James Christensen / Fulgorid Planthopper (Pterodictya reticularis) pair feeding on sap, showing plumes of excreted white wax, Colon, Panama

James Christensen / Fulgorid Planthopper (Pterodictya reticularis) feeding on sap, showing plumes of excreted white wax, Colon, Panama

Piotr Naskrecki / Planthopper nymph showing waxy filaments, Atewa Range, Ghana

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Darkling Beetle (Eucomaria sp) in defensive posture, note yellow wax deposit for heat regulation, Namib Desert, Namibia

George McCarthy / Meadow wax cap fungus {Hygrocybe pratensis} UK

Heidi & Hans-Juergen Koch / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) honeycomb cells filled with honey and covered by wax, Bee Station at the Bavarian Julius-Maximilians-University of Wurzburg, Germany

PREMAPHOTOS / Whitefly nymphs (Aleyrodidae) protected by the long filaments of wax they produce, in rainforest, Queensland, Australia

Duncan Mcewan / Hygrocybe miniata toadstools in Sphagnum mound, Scotland

Duncan Mcewan / Scarlet Hood wax caps (Hygrocybe coccinea) Scotland

Duncan Mcewan / Parrot Wax Cap (Hygrocybe psittacina) Scotland

Duncan Mcewan / Parrot Wax Cap (Hygrocybe psittacina) Scotland

Nigel Bean / Scarlet Hood wax caps growing in grass {Hygrocybe coccinea} Isles of Scilly, October, UK

Duncan Mcewan / Blackening Wax Cap (Hygrocybe nigrescens) Scotland

Nature Production / Wax Myrtle / Bayberry berries and leaves {Myrica rubra} Japan

Simon Colmer / Molded wax agave flower (Echeveria agavoides), from Mexico

David Shale / Man boiling up honeycomb to remove wax, Nepal

Jane Burton / Domestic Cat {Felis catus} 28-day, handler checking for wax and Ear mites.

Nigel Bean / Yellow wax cap, probably {Hygrocybe chlorophana} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK

Nigel Bean / Yellow wax cap, probably {Hygrocybe chlorophana} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK

Nigel Bean / Meadow Wax Cap {Hygrocybe pratensis} close-up of gills, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK.

Nigel Bean / Meadow Wax Cap {Hygrocybe pratensis} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK.

Nigel Bean / Yellow wax cap, probably {Hygrocybe chlorophana} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK

Nigel Bean / Yellow wax cap, probably {Hygrocybe chlorophana} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK

Nigel Bean / Meadow Wax Cap {Hygrocybe pratensis} close-up of gills, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK.

Nigel Bean / Meadow Wax Cap {Hygrocybe pratensis} in grassland, Ashton Court, Bristol, UK.

Jane Burton / Domestic Cat {Felis catus} 28-days, handler checking for wax and Ear mites.

Luiz Claudio Marigo / Weaving wax palm leaves into basket, Aracati, Ceara, NE Brazil

Kim Taylor / Honey Bee workers, underside showing abdomenal wax glands, UK.

Kim Taylor / Woolly aphids covered in wax filaments {Aphididae} on douglas fir tree. UK.

Pete Oxford / Making wax honeycomb dividers, Community Bee Culture Project, Pro Pueblo Foundation, Ecuador

Gerry Ellis / Indonesian Wax Ginger (Tapeinochilos ananassae) flower, lowland tropical rainforest, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Pete Oxford / Honey and beeswax candles. Community Bee Culture Project, Pro Pueblo Foundation, Ecuador

Nigel Cattlin / Colony of waxy willowherb aphids (Aphis epilobiaria) on a weed species, Broad-leaved willowherb (Epilobium montanum) Berkshire, England, UK.

Nigel Cattlin / Colony of waxy willowherb aphids, Aphis epilobiaria, on a weed species, Broad-leaved willowherb (Epilobium montanum) Berkshire, England, UK.

Robert Thompson / Wax cap fungus (Hygrocybe sp) Annagarriff Wood NNR, Peatlands, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, September

Tom Vierus / Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) perched on branch in the Colo-i-Suva Rainforest Park, a protected area near the capital city of Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Tom Vierus / Silvereye / Wax-eye (Zosterops lateralis) perched on a branch, Colo-i-Suva Rainforest Park, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Nigel Cattlin / The exit hole of a Parasitoid wasp (Metaphycus helvolus) in the shell of its Soft scale insect host (Saissetia coffeae), England, UK. February.

Bruce Thomson / Grey-backed silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) perching in low tree, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

Nigel Cattlin / Brown scale / European fruit lecanium (Parthenolecanium corni) insect infestation on a grapevine, England, UK.

Nigel Cattlin / Heart-shaped / Pyriform scale (Protopulvinaria pyriformis) insect infestation on an Avocado (Persea americana) leaf, South Africa.

Nigel Cattlin / Citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri) infestation on the leaves and stem of a bougainvillea (Nyctaginaceae) grown on a conservatory, Berkshire, UK, April.

Dave Watts / Tasmanian waxflower (Philotheca virgata). Tasmania, Australia. November.

Dave Watts / Waxlip orchid (Glossodia major). Tasmania, Australia. September.

Morley Read / Wax-tailed bug (Pterodictya reticularis) in the rainforest understory, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, July 2018.

Morley Read / Wax-tailed bug (Pterodictya sp) in the rainforest understory, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, November.

Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) sitting on the wall inside an abandoned Black woodpecker nest cavity, with propolis or bee glue, Germany. August.

Ingo Arndt / Unoccupied or empty Honey bee (Apis mellifera) combs infested by Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) larvae which leave behind silk tunnels and frass as they move through and feed on the honeycomb, Ger...

Ingo Arndt / Unoccupied or empty Honey bee (Apis mellifera) combs infested by Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) larvae which leave behind silk tunnels and frass as they move through and feed on the honeycomb, Ger...

Ingo Arndt / Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) on Honey bee (Apis mellifera) comb, Germany.

Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera)worker bee with wax scales excreted at the underside of the abdomen. Germany.

Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), worker bee with wax scales excreted at the underside of the abdomen. Germany

Nigel Cattlin / Spiralling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus) adults and circular wax trails on the underside of a banana leaf, Mindanao, Philippines, February

Nigel Cattlin / Wooly beech aphid (Phyllaphis fagi) on the underside of young beech hedge leaves, Berkshire, June

Nigel Cattlin / Wooly beech aphid (Phyllaphis fagi) on the underside of young beech hedge leaves, Berkshire, June

Nigel Cattlin / Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May

Nigel Cattlin / Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May

Nigel Cattlin / White waxy extrusion of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) foliage in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May.

Nigel Cattlin / White waxy extrusion of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) foliage in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May.

Nigel Cattlin / White waxy extrusion of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) foliage in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May.

Nigel Cattlin / Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May

Nigel Cattlin / Photomicrograph of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May

Nigel Cattlin / Photomicrograph of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May

Nigel Cattlin / Photomicrograph of Box sucker or Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) nymphs and white waxy extrusions on young Box (Buxus sempervirens) leaves in spring, Berkshire, England, UK, May