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bugs
This was probably the first insect I ever truly appreciated as a youngster. The best part is that these guys generally let you take cool pictures of them right up close. Although, sometimes they do fly away suddenly... 
 I love these little guys. I saw this one on my driveway baking in the sun and relocated them to a flower using a stick for a photo shoot. After 15 minutes or so our little friend here scurried away into some leaf litter. 💚
Looks like a dragonfly, flies like a moth.   I have video, but can't post it here and now.
What's its name? I've seen some before, but rarely. Once every few years or so. Thanks Edit: the likeliest candidate is an Old House Borer without antennae.
   There are three wings, so I guess it lost one of them. There's also a big hole in the head (shown in last pic) and some of the legs appear to be missing. Sorry for the shitty photos, I took them on my phone.
Found while splitting bitternut hickory
I'm in the middle east in case that helps narrow it down. Very hot few days probably have something to do with it. Where are they coming from? Are they hiding somewhere in my apartment? They seem to be flightless. They are all the same size and very small, here's one on my finger for scale: 
I've lived in Australia for over 5 years now and I've never seen this bug before. Tried all sorts of Google search keywords to no avail. Found it hanging on my window. I live in Central Victoria. Does anyone know what this is? Thanks in advance.
Dragonfly liftoff captured at 5000 frames per second. Video credit: Joris Schaap / CC BY 3.0 [@bugs](https://lemmy.world/c/bugs) [#photography](https://mastodon.social/tags/photography) [#nature](https://mastodon.social/tags/nature)
It re-swallowed the water after this photo. Would anyone happen to know why it would have done that?
I appreciated the fact that he let me get this close to him while eating.
Small white spherical eggs, with small orange/brown dots, are laid in straight lines on a cactus spine
A big ol T. aspersa that snuck up on me in the garden. Didn't see her little friend until later
I found a few finishing off the last of the parsley for me. I didn't want to burn an ultraball on them, so they're still out there in the tall grass
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zwd2248hi4dk79zb7xqwy/20230909_080115599.jpg?rlkey=n57wle4fcosmryw2b984elx87&dl=0
postimg.cc
Found in rural NC, Piedmont area.
Found it on my tomato plant. I'd seen them before in sizes up to 4-5 cm. They eat the tomato leaves like crazy. And (naturally) poo a lot. Some black granade like aggregates. Once grown they molt into a moth that I saw a few days ago. And now my tomato plants are again riddled with these buggers. This photo was done with the help of a stereoscope. The grid squares are 4mm inside, and 5mm outside the lines. So this juvenile has about 1cm. I'd love to ID them. Any advise on how to control them without pesticides is also welcome. 
I think it's a root borer beetle
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1976428 >  > 
They love milkweed. You can attract them to your yard if you plant some. I've personally raised large colonies of these for research, they're truly remarkable insects for a number of reasons, beauty of both the larvae and adults being chief among them. One of the more common issues that plague the Monarch is *Ophryocystis elektroscirrha*, a parasite that can be identified by examining a body-dust sample through a microscope. OE is passed on via spores that are consumed, and if an animal is affected by OE and undergoes metamorphosis, it will emerge with a number of defects that often lead to reduced lifespan or imminent death. Sadly, in research environments, the only way to deal with OE outbreaks (a sign of poor control) is to euthanize the animals to contain the spread of spores. This is typically done using a freezer, which ostensibly allows the animal a peaceful death by slowing down its metabolism and numbing its senses.
