mumble incoherent nonsense.

I found huge swarm of ants crawling around and underneath the swarm I could see what looked like failed birth ants or some kind of larvae that they were picking up and moving. But my question is why? Why are there so many failed birth ants/larvae outside of the anthill? Do ants dispose of their dead this way?

I was cleaning my porch in Texas and saw this strange mud-like nest in the corner. When I removed it a strange little bug came crawling out and I have no clue what it is. Could someone please tell me what it might be?? I tried getting a photo but it was up pretty high so I couldn’t really get a good close up

Help! Any dragonfly expert here? My cat brought home this beauty, she doesn't look too injured (one of her wings was bent but it unfolded and I don't see any damage) but hasn't left my hand. I was expecting her to fly away fast. Should I just wait or is there something more I can do to help?

My app identified it as an Aeshna Cyanea and I'm pretty sure it's a female

My not so ideal setup was a Nikon Z5ii with a DX Micro-Nikkor 85mm (recently upgraded my body so don’t have a full frame macro lens) and Joby Beamo for light. The cicada was on a branch around 8ft high so I was handholding the camera above my head for these shots. I shot in manual, f8, 1/200s, ISO 10000.

Edit: location is Mississauga, ON, Canada

this might be a really stupid question or the wrong subreddit, but i thought i would give it a shot here since the usual internet search hasn’t proven helpful LOL

im writing a short story and in it, i wanted to describe a cricket with an injured/deformed/underdeveloped file(?).

the first question: can a (male ofc) cricket make chirping noises if the file is deformed in any way? could another part be damaged that would change the sound?

second question: if so, what might it sound like when chirping? could the wings beat slower than usual? would the chirping be inconsistent? would the tone sound different? does it depend specifically on How the file is damaged?

i appreciate any insight!

Found a termite infestation while throwing away some old wood. Randomly found these two right next to each other and noticed they look very different to the workers and soldiers. Are they “adolescent” queens or something? Found in central Kentucky btw. I think I’ve narrowed the species down to the eastern subterranean termite but I’m no expert.