L: ~? mm

Biology: Die Larven dieser Art fressen das Blattgewebe vom Echten Springkraut (Impatiens noli-tangere). Die Blattwespe Siobla sturmii fliegt vor allem in den höheren Lagen der Mittelgebirge, Vorkommen im Flachland sind eher selten.

Order: Hymenoptera LINNAEUS, 1758 (bees, ants & wasps, Hautflügler)
Suborder: Symphyta GERSTÄCKER, 1867 (sawflies, Pflanzenwespen)
Superfamily: Tenthredinoidea
Family: Tenthredinidae (common sawflies, Echte Blattwespen)
Subfamily: Sioblinae LACOURT, 1997
Tribus: Siobliini TAKEUCHI, 1952
Genus: Siobla CAMERON, 1877
Siobla sturmii KLUG, 1817 (Springkraut-Blattwespe)

Some info: www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Hymenoptera
insektarium.net/hymenoptera-2/tenthredinidae/siobla-sturmii/
www.digital-nature.de/tierwelt/insekten/symphyta/siobla/s...

Germany, N-Hesse, vic. Kassel: Firnsbachtal (NSG Hirzstein), 410m asl., 16.08.2016; IMG_9201

Бродячая синантропная собака и её нора на склоне возле дороги (нора была сфотографирована несколькими днями ранее, в остсутствии хозяев) / A stray synanthropic dog and its hole in the slope near the road (the hole was photographed a few days earlier, in the absence of the hosts). Улица Ленинская слобода.

This is one psychedelic little fly. I saw a few during each trip to the same thistles, 1, 4, 9, & 16 May 2018. 2476 ft elevation. 7.2mm length. On Cirsium occidentale var. venustum. Keys to P. gentilis in: Foote, Richard H., P. L. Blanc, & Allen L. Norrbom. 1993. Handbook of the Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) of America North of Mexico. Cornell University Press (Comstock Publishing). The parafacia spot being small, black, & subcircular; also matches illustration of wing in figure 310 of that book. 2018GM-0199.

Observations from a trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, October 2006.
Wild Olive Tortoise Beetle - Physonota alutacea (large larvae, 10-12 mm)
bugguide.net/node/view/8350
These bizarre creatures were found on their host plant, Wild Olive (Cordia boissieri - Boraginaceae), a small native tree. BugGuide says that "undisturbed" adults are silvery, but all those I saw had a mostly transparent covering. Larvae are bizarre segmented creatures that remind me of trilobites. They have tail-like appendages that resemble the fleshy appendages of some caterpillars, so I wonder if they are mimics.

This beautiful wasp mimic syrphid was buzzing noisily about a tree hollow filled with rotting vegetation at Eno River State Park north of Durham NC. It kept returning to the site, but I never saw it enter. I've seen them seek out rotting compost in the past. (Larvae are aquatic "rat-tailed maggots" that live in wet rotting vegetation--see BugGuide account.) The large eyes suggest this is a male (comparing other images and comments at BugGuide), so perhaps it was in search of females. One of the frames here on iNaturalist shows the cavity of interest.

Meromacrus acutus
bugguide.net/node/view/41883

This fly was very interested in some compost and I thought it was ovipositing, but it is a male, as was noted to me when posted to BugGuide. Note the holoptic eyes characteristic of males in this species. Both sexes are spectacular Batesian mimics of wasps. The behavior here was odd--it was not feeding and seemed to be probing the compost with its abdomen. Perhaps it was searching for eclosing females--the larvae feed in rotting material and I presume they pupate there. (Durham, NC USA; 21 June 2007)
Carolinian Elegant - Meromacrus acutus (male, ~15 mm)
bugguide.net/node/view/41883