Field Note - 2017 Insect Photos

A mining bee visits shootingstar

A bumble bee digs into balsamroot

Crane flies mate in the thick cover next to a creek.

A Rocky Mountain Parnassian caterpillar feeds on stonecrop

A fly poises on cherry leaves.

Scorpionweed is a favorite plant of bees, like this two-form bumble bee (Bombus bifarius).

Hundreds of insects swarmed above the flowers of western sweet cicely.

A tiger moth caterpillar perches on a sedge (Grammia sp.).

A bumble bee plunges into penstemon for the sugary nectar.

I inspect the coralroot and the fly inspects me.

This robber fly measured over an inch long! Robber flies prey on bees, horseflies, and skippers.

A bumble bee probes phacelia.

A hungry beetle gnaws cherry leaves.

A mining bee lands on cinquefoil

This spruce budworm caterpillar occurred in an area of budworm infestation.

A bumble bee finds a suitable fireweed flower.

Mating beetles swarm a withering arnica flower.

A compound released by oil beetles can blister skin.

I’ve seen checkered beetles many times on this cinquefoil species, though it’s also found on other species.

A bee and a wasp share space on the cinquefoil flower.

These jewel-like oil beetles are often found eating the leaves and seedpods of native lupines.

A honey bee chooses one of buckwheat

Two spiders pause on the iridescent web.

Two bumble bees visit phacelia, one bee with a bright load of pollen (Bombus sp.).

A lady beetle crawls on cherry leaves.

This Johnson jumping spider had been hitching a ride on the top of my backpack .

A sweat bee lands on showy fleabane.

It’s fascinating to watch honey bees navigate penstemon’s tube flowers.

A bumble bee visits alumroot’s cream flowers.

A wasp clings to the edge of a lupine leaf.

This checkerspot butterfly on the stonecrop was not alive, which allowed me to inspect its intricate wings

An ornate spider sits motionless in its web.

A beetle crawls on death camas.

Bees carry pollen on specialized hairs called scopae.

With its stick-like body and transparent wings, this dragonfly exhibits perfect camouflage.

A fly lands on fleabane.

When I encountered this painted lady butterfly it was shivering to create heat

Blanketflower appeals to generalist pollinators like this metallic green sweat bee .

This inchworm visited me at lunchtime.

This spiraea had attracted a longhorn flower beetle and three small insects when I encountered it.

Thatching ants build large, mound-shaped nests made of plant debris.

This snowberry checkerspot had a crinkle in its right forewing.

The underside of the snowberry checkerspot displays vibrant orange hues.

A female Boisduval’s blue butterfly perches on balsamroot leaves in the grassland.

A tiger moth spreads its wings to reveal the bright hindwing and body.