This is the largest Grasshopper I've ever seen. Of course, I've only lived in Phoenix for about a year, there might be larger ones to come yet. This little bugger was just resting there, on the side of my house. There is a cabbage farm close to where I live, so it probably came to rest after a big feast, or maybe the cabbage farmer ran it out with insecticides.

Aphids would normally be a reason not to buy a plant... but, in my case, I have to confess that they were one of the selling points for I was going to have a few hours of fun photographing this little bugs. I put the plant in the Walmart cart and paid for my infested dwarf pomegranate tree. Aphids are interesting little creatures who's excrement is called Honeydew; a precious elixir that incentives a collaborative effort without parallels by ants who care for and defend aphids close to their colony; and yes, in fact my tree came with ants as well. You can read a little more about aphid and ant collaboration from the Japanese Ant Database Group.

This monarch is a part of the Monarch Butterfly Breeding Program at the Seneca Park Zoo. This program was designed to expand the habitat of the monarch in Monroe County, New York. Inside the butterfly garden several types of butterflies can be seen up close and personal!

This is a rhinocerous beetle from the Andes; this is a very large insect that well earns its name as rhyno because of its horns. We encountered this critter while visiting the State of Merida in Venezuela at about 8,000 feet above the see level on a viewing site in the Paramo. This is a very good resource where you can find information about this and other rhinocerous horned beetles: Insecta Culture Rhino Beetles.

This dragonfly looks very much like a wasp, and you can easily mistake it with one. In fact, this species of dragonfly has chosen to mimic the behavior of wasps to mislead would-be-predators. The Eastern Amberwing is known to fiersly defend its territory as is the case when I chased it to photograph it until it stood its ground on a leaf. A more detailed description of this dragonfly can be found from the Hartman Prehistoric Garden. Also, when trying to identify dragonflies and other insects, one of the best sources for identification is the BugGuide from Iowa State University Entomology Department.

In the new BJ's gasoline pump by Tampa Palms (Tampa, Florida) there is a little pond that holds about a 6 feet alligator who at this time carried a little fearless dragonfly. The alligator would be the equivalent to public transportation in a dragonfly's world I guess. Weather there might be a symbiotic relationship or not here, we are not sure.

These little insects on my porch's screen have to be some of the smallest I have ever photographed. While their soldier like camouflaged bodies make them different from many insects, their plumose antennas(e) gave away at least their family in the insect world. They are midges, more specifically non biting midges. Midges are closely related to mosquitoes, but they don't have the means to bite (fortunate for me), nevertheless they fly in annoying swarms that inevitably lead some to enter your nose, mouth and ears when you cross their path. Midge in their larvae (and winged) state are an important source of food for fish, and of course, fisherman's best friend as a synthetic bate.

These insects can easily be mistaken by moths (when wings are open), which are sort of a cousin to them. Very particular bug that caught my attention because of its squid looking shape; only when it spread its wings, did it look like the insect it is. Caddisflies are actually aquatic insects when in their larvae stage, and are very well known for building silk cages which they carry around like hermit crabs. They are an important source of food for fish hence sports fishermen try to match their "artificial flies" to the caddisflies. Wikipedia has a very good article about caddisflies in general.

Carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus in this case) live in wood, but contrary to what you would think, they do not eat wood, their diet consists of other insects, meat whenever they can get it, and sweet stuff including honey dew from aphids which they protect and harvest honeydew from. When I was photographing these little creatures at night, using my flash I noticed they didn't like it much, because they were both running around like crazy, and emitting a loud noise that sounded like loud clicks. It seems, this noise is their war call; in fact, pest control people identify carpenter ants by knocking on wood, and if they hear the clicking it means they are there. Three excellent resources on carpenter ants:

• How to identify ants from the University of Nebraska (Nebraska ants, but these ants are common in other places). Will allow you to at least generally identify the ant in a class.
• Carpenter Ants resource, from the University of Missoury.
• Florida Carpenter ants from the University of Florida .

Photographing Dragonflies is not that easy of a thing if you plan on chasing them along a pond river bank, but once you understand that if they like a certain spot will keep coming back to it, you learn to stay put and wait for them to come back. The contrast of the purple/violet color of this dragonfly is absolutely impressive, and makes it standout from its surroundings. After a little search, I found that the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (U.S. Geological Survey) doesn't have a recollection (Odonata information as they call it, because the class this species is in) of this insect being spotted in the Hillsborough County (TampaBay area). After finishing this posting I will submit it to them to see if they will take my account as an "Unconfirmed or dubious record" or as a "Confirmed record". A little more information about this colorful insect can be found in the Florida Entomological Society webpage. They state that the fastest dragonfly can fly as fast as 38 miles an hour... That could possibly land it a speeding ticket with the local police in this area since the closest road's speed limit is 35 mph.