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Brian Brown

Iridescent orchid bees, tropical cousins of bumblebees and honeybees, are among the multitude of insects that entomologists have collected at the observation tower.

The watchful jewel beetle's massive eyes allow it to flee from predators—and researchers—quickly, making the beetles difficult to collect for study.

Both the forest canopy and the undergrowth are patrolled by parasitoid wasps seeking their prey—mostly caterpillars.

The mantis wasp uses its ovipositor—a needlelike organ for laying eggs—to pierce the egg cases of mantises. When the wasp’s larvae hatch, they feed on the mantis’s eggs.

Tumbling flower beetles have a triangular body that helps them escape predators.

Trapped at eight meters (26 feet) above the ground, this yet-to-be-named phorid fly species is a “parasitoid death-dealing machine” that jabs its eggs into other insects, says entomologist Brian Brown. Brown, the curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, photographed the insects in this article using a camera-and-microscope setup that was originally developed to examine flaws in computer chips.

Iridescent orchid bees, tropical cousins of bumblebees and honeybees, were among the multitude of new and unusual insects that entomologists collected at a 131-foot observation tower in Manaus, Brazil. Most entomologists study life on the ground. Instead, these scientists looked up—and found a staggering diversity of new creatures. (From “Hundreds of new and unusual insects discovered in the Amazon’s canopy,” March 2021.)