On various TV programs about the above phenomena, I've heard people say that the former is flying insects and the latter dust but has anybody ever carried out experiments to prove this, one way or the other? (Hit dusty furniture and film it or release a heap of flying insects and video the result).

On a recent hike in North Carolina's Sauratown Mountains, I came to a viewing platform at 2,572 feet at about 2 in the afternoon on a bright, sunny day and found it covered with thousands of earwigs. The insects seemed agitated, and many of them were flying; several dozen landed on me in the space of a minute. Every reference I've consulted says that earwigs are mostly nocturnal and seldom fly. What was going on here?

I wonder if anybody can help me with answers to a few insect questions. About six weeks ago my wife and I noticed flying insects repeatedly entering and leaving a hole in our slabbed footpath (see Photo one). This was next to were the old root system of a monkey puzzle tree used to be until I removed it 20 years ago. Both my wife and I were convinced that they were bees (see photo 2 & 3) but having rung the pest control were told that they could not be because they don’t nest in the ground. About 2 week ago we then noticed a new insect entering and leaving the hole at the same time as the first (see photo 4). This seems to resemble a hover fly but with orange antennae which now also swarms in some numbers around hole and, while obviously wary of the first insect, seems to enter the hole with relative impunity. My Questions are therefore – 1) Can anybody confirm the identity of the first insect? 2) Can anybody confirm the identity of the Second insect and what is it doing in the hole with insect 1? 3) If insect is a bee, do I need to be concerned for my children seeing as recently a beekeeper was stung to death not far from where we live in Leicester, UK?

I wonder if anybody can help me with answers to a few insect questions. About six weeks ago my wife and I noticed flying insects repeatedly entering and leaving a hole in our slabbed footpath (see Photo one). This was next to were the old root system of a monkey puzzle tree used to be until I removed it 20 years ago. Both my wife and I were convinced that they were bees (see photo 2 & 3) but having rung the pest control were told that they could not be because they don’t nest in the ground. About 2 week ago we then noticed a new insect entering and leaving the hole at the same time as the first (see photo 4). This seems to resemble a hover fly but with orange antennae which now also swarms in some numbers around hole and, while obviously wary of the first insect, seems to enter the hole with relative impunity. My Questions are therefore – 1) Can anybody confirm the identity of the first insect? 2) Can anybody confirm the identity of the Second insect and what is it doing in the hole with insect 1? 3) If insect is a bee, do I need to be concerned for my children seeing as recently a beekeeper was stung to death not far from where we live in Leicester, UK?

On a trip to Belize, Central America in 2004 I found the three pictured wasps sitting completely immobile for several minutes. They were each about five centimetres long.

I later showed the picture to some people in a local village and they told me they were Strangler Wasps, that I was very lucky not to get stung because their venom constricts your throat, sometimes killing young children. I saw first hand how upset the people of the village got when one came around, they grabbed sticks, chased the creature down and killed it.

A quick web search for the term 'strangler wasp' brings up nothing.

I know this might appear to be a rediculous question, but it seems a little odd that a creature with compound eyes on the sides of it's head would have to turn its face directly towards an object to see it. I know this is an action that's generally associated with predators, in order to focus on pray, but the eyes of a mantis have neither the structure nor position of say, those of a wolf or a cat. And I never see other insects doing this, predators or otherwise.

Also, exactly why is it that a praying mantis' eyes darken when deprived of light, when again this is not something (at least as far as I have seen, and believe me, I spent the better part of my life catching and observing insects) that appears to be common in insects.

These are the photographs of a strange bug I came across during my stay in Manipur state of North East India. The dorsal view of the insect resembles a human face.  This semblance to human face doesn't appear to be by chance. What evolutionary advantage could have favored such an adaptation.

These are the photographs of a strange bug I came across during my stay in Manipur state of North East India. The dorsal view of the insect resembles a human face.  This semblance to human face doesn't appear to be by chance. What evolutionary advantage could have favored such an adaptation.