Insects are not my area of interest so there are only a few photos of them in my collection. The aphid is included because it was recommended as an exercise in preparing permanent slides; it was definitely a challenge to mount this tiny and fragile insect. The fly and hornet were found in the garage during cleanup so they're a bit damaged but still interesting. The mosquito was floating in a pond sample.
Aphid whole mount
Aphid eye, the orange bumps are the facets
Aphid cornicle, this produces the "honey" the ants like so well
Fly head, note simple eye at top of head
Mayfly Nymph (probable), note the vorticella colony on its leg. Vorticella aren't parasites, more likely they're opportunists who found the current from the Mayfly's gills provides extra food.
Mosquito or maybe Hemiptera (bug) ?
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This page was last modified by John Moran, resident Balplan Mechanic and XHTML tweaker.
