[noelcmn]

[Des]

Hover fly on Austral Grass-tree (Xanthorrhoea australis). K-S2 + DFA 100 Macro WR.

[Des]

Hover fly again on a different flower. K-S2 + DFA 100.

[StephenHampshire]

Volucella Zonaria on a Buddleia Davidii

[TER-OR]

Bombus auricomus on Indigo. Indigo flowers require a big, heavy bee to open them up and pollinate, meaning bumblebees.


An Andrena on...I'm not sure, a dogwood?

[aslyfox]

Thanks!

Immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a bumblebee. The flower is tithonia rotundifolia 'Mexican Sunflower'.

the photos in this thread are great

here is info that might be of interest to those who capture images of humming birds

The Hummingbird as Warrior: Evolution of a Fierce and Furious Beak - The New York Times

[TER-OR]

Andrena wilkella on a flower I don't recognize. Any help?
Note the anther rubbing on the bee's fuzzy head. Placed so this must happen for the bee to access nectar.

---

Last edited by TER-OR; 03-19-2019 at 05:33 AM.

[TER-OR]

Here's the male Andrena wilkella. It looks pretty different from the female, I had second-guessed myself away from Andrena to Lasioglossum.
This is an Andrena bee native to Europe, but now widespread across the Eastern US.

[JensE]

Time to practice again. First trees are in blossom in our backyard, the below bee wasp (thanks TER-OR) is from my first attempt this year, with available light. I had forgotten to re-enable raw recording after some tests, so the below is just scaled and slightly brightened. As usual, uncropped FF at 1:1 magnification.

[TER-OR]

Time to practice again. First trees are in blossom in our backyard, the below bee (Nomada) is from my first attempt this year, with available light. I had forgotten to re-enable raw recording after some tests, so the below is just scaled and slightly brightened. As usual, uncropped FF at 1:1 magnification.

This is a wasp. Note the constriction in the abdomen. A potter wasp of some type, I think. The kleptoparasitic bees are tricky, though. Stelis are great mimics of these potter wasps.

I'm eagerly awaiting the first tree blooms myself. The pussywillow buds are opening already.

---------- Post added 03-25-19 at 08:15 AM ----------

From last year, still processing photos.
An Augochlora pura on one of the little lobelia species. Maybe Lobelia inflata, maybe Lobelia spicata. I don't know if my photos have enough data from the plant itself to positively identify. Pretty happy with the photo of the bee, though!

[aslyfox]

I am amazed:

at the talent exhibited by the contributions of the posters

the number of posts

the number of looks

keep it up folks, please

[Larrymc]

K-3, smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm F2.8 WR, f/7.1, 1/320sec, 100iso

Beautiful little False Garlic Plant and Visiting Bee by Larry Mc, on Flickr

[Larrymc]

k-3, smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm F2.8 WR, f/5.0, 1/320sec, 100iso

Here's looking at you Kid!! by Larry Mc, on Flickr

[MetteHHH]

Wow. You guys are amazing. I haven't spent much time in the forums lately, but a few days ago I had a frustrating experience with a neuopteran - my DFA 100mm macro WR would not stop down enough for me to get all of it in the focus plane. I started a thread in the lens section about upgrade possibilities for a good insect macro - and @aslyfox suggested that I look at this thread to see what other people are using.

I can see that the lens I am unhappy with is behind the majority of really great insect shots, just on the latest page.

Hmm. Spring is here, and as soon as the sun is out I vow to go find a flowering tree and get myself some pollinators! Two bits of advice for the 100mm macro WR that I picked up on the forums: Use it often and store it front down - and the aperture blade problem might just wear off eventually.

This thread is incredibly inspiring. Before upgrading, I need to practise more. (Although I am pretty sure insect BIFs will still be a job for my DA*300mm)

[JensE]

For BIFs (Bees in Flight), you'd be in good company with that lens. You may also find last year's macro project on the German forum interesting, August subject was 'Hymenoptera'. The impressive wasps in flight in [Projekt 2018] Makrofotografie ? Pentaxians have been shot using autofocus and the 55-300mm PLM lens. Quite a few pollinators to be found in the August pictures, too.