Found on gumweed

Gumweed grows on the dunes around the beaches at Discovery Park and attracts an amusing variety of insects.

Yellow-faced bumble bee.


A solitary wasp, I think. Here's a guide to telling if a bee is a bee. It can be tricky.



Another mystery flower feeder. I like the groovy blue eyes.


This wasp had different business. Other, tinier, insects were feeding on this flower head was at work on the flower, and the wasp was laying eggs in the insects' bodies.

Aphid mummies

If you find yourself charged with coming up with a premise for a horror movie, a good place to start with your brainstorming would be the life cycles of insects. They're always good for the bizarre transformation sequences.
The exquisitely keen-eyed Wanderin' Weeta documented one such transformation on the underside of a maple leaf.
And here are more details.
Amazing.