British insect photo gallery by Matt Cole

A Thistledown Velvet Ant, also known as a Cow Killer, is seen in the Mojave Desert, California. It isn’t really an ant, but a wingless female wasp. The female wasp is about 2cm long; the males are much smaller and have wings. Their sting can be quite painful.

Picture: Robert Jensen/Solent News

Nicolas Reusens

A less harmful species of Sri Lankan wasp collects mud globules to build its nest in a garden near Colombo, Sri Lanka

Photograph: M.A. Pushpa Kumara/EPA

(Source: Guardian)

Paper wasp and nest by /\/\acropoulos on Flickr.