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On days like today, I feel like the world could use a photo of a moth that looks like a bee. Taken at my work this past September. #bugstodon #MothsOfTheFediverse #insects #bugphoto

Closeup of a clearwing moth that looks just like a wasp, down to the transparent narrow wings and striped black and yellow body. (I think the species is Sphecodoptera scribai)

The same moth from slightly farther away. It’s resting on the branch of a pine tree.

This luna moth caterpillar is so cute. So cute! Seen at my factory this past July. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

A large green Luna moth caterpillar hanging upside down from a branch. Its face is towards the camera and its front three sets of legs are steepled together as though it’s adorably plotting something.

Japanese rhino beetles AKA kabutomushi can vary surprisingly in size, and so too can their horns. (These are two males who were on the same tree at my workplace this past July.) #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

A male rhino beetle on a tree that’s half the size of my whole hand.

Another male rhino beetle on the same tree that’s only about half as long as my index finger.

Sawfly larva charm point #3: The thing they do where they curl up into little spirals. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon #sawflies

A spiraled Macrophya apicalis sawfly larva on the underside of a leaf.

A spiraled Allantus luctifer sawfly larva on the underside of a leaf.

A spiraled white sawfly with a black head on the underside of a leaf.

Sawfly larva charm point #2: So many stylish polka dot patterns. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon #sawflies

Another Allantus luctifer larvae, curled away from the camera so that you can see the two lines of dots that run along either side of its body.

A Macrophya carbonaria sawfly larva climbing a stem. Its body is white with a line of tiny black polka dots.

A Macrophya apicalis sawfly larva eating a leaf. Its body is a warm gray, with polka dots all over.

Sawfly larva charm point #1: Their round heads and beady little eyes, which make them look like an adorable cartoon rendition of a caterpillar. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon #sawflies

A white sawfly larva with black spots resting on a leaf. Its little bald head and beady black eyes look like if you replaced a caterpillar’s head with the 😶 emoji.

An Allantus Lucifer sawfly larva curled up on a leaf (with another one out of focus in the background). It has a pale green back, a pale yellow underside, a pale orange head, cute black spots, and those same little black eyes.

Here she is! #moths #bugphoto #bugstodon #insects

A female Rhodinia fugax/ usutabiga moth with her wings raised, photographed from the side. She’s fuzzy and orange.

The same moth from above, on the cement doorstep where I found her. Her (slightly battered) wings have two transparent circles on each side.

Your daily reminder that sawfly larvae are actually dangerously adorable #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

A sawfly larva nibbling on a leaf. It looks like a gray caterpillar, except with a few extra sets of nubby legs which it is using to grip the stalk of the plant. It has a small round head, a pair of beady black eyes, and a widdle mouth.

There was another assassin bug on the next tree over, also clearly mid-molt, though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what part of its body I was actually looking at. Then I examined it from another angle and I realized it was hanging upside down, with its head tucked into its chest! #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

A red and black insect-shaped lump on a tree. It almost looks like a spider with black legs and a red abdomen.

Close up of the same insect from the other side. From here you can see that the red part is the upper body of an assassin bug, hanging upside down, with its head tucked and its legs curled up against its chest.

Normally, the adult yokozuna assassin bug is black. But when it first molts it’s apparently a bright cherry red! I learned this when I witnessed an assassin bug molting on one of our work trees this week. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

An adult yokozuna assassin bug (Yokozuna-sashigame-mushi) on a tree trunk. It has a narrow, glossy black body with black and white ridges (they almost look like ruffles) along its back. It also has a narrow face with a long, sharp beak.

Another Yokozuna assassin bug, but this one is newly molted and its legs, abdomen and head are all bright red. Even its folded-up wings are red (albeit transparent).

The same just-molted bright red assassin bug, this time photographed from the side so you can see its proboscis in all its curved beaky glory.

Luna moth at work! Luna moth at work! #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

A large, pale green luna moth clinging to a branch close to the ground, in the woodsy area behind my work.

The same luna moth, photographed from the side.

The same luna moth, photographed from the underside. Its body is large and fluffy.

Props to my eagle-eyed coworker for finding (and considerately alerting me to the existence of) the world’s tiniest caterpillar. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

Photo of a shrub growing at the back of my factory, with rusted metal containers visible out of focus in the background. Inching up the side of the shrub is a tiny (2-3 mm long) caterpillar.

Close up of the caterpillar. It’s black with white (or yellow?) stripes.

Not pictured: the ten or so minutes in which the gecko slowly, slooowly made its approach. #reptiles #gecko #WildlifePhotography #bugphoto #bugstodon

Four stills from the previous video, in which the gecko is watching the moth, approaching the moth, pouncing on the moth, and holding the moth in its mouth.

Speaking of geckos (were we speaking of geckos? let's pretend we were), here's a video I took a little over ten years ago of a #gecko on my window ambushing and eating a moth. #reptiles #WildlifePhotography #bugstodon #bugphoto

Getting really into #cocoons lately. #insects #bugphoto #bugstodon

#bugphoto

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