[mohb]

[Arjay Bee]

[Arjay Bee]

Native bee on Beach Convolvulus - also known as Goats Foot(?).



And then reversing and leaving...

[RockvilleBob]

From an outing to Mill Pond Garden Yesterday. A lot of bees, a couple of butterflies and one fast moving hummingbird moth. Handheld with flash

Attached Images

           

[TER-OR]

From an outing to Mill Pond Garden Yesterday. A lot of bees, a couple of butterflies and one fast moving hummingbird moth. Handheld with flash

Wow, hummingbird sphinx moths already.
That bee is a male Xylocopa virginica carpenter bee, btw. The males are patrolling here too.

[aslyfox]

I don't know if any posters have any connections or not, but due to the quality of most of these photos, I would think this thread might be a great asset for teachers

So please, if you can, suggest that idea to the appropriate people. I already have

[RockvilleBob]

Wow, hummingbird sphinx moths already.
That bee is a male Xylocopa virginica carpenter bee, btw. The males are patrolling here too.

Thank you. How do you tell a male from a female carpenter bee? Size - this one was pretty robust. They seem skittish of people. I just sat in one spot and waited for both the bee and moth to appear. The moth is really fast - doesn't spend a lot of time in one spot.

[Tonytee]

Taken with Nikon D70 body with AFNikkor 35~80mm D Lens.

Thanks so much for viewing.

TT

[TER-OR]

Thank you. How do you tell a male from a female carpenter bee? Size - this one was pretty robust. They seem skittish of people. I just sat in one spot and waited for both the bee and moth to appear. The moth is really fast - doesn't spend a lot of time in one spot.

With a lot of bees it's fairly easy. Males often have a white clypeus, Clypeus - Wikipedia
Some will even have a mustache. Males have an extra antenna segment, but you need a good photo to count them. They also often have much larger eyes than the females, and like that Xylocopa the eyes can be lighter in color. Behavior is also a clue if they don't land but keep patrolling they're likely males. Females have work to do - males have a different job. Males can protect territory, though, and those Xylocopa are notorious for checking out any other critters (including humans) in their zone. Males will also lack the pollen collecting scopa, but since they're usually more hairy than the females that isn't always easy to see. When the females have a load of pollen, it's obvious. The Xylocopa are pretty closely related to Bombus, and also use baskets on their thighs. Other bees use different pollen collecting structures.

[RockvilleBob]

With a lot of bees it's fairly easy. Males often have a white clypeus, Clypeus - Wikipedia
Some will even have a mustache. Males have an extra antenna segment, but you need a good photo to count them. They also often have much larger eyes than the females, and like that Xylocopa the eyes can be lighter in color. Behavior is also a clue if they don't land but keep patrolling they're likely males. Females have work to do - males have a different job. Males can protect territory, though, and those Xylocopa are notorious for checking out any other critters (including humans) in their zone. Males will also lack the pollen collecting scopa, but since they're usually more hairy than the females that isn't always easy to see. When the females have a load of pollen, it's obvious. The Xylocopa are pretty closely related to Bombus, and also use baskets on their thighs. Other bees use different pollen collecting structures.

Thanks - this bee was robust. I had luck waiting for the bees rather than trying to locate bees. I picked a spot they seemed to like and just sat there. Fortunately for me they left me alone and the flash didn't bother them. Flash is good for getting the shutter speed and small aperture - now if only I was skilled enough to get shots that didn't look so flat.

[TER-OR]

Thanks - this bee was robust. I had luck waiting for the bees rather than trying to locate bees. I picked a spot they seemed to like and just sat there. Fortunately for me they left me alone and the flash didn't bother them. Flash is good for getting the shutter speed and small aperture - now if only I was skilled enough to get shots that didn't look so flat.

Practice makes perfect.
I haven't been stung in years, the bees and wasps are really not interested in you. Mosquitoes and some flies, however, are. So are ticks, so if you go wading through the prairie, suit up. Flash won't bother them. As far as flat images go, some of that's lens, some is condition. The flash will help isolate your subject.

With my FA100 f2.8 and K3II I'm usually shooting f16, 1/160sec, ISO 100 and Sunpak flash pop at 1/4 power.

I'm convinced 90% of stings are from the European Paper Wasp, which are aggressive.

[RockvilleBob]

Practice makes perfect.
I haven't been stung in years, the bees and wasps are really not interested in you. Mosquitoes and some flies, however, are. So are ticks, so if you go wading through the prairie, suit up. Flash won't bother them. As far as flat images go, some of that's lens, some is condition. The flash will help isolate your subject.

With my FA100 f2.8 and K3II I'm usually shooting f16, 1/160sec, ISO 100 and Sunpak flash pop at 1/4 power.

I'm convinced 90% of stings are from the European Paper Wasp, which are aggressive.

Thanks for sharing the tip. I am going to cut back on the flash power. y flash has two units and I will also try lowering one side more than the other to perhaps get a little more depth.

[rgknief60]

Where's Waldo? Subject in actual pixel crop from a pixel shift stack


Clematis Crop - Where's Waldo - Roger Knief, on Flickr

[Unregistered User 8]

K-3 and 100 macro WR from the weekend.

[timb64]