Monthly Archives: May 2012

Self Portrait with Bug

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

I took this photo a few days ago.  Damselflies are always tough to identify.  This one is a teneral, meaning it has emerged from its aquatic stage fairly recently and has not reached its full adult coloration.  At this stage … Continue reading →

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Yesterday’s Butterflies

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

Yesterday was a pretty good day and I got a little bit of time to photograph butterflies (as well as a number of other insects). This least skipper,  Ancyloxypha numitor, was restless and I chased it a while before I finally … Continue reading →

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Eyes With Red Goggles

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

I photographed insects in the hostas this morning.  This jumping spider hung out there, looking for a meal.  He probably got one, but I didn’t witness it.  

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Bugs on Blue

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

I photographed a number of insects on spiderwort the other day.  I photographed them at a fairly high magnification.  I loved the blue/purple background. This is some kind of geometer (inchworm) caterpillar. An immature froghopper. And a beetle–probably some kind … Continue reading →

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The Flower that Becomes a Puddle

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

I spent some time photographing insects on spiderwort today.  I found myself distracted a little by the flower itself. Here is a photograph I took some time ago of spiderwort.   We have three species of spiderwort here in Iowa.  … Continue reading →

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Long Legged Fly

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

When I wonder around on our property and look at the leaves of trees and bushes I often see these long-legged flies.  I think this is Condylostylus patibulatus.  It belongs to a bigger group, the family Dolichopodidae.  Bugguide says there … Continue reading →

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The Head Shot

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

Here is a face view of the same syrphid fly I posted the other day.  I think it is Toxomerus marginatus.

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A Gathering Storm

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

Earlier this season we saw huge numbers–irruptions–of butterflies.  Will we see similar irruptions of their predators? A group of tachinid flies can be seen on this wild parsnip umbel.  Tachinid flies lay eggs on or near other insects, often caterpillars, … Continue reading →

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Syrphid Fly

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

I was playing around with some of my photography techniques this morning and got this photograph of a syrphid fly.  It is on a spiderwort flower. That’s a keeper.

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Out There

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

We have one of those finch feeders–a cylinder of wire screen in which we put thistle seed to attract small seed-eating birds.  I saw a small green egg on the end of a stalk, attached to that feeder. I believe … Continue reading →

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