Here are some more pictures of arthropods that I had taken over the past few years.

The mini-monster shown here is not a bumble bee! It is actually a fly (flies and bees are from a completely different insect order), and 'robber flies' are serious predators that use a sharp proboscis to kill and eat other insects. This one mimics bumble bees to fool other predators into leaving it alone. Perhaps they also resemble bees so that other bees don't realize they are in mortal danger. You can perhaps see that the flies' head is slightly turned toward you. The darn things can swivel their heads sharply from side to side and up and down to scan for prey. It is a little bit unnerving when they do that.
Bee-like robber flies can turn their heads like a preying mantis by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Onto a very different scene, this is an Eastern tiger swallow in perfect lighting.
Eastern tiger swallowtail by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Next up is a queen bald-faced hornet who was just beginning to build her nest right along the entrance to our garage. You can see eggs in some of the chambers. Hornets may have a bad-ish reputation, but the queen is completely unaggressive. I could stand on a chair, stick my lens right up to her, and all she would ever do was fly off. Of course she could not stay, unfortunately.
Queen bald faced hornet by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

I will close with some very small insects. This is a mating pair of 'candy-striped' leafhoppers. They are really very common -- frequently living in peoples' gardens -- but they are smaller than a grain of rice.
Striped leafhoppers mating by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!