Tag Archives: Insect

Profanity and Insect Photography

I am generally a mild-mannered and reserved person.  I usually keep my voice down and don’t use bad language–at least not very often.  Sometimes the passion gets the best of me, though. Last night I saw an annual cicada land … Continue reading

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A Grasshopper

I have been a little bit busy lately and have not had time to wander through the prairie.  Today I sneaked in a little time to do just that, and got a photo of a grasshopper on a partridge pea … Continue reading

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Life Cycle of a Robber Fly

This is a robber fly, probably an Efferia species.  It seems to be ovipositing (laying eggs) on the head of a pale purple cone flower. What happens after that is open to some speculation.  Scientists are not sure how the … Continue reading

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A Damselfly

Today was not a good day for insect photography–much too windy.  A friend and I and my son Max went on an unsuccessful search for rare butterflies.  We spent about six hours on the road, and went to a couple … Continue reading

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Social Bug People

There have always been people who are interested in insects, and I have always counted myself as one of them.  It seems to me, though, that over the course of my life the social nature of activities related to insects … Continue reading

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A Fungus Among Us—Taxonomy failure

The season of insect photography is coming to an end.  I am lucky to get out once or twice a week now, and soon it will be too cold for anything to be moving. Today we had a thunderstorm, however, … Continue reading

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A Tiny Leafhopper

We have had some cool weather, and several nights with frost.  Insects are not flying in large numbers.  I did see three butterflies around noon today–two clouded sulfurs and a painted lady. I wandered around looking for insects to photograph.  … Continue reading

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Basic Thripstography

I spent some time yesterday photographing thrips.  Thrips are very small insects that I know little about.  They were all over the dandelion flowers. These guys are a little over a millimeter long, which puts them at about the limits … Continue reading

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Apple Blossoms

The apple tree is blooming, and with it come a lot of insects.  I lost both of my beehives over the winter, and have not seen any honeybees.  I have seen some other bees, however, and a number of other … Continue reading

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The Fourth Annual Day of Insects

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the fourth annual Day of Insects at Reiman Gardens at the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa today. This is an event for people who are interested in insects to … Continue reading

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