Don't Bug Me

I used to be pretty excited about insects, back in high school. I've forgotten a lot, and my collection is now crumbling into dust at my parents' house – never did use formaldehyde to preserve my specimens. Still, it was exciting to observe (and not collect) some beautiful and unusual (to me) species in Central America!

A walking stick in the night, looking just like...a stick.

 Cool translucent wings on this butterfly

This shade of blue is so rare to find in nature!

When I first saw this beetle, I thought the white dots on its thorax were eyes...

I was stymied by this insect for a while...it reminds me of a damselfly, but it only has two wings, and the way the wings are positioned isn't like anything in the dragonfly family. I looked it up in my guidebook: it's a kind of wasp! an American pelecinid – never saw one of these in PA!