Thematic Show me your insects

**WPRESTO** · 07-26-2018, 03:17 AM - **5 Likes**

Interesting and attractive bug
I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image).

Attached Images

**Skodadriver** · 07-26-2018, 04:37 AM

Originally posted by WPRESTO

Interesting and attractive bug
I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image).

WOW! Stunning.

**WPRESTO** · 07-26-2018, 04:48 AM

Originally posted by Skodadriver

WOW! Stunning.

Thank you. It's interesting how just recording and showing detail not readily seen with unaided eyes can have considerable impact.

Thagomizer · 07-26-2018, 07:06 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by WPRESTO

Beetle

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 10:35 AM ----------

I was actually concentrating on the sunflower. The bee was a happy accident.

Imperial throne.

Hello, yellow.

Ambush bug. Waiting to ambush.

**noelcmn** · 07-26-2018, 07:37 AM - **2 Likes**

Poisonous Locust.

**WPRESTO** · 07-26-2018, 07:52 AM - **2 Likes**

Everybody's favorite.

**ffking** · 07-26-2018, 02:36 PM - **2 Likes**

Some of the ladybird larvae that are clearing my beans of aphids are metamorphosing

swanlefitte · 07-26-2018, 02:49 PM - **3 Likes**

My yard is bone dry with grass crackling under foot. Lots of lizards but not much else except bees and these two. I really like the color pallet on this first one.

I like how the sun backlit this one.

WildPortraits · 07-26-2018, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by WPRESTO

Interesting and attractive bug
I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image).

How many images in the stack? - that is amazing detail!

**WPRESTO** · 07-26-2018, 04:03 PM - **4 Likes**

Bumblebee too cold & wet to fly.

swanlefitte · 07-26-2018, 04:35 PM - **2 Likes**

I just had 3 minutes of action since I posted last. I go out just to see. An elusive black wasp with red body is in my sights. I forgot the cap was on and then the lens focuses the wrong way and back again and it was gone. I walk over to the other side and this giant thing almost hits me.

thats a 2x4 brace for the fence.

As I take this shot a cool wasp flys under it. Thats lower down the 2x4 in the top left corner.

That hopper is a foot above my head and I do not want it on me so I look back to see it climbing into the vines where an assassin has a meal. I pull out a plastic lawn chair to stand on and get the shot.

The local cat says high so I climb down put the chair back and pet the cat. Look back and another assassin in closing in.

I want to see this so I run for a stool because that chair felt like it would break. I put the stool down just as number 2 makes his move and up I go and shoot. The stool sunk in and I flew into the 2x4 luckily by my shot was blurred as they were in a ball. Next shot flash hasn't recharged.

The liitle one hangs on and settles for the head.

Cat when in my house so I followed. Checked back and the big one had took off leaving the little one still hungry.

swanlefitte · 07-26-2018, 04:38 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by WPRESTO

Interesting and attractive bug
I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image).

Everytime I see this I think the coelacanth of the trees.

**TER-OR** · 07-26-2018, 07:21 PM - **3 Likes**

Originally posted by Thagomizer

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 10:35 AM ----------

I was actually concentrating on the sunflower. The bee was a happy accident.

Mid-late summer is the time for Asters. Sunflowers and related flowers will draw those Melissodes like magnets. Watch for the males nesting nearby, often under or between petals or even on the flower itself. I love seen them!

---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 09:32 PM ----------

Got out to the James Woodworth Prairie Preserve last weekend. It's five acres of high-quality prairie with some low wet areas. It's never been plowed, as far as anyone knows, but has been through a few phases of owners and "restorations." Yet still, it has remnant prairie sections, Grade A prairie, which makes it highly valuable.

Okanagana ballil, the mysterious and rare Prairie Cicada. It lays eggs within 15 minutes of mating, and in prairie plants. It's not even fully defined for host plants since it's so hard to study and so restricted in range.

A Cercerini Digger Wasp, species unknown as of now. These hunt beetles. On Rattlesnake Master, in the carrot family.

A pair of parasitic flies, Psycocephala tibialis. These capture and lay eggs on hymenoptera in flight.

I always enjoy seeing Sand Wasps. This is a male Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus. They provision their nests (in sandy soil) with true bugs, making them a very valuable ally to gardeners and farmers.

A very small robber fly, in the Holcocephala family. I don't know much about them, but have seen them eating midges.

**WPRESTO** · 07-27-2018, 03:19 AM

Originally posted by swanlefitte

Everytime I see this I think the coelacanth of the trees.

Never thought of that. Whenever I see pelicans skimming low over the water, I think they are pterodactyl of birds.

**TER-OR** · 07-27-2018, 05:26 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by WPRESTO

Bumblebee too cold & wet to fly.

Yup, the boys have to sleep outdoors. They always look pretty ragged before their coffee. It does make it easy to get pictures, though!

07-27-2018, 03:19 AM	#4694
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,137	Originally posted by swanlefitte Everytime I see this I think the coelacanth of the trees. Never thought of that. Whenever I see pelicans skimming low over the water, I think they are pterodactyl of birds. Last edited by WPRESTO; 07-27-2018 at 05:35 AM.

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07-26-2018, 03:17 AM - 5 Likes	#4681
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,137	Interesting and attractive bug I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image). Attached Images

07-26-2018, 04:37 AM	#4682
Skodadriver Site Supporter Join Date: May 2015 Location: Hampshire Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 892	Originally posted by WPRESTO Interesting and attractive bug I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image). WOW! Stunning.

07-26-2018, 04:48 AM	#4683
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,137	Originally posted by Skodadriver WOW! Stunning. Thank you. It's interesting how just recording and showing detail not readily seen with unaided eyes can have considerable impact.

07-26-2018, 07:06 AM - 2 Likes	#4684
Thagomizer Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: London Ontario Posts: 2,068	Originally posted by WPRESTO Beetle Yeah, yeah, yeah. ---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 10:35 AM ---------- I was actually concentrating on the sunflower. The bee was a happy accident. Imperial throne. Hello, yellow. Ambush bug. Waiting to ambush.

07-26-2018, 07:37 AM - 2 Likes	#4685
noelcmn Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: South Africa-Johannesburg Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 46,206	Poisonous Locust.

07-26-2018, 02:36 PM - 2 Likes	#4687
ffking Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Old South Wales Posts: 6,039	Some of the ladybird larvae that are clearing my beans of aphids are metamorphosing

07-26-2018, 02:49 PM - 3 Likes	#4688
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	My yard is bone dry with grass crackling under foot. Lots of lizards but not much else except bees and these two. I really like the color pallet on this first one. I like how the sun backlit this one.

07-26-2018, 03:56 PM	#4689
WildPortraits Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 259	Originally posted by WPRESTO Interesting and attractive bug I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image). How many images in the stack? - that is amazing detail!

07-26-2018, 04:35 PM - 2 Likes	#4691
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	I just had 3 minutes of action since I posted last. I go out just to see. An elusive black wasp with red body is in my sights. I forgot the cap was on and then the lens focuses the wrong way and back again and it was gone. I walk over to the other side and this giant thing almost hits me. thats a 2x4 brace for the fence. As I take this shot a cool wasp flys under it. Thats lower down the 2x4 in the top left corner. That hopper is a foot above my head and I do not want it on me so I look back to see it climbing into the vines where an assassin has a meal. I pull out a plastic lawn chair to stand on and get the shot. The local cat says high so I climb down put the chair back and pet the cat. Look back and another assassin in closing in. I want to see this so I run for a stool because that chair felt like it would break. I put the stool down just as number 2 makes his move and up I go and shoot. The stool sunk in and I flew into the 2x4 luckily by my shot was blurred as they were in a ball. Next shot flash hasn't recharged. The liitle one hangs on and settles for the head. Cat when in my house so I followed. Checked back and the big one had took off leaving the little one still hungry.

07-26-2018, 04:38 PM - 1 Like	#4692
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	Originally posted by WPRESTO Interesting and attractive bug I posted this years ago. A multi-file image stack of a dead cicada (found, not sacrificed for this image). Everytime I see this I think the coelacanth of the trees.

07-26-2018, 07:21 PM - 3 Likes	#4693
TER-OR Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dundee, IL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,699	Originally posted by Thagomizer Yeah, yeah, yeah. ---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 10:35 AM ---------- I was actually concentrating on the sunflower. The bee was a happy accident. Mid-late summer is the time for Asters. Sunflowers and related flowers will draw those Melissodes like magnets. Watch for the males nesting nearby, often under or between petals or even on the flower itself. I love seen them! ---------- Post added 07-26-18 at 09:32 PM ---------- Got out to the James Woodworth Prairie Preserve last weekend. It's five acres of high-quality prairie with some low wet areas. It's never been plowed, as far as anyone knows, but has been through a few phases of owners and "restorations." Yet still, it has remnant prairie sections, Grade A prairie, which makes it highly valuable. Okanagana ballil, the mysterious and rare Prairie Cicada. It lays eggs within 15 minutes of mating, and in prairie plants. It's not even fully defined for host plants since it's so hard to study and so restricted in range. A Cercerini Digger Wasp, species unknown as of now. These hunt beetles. On Rattlesnake Master, in the carrot family. A pair of parasitic flies, Psycocephala tibialis. These capture and lay eggs on hymenoptera in flight. I always enjoy seeing Sand Wasps. This is a male Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus. They provision their nests (in sandy soil) with true bugs, making them a very valuable ally to gardeners and farmers. A very small robber fly, in the Holcocephala family. I don't know much about them, but have seen them eating midges.

07-27-2018, 05:26 AM - 1 Like	#4695
TER-OR Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dundee, IL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,699	Originally posted by WPRESTO Bumblebee too cold & wet to fly. Yup, the boys have to sleep outdoors. They always look pretty ragged before their coffee. It does make it easy to get pictures, though!