When I first saw this insect, my initial thought was to wonder about its identification—I still don’t have an answer to that quandary. My second thought was that it would be cool to try to take a photo looking into the flower from just over the edge of one row of petals, which were standing almost straight up. I’m still a relative neophyte with my macro lens, and depth of field and critical focus are sometimes real problems.
I am pretty happy with the results I achieved in capturing images consistent with my mental picture. The first photo is the closest to what I had in mind, but I also like the position of the insect in the second photo.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice shots, Mike! I really like the angles and how you resisted the temptation of capturing only the bug really close up, it’s very nice to see the flower as well 🙂
I suspect that I was pretty close to the limit of how close I could get, even with the macro lens (the bug was pretty small), but I like your explanation that I was exercising creative self-restraint. I’m glad you like the shots.
This appears to be a fifth-instar nymph of a lygus bug (Hemiptera: Miridae: Lygus sp.). I suspect it’s a tarnished plant bug (L. lineolaris), a common and serious pest. Since they overwinter as adults it will probably molt one more time before winter.
Wow. No wonder I couldn’t figure out what it was. Thanks for the assist in identification. There aren’t a lot of insects still around, the day I shot this last week, the only other insects I saw were ladybug larvae and spotted cucumber beetles.
The flower “walls” give it a bug in captivity look.
Beautiful pictures with so many colors. It’s amazing.
Thanks. Given that its November, I’m happy to see colors.