Ground Beetles

Common predaceous beetles, often found under cover objects in forests and fields. Some taxa will come to lights.

Multicolored Asian Ladybugs

Ladybugs are actually beetles, and therefore are also known as "ladybird beetles". Many species occur in the eastern US, and can often be identified by the pattern and number of spots on their front wings (elytra, often misnamed "shell of the beetle").

The multicolored Asian ladybug, as the name implies, is variable in its color (from a yellowish orange to a bright red) and variable in the number of spots (zero to many). A pest of households as they aggregate indoors in large numbers to ride out the winter, they can be distinguished from our native species by a presence of a black "M" on the white thorax (see images to the right).

Burying Beetles

They are attracted to carrion. Often will bury small rodents on which they lay their eggs. Common.

Carrion Beetles

Similar habits as burying beetles.

Giant Water Bugs

Predators found mainly in still water habitats, from small ponds to Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Large enough to capture small fish and tadpoles, these voracious insects will pierce their prey with a pointed mouthpart, inject a digestive enzyme that liquifies tissue, and suck the contents from the prey's body. Don't let them bite!

Short-horned Grasshopper

Grasshoppers of this family are common in open fields where the adults and nymphs are herbivores.

Hairy-legged Parasitic Flies

Flies of the family Tachinidae will parasitize a variety of other insects, including Lepidoptera larvae, katydids, and cicadas. Many species. The hairy legged flies of the genus Trichopoda are easy to ID with their orangish bodies and long "hairs" protruding from their hind legs.

Deer flies

Deer flies and horse flies are blood feeders. They land on a host animal (humans will work) and lacerate the skin with saw-like mouthparts. This causes a pool of blood to form that the adult laps up; only females feed on blood, while males feed only on nectar or other liquid material. Blood is used to generate eggs which are laid near muddy or aquatic habitats. The larvae are predators of other insect larvae.

Bee flies

These flies are masters of hovering flight. They are often seen hovering at flowers and using their long mouthparts (the proboscis) to drink nectar. Don't confuse them with hover flies (family Syrphidae) which lack the long proboscis protruding from the front of the face. Interestingly, both families mimic stinging bees and wasps for protection.

Lauxaniid flies

A good example of a fly group with no good common name, lauxaniid flies are common in forests. Larvae are scavengers in leaf litter, birds nests, or wherever detritus is abundant.

Stilt-legged flies

Not a lot is known about this family. Adults are taken from wetlands and moist deciduous forests. Larvae have been reared from detritus.

Blue bottle flies

Most flies of the family Calliphoridae are scavengers on decaying animal tissue and dung; a few are parasitic on other animals. Finding carcasses (including human bodies) is their specialty, as they are among the first members of the wave (or succession) of insects that attack carcasses. They consume decaying soft tissue, and essentially recycle dead animals naturally.

Ants

Very common. Difficult to generalize, but are one of the real wonders of entomology with their social system. Note the impressive mandibles exhibited in the photograph of the face.

Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Acanthomyops clavigera, 3 mm)

Spider wasps

As the name implies, this family attacks spiders. Often, a spider is paralyzed by a sting, and then used to provision a nest. The paralyzed arachnid is food for developing wasp larvae.

Perilampid wasps

Although amazingly common, tiny parasitic wasps from a variety of families, including Perilampidae, parasitize other insects. The specimen shown is probably a "hyperparasitoid" of other insects. That is, it is a parasite of a parasite.