Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus Bicolor), Taken April 30, 2024, In Georgia, US

Cuckoo Wasp (Family Chrysididae), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

I fear my photography career has peaked with this one. I don't think I've ever seen anything so cute in my life. This little lady was simply just sleeping on the stem of a leaf, completely unaware of the fact that I was frantically taking as many pictures of her as possible. In the end, she put out a single antenna to sense me better but never ended up moving, so I'd say my attempt to not disturb her was successful! I had no idea cuckoos slept like this—it's adorable!!! One billion more, please!!

Humpbacked Orbweaver (Eustala anastera), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some shots of a beautiful wild diamond... I intercepted her as she tried to web her way to the ground and placed her on a fallen tree in an attempt to get photos. Luckily for me, she curled up instead of running away! This spider is quite variable, some being brown like this and others having a coloration similar to lichen!

Rufous-backed Cellophane Bees (Colletes thoracicus), males, taken April 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

More bees!! Hundreds of young bachelors are scouring the ground for ladies. The females of this species are differentiable from males by their dark orange fuzz, lack of white stripes on their abdomens, and noticeably larger size. Males are slightly variable in size, but females are always larger. Most of these pictures were taken in the same spot. I watched for 5 or so minutes as dozens of males attempted to wedge their way underneath a leaf, buzzing at each other all the while. I'm not sure if a female was hiding under there, or if it just smelled like her, but they were extremely adamant on getting under that leaf!

Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), taken September 2, 2024, in Georgia, US

Just a polite toad. Fowler's toads the most common Anuran I see in my area, but I always enjoy coming across them regardless. They breed like crazy in my koi pond every summer, and it's always fun to see the tiny froglets emerging from the water!

Versute Sharpshooters (Graphocephala versuta), taken October 15, 2023, in Georgia, US

Some beautiful "red morph" versute sharpshooters looking all snug in some leaves! These photos were taken in their favorite little patch of plants—tall with long, tightly packed leaves for good protection and lots of surface area. I always find lots of G. versuta in there, though I often find G. coccinea (Red-banded Leafhopper) and many other assorted species of leafhoppers in the patch as well!

Turquoise Bluets (Enallagma divagans), teneral (top) and adult (bottom), taken April 13, 2025, in Georgia, US

A couple lifer damselflies from yesterday! I actually initially thought they were different species because I didn't see the black stripe on the top individual immediately. The difference in their coloration is due to the top individual being teneral, a term referring to any arthropod who has recently molted and not had time to harden their exoskeleton. In almost every case, teneral individuals are much paler than more developed ones. In comparison to the fully-formed adult below it, this damselfly is nearly colorless! You can see some blue beginning to develop, but it's mostly metallic brown and lacks black venation on the wings. Soon, its new exoskeleton will dry, and it will be beautiful and blue like the others!

Stretch Spiders (Genus Tetragnatha), female (top) and male (bottom), taken July 7, 2024, in New Hampshire, US

This pair was set up under the awning of a dock lamp. It was an extremely effective setup, seeing as I had to hang out over the water on my stomach and put the life of my phone at risk to get pictures lol! In the top photo, there's a good view of the horrifically large fangs of this genus, while the male on the bottom is showing off his lovely gold coloration! He's a catch!

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some little red bees! These guys are always super busy unless, of course, they're sleeping like in the third image! Yesterday the bees were quite gracious with their landing times, sitting still long enough for me to actually press the shutter button lol. Normally, they're flying around constantly, searching for the burrows of other bees to lay their eggs in!

society has ingrained in all of us that bugs are bad and evil and scary and they Bite You for no reason and Sting You For Fun and I would like to challenge every single person that reads this to try to step back and challenge those thoughts. CHALLENGE that knee-jerk reaction to kill every bug you see. REALIZE that killing it doesn't have to be the answer. it's fine to not want bugs in your home. but I see so many people whose FIRST choice is to kill it, even though it'd be easy to just cup it and toss it outside. why?

one of the greatest things that got me over my extremely intense arachnophobia was knowledge. learning more about the thing I was afraid of made me realize, "oh, they're just little guys trying to get by too" and I stopped killing every spider I saw.

and it's like. no, that wasp didn't sting you for fun. it stung you because it felt scared or defensive. no, the spider in your shower isn't trying to kill you. spiders need water to live too.

you don't deem a scared dog/cat evil for biting you, do you? then why are we demonizing insects and spiders for feeling scared? they are so, so small and we are so large. they don't know anything about us, they're just trying to live life. they didn't know they built their web in a bad spot. they didn't know they built their nest next to your door. please, show some kindness to these tiny creatures. I understand you can't let infestations happen or wasps build in your walls, but whenever possible, try to put bugs in a cup and take them outside. yes, even wasps. even black widows. if you want tips for safely capturing bugs, I'm always around to ask.

also, to those who say things like, "x bug eats other pest bug, so they're okay" why? why does something have to benefit you to deserve to live? shouldn't all creatures have a chance at life, even if they're ugly, even if they don't benefit you, even if they do something you don't like? what gives you the right to decide to take the life of any animal just because ahhh it looked scary? please. all I ask is you try to be kinder. it's okay to be scared, it's not okay to pointlessly kill things.

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

Very cute and pretty brave, as is the case with most sparrows! This guy has a preferred spot directly underneath the feeder pole. It's a highly contentious seat, but he had it all to himself this time!