Okay, next post, dueling spiders. This post - this guy: http://www.beautifulbugs.com/beautifulbugs/allstar.htm

. . I need a better camera. Not that I don't love my present camera - a Pentax Optio S7 - it has served me very, very well, especially considering how economical it was to purchase and how compact it is to carry. I am not complaining, at all. It just . . can't really do what that guy's doing. And I have worked with an SLR before, but they're clunky and awkward and not conducive to being contorted at right angles to the ground under a bush while balanced on a wobbling rock, which is how I tend to take a lot of pictures. They're heavy, which puts them in increased danger of dropping, and also bulky, making them awkward for getting into tight little spaces.

'Course, that guy obviously worked all that out.

But really, what I want is a point-and-shoot digital with an optical zoom that operates in macro mode, 12.1 megapixel or higher, and no ridiculous shutter lag (really, no shutter lag. Shutter lag is bad when taking pictures of things that may not be terribly amused at being photographed.) There are a few cameras out there that fit the bill in everything but responsiveness. I figure in a few years they'll have that worked out, and in the mean time I'll keep on with the camera I have.

But *sigh*. Look at that. Me wants.

As promised, bug pics from the past couple weeks:

This is a newly-hatched baby preying mantis. I know it's knew-hatched, 'cause it was hanging out in the shrubbery by my front door along with about two dozen of its brothers and sisters. They were all climbing upwards, which is puzzling to me, considering they can't fly. They seem to be considerably more docile creatures at this age than they are when older - at least, this little guy (gal?) made no attempt to bite me.



This is a juvenile Buffalo Leafhopper. Yes, it's from this planet. How can you possibly not think that's cool?

It's waving! (Actually, I think it's saying, "Step off, enormous mammal-thing, or I keel you!")
(It's also reminding me that I have not posted the dueling spider series here. Next post: dueling spiders! With video!)

It's really hard to pick out which photos to post here; sometimes there's one that's a stand-out in terms of being just the best picture I've taken all week, and sometimes there's a stand-out in terms of being one of the neater things I've ever seen and OMG y'all must see it too! (See above re: baby Buffalo Leafhopper).

But anyway, I've decided the rest of this post should be devoted to milkweed borers. Because they're just cool.





. . I met a woman at the nature center, briefly, who pointed out a frog in the pond and insisted I take its picture (I did, though it was just sitting there being not terribly photogenic or disposed to creating a well-composed photograph). I then told her I was there to take pictures of bugs, and showed her a few bugs shots. She asked if I was going to be an entomologist. I said no, just a hobby, and wondered how old (or rather, how young) she thought I was. I know I don't look my age, but after having been mistaken for my sister's mother (she's only 8 years younger! I am not old enough to have a child her age!), I thought that perhaps I finally looked too old to be asked what I want to be when I grow up. I don't even get carded at the movies very much anymore.

I did, however, type "entomology degree" into Google this evening, just for the hell of it. I don't think it's for me . . there seems to be more emphasis on pest control than on appreciation of biodiversity, in the study of bugs. But maybe I could audit a class sometime? One that doesn't involve collecting. Maybe. If I get published and financially stable and all that fun stuff. At the least, I discovered there is in fact an entomology department at U of Penn (something I'd been wondering); I could look up graduate students and pester them when I have pictures of bugs I can't identify.