Some of my favorite bugs of Summer.

Two Wheel Bugs (Arilus cristatus) mating.  These fabulous predators are HUGE, and they attack all kinds of nasty pests, including tomato hornworms and Japanese Beetles.  Don't ever handle them, though: they have a piercing mouthpart, which is basically a 1/4 long hypodermic syringe, and they won't hesitate to use it in defending themselves!

And look where they are: beside a mural of the winged Maat!

This is a Cicada emerging from it's larval skin.  It has spent the past year underground, sucking sap from tree roots and managing to evade moles, and other predators.

You usually will come across their discarded exoskeletons: clinging to the final earthbound perch, before they launch to spend the Summer days singing and wooing and dodging Bluejays and mating.

They also have to worry about these insects:

Cicada Killers:

Those ants are 1/4 inch long, OK?  If you've ever seen one of these take down a Cicada it's a big noisy battle.  Once on the ground, and the Cicada has been stung and paralyzed, the CK has a herculean task:  it will drag the victim to a shrub, climb to a suitable height, and then launch, furiously buzzing and trying to gain altitude.  The hapless Cicada, just like the poor bastards who got cocooned in "Aliens", is stuffed in a burrow, with an egg laid on it, to serve as junior's room service.