Beautiful Bugs

Finally got the chance to see my mantis eating today! Looked like she caught a clouded sulfur butterfly. I wish I could have watched her catch it, but she was already eating when I got out there.

Happy ! Check out the antennas on this grape leaf skeletonizer moth. Thankfully it was just resting on a plant that’s not in the grape family. Beautiful moth with a cute caterpillar, as long as you don’t mind it eating grape leaves. 😬

Pyrausta inornatalis, the inornate pyrausta moth. Hosts on salvia plants, which is apparently where it get its coloring. Beautiful caterpillar that is a sort of translucent blue. Turns into a pink moth.

Meet the bee killer. It looks like the cutest, fluffiest bee ever. But it’s really a type of robber fly that pounces on bees, wrestles them into submission with it’s big strong legs, injects an enzyme into them to liquefy their insides, and then eats them. Pretty cute, huh?
Not sure if exact species, but I do think it’s likely mallophora fautrix. I’m always open to more educated opinions though.