Today's Topic: Is The Author Insane?

Yes, I was about 3" away from these guys. Yes, they did notice . .

. . . though not as much as these guys did. The yellow-jackets above were actually remarkably complacent about bright lights being flashed in their proverbial windows. They stared, but it was a, "Huh. That's weird. We'll keep an eye on that," sort stare. These guys above, though? Not. Pleased. There was annoyed staring, there was agitation, there was some vibrating of wings. That was when I decided to leave them be.

The location of either of these is being kept undisclosed, as I suspect it would not contribute to the longevity of the residents if I made their existence known - and they're really not hurting anything, they're out of the way and, obviously, not that aggressive. (Protecting your sources - not just for reporters!)

Look at its eyes. They're striped. How cool is that?

I know this is rather blurry at full size, but it's staring at me. Its expression was just too nifty not to post.

. . and another in the series of bugs with challenges; this guy's only got one back leg. He was getting around just fine without it; I even saw him make a short jump. How in the heck he can get an accurate trajectory, I don't know, but he landed where he was looking, so I think he can.

It seems I did move the preying mantis far enough away from the katydid to prevent the former from eating the latter, 'cause look! It's all grown up!

. . I *think* this is a she, but I'm not entirely positive.

Other things that proved the world is an awesome place, tonight:

Fork-tailed Bush Katydids Have More Fun

I have not dropped off the face of the earth! . . . almost dropped into the pond/pool balancing on the side to take pictures of hatching dragonflies . . but have not dropped off the face of the earth.

Today's post is going to be all about katydids, 'cause they're just cool.

A nymph - if I were really impressive, I could tell you its stage of development and all that. I'm not that impressive. But isn't it cute? It's washing its little foot!

"Hi, big freaky mammal-thing. Why are you flashing bright lights at me?"

"Oh - 'cause I'm cute, with my striped antennae. Alright then."

It's an antennae contest! (Other bug is a cricket)

It's a baby! (I know, I'm so scientific.) But look! It's got bitty stubby antennae and its leg are the width of the ridges in my fingerprint. How adorable is that?

"World veryvery big, and it very dark out. Me tiny. That long way down."

" .. and something's flashing bright lights at me. Me so confused."

Still a nymph, same species, believe it or not. (Not the same individual bug; I actually saw this guy (gal?) a few nights before the two above. When it's a grown-up, it'll have wings.

. . right now it just had these cute little fin-like wing-stubs, which you can see in this picture, kinda behind the knee of its middle leg. It's eating my gladiolas, but I can't really care, 'cause it's posing so nicely.

This is not a katydid, as hopefully even the least bug-oriented of observers could tell. :) This is the preying mantis that was stalking the above teenaged-ish katydid. It was relocated (though possibly not far enough, 'cause I haven't seen that katydid again). However, it gets a few cool points of its own, on account of turning itself pink to match the daylilies.

Discovery of the day:

This . . . . . . is a fork-tailed bush katydid nymph. http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/063dev.htm

Dueling spiders! These were taken last summer, but they've never been posted here, so here they are.
(The photos are cropped, but otherwise unaltered; the video is entirely unaltered.)

A belated Happy Solstice to any who celebrate!

(Dueling spiders next post, swear.)

I took the day off from work and spent it mostly out in the woods at Tyler Park, then at Churchville Nature Center, where I ran into someone else photographing bugs! This was very exciting. While I know there are other folks out in the world who photograph insects (most of them using nicer cameras than mine), I had never met another insect photographer in person.

Some selections from the day:











Today was spent mostly making a dress; I bought the fabric last fall. It looked considerably darker and warmer in the store's lighting than it did once I got it home, much to my disappointment. I'm not really a fan of pink. But, I had it laying around, and that was annoying me, so I made a rather spur-of-the-moment, experimental dress. The dart up the back (not illustrated here, sorry) was only a partial success; it made the dress fall as I wanted it to, but it puckers a bit. The darts at the hips, though, I love. Will definitely be making other things with those.(Yes, I really am that pale. No, I am not dead, undead, or any variation thereof.)

And then I went outside (in the dress, as you can see), and picked some strawberries and took a couple not-really-worth-posting bug pictures, and found a milkweed borer! In my yard! I was excited - until it fell off the plant and lay there on the ground looking sorta half-dead. I picked it up and generally fussed at it and eventually it stopped playing dead and walked around on my hand for a little, but it seemed to be having genuine troubles - fell from fingertip to palm once, and had to try repeatedly to get its wings open and take off. I don't know if it was merely weak, maybe from traveling from wherever-it-came-from to my yard, or whether it stopped on the way and sampled something chemically treated. I hope not the latter.

. . and something is eating my brussel sprouts, and not hanging around to be photographed. If an insect is going to chew on my edibles, it should at least do me the courtesy of posing nicely. I'm not amused by things that eat my stuff and then hide, leaving me with neither pictures nor dinner. I want one or the other.

(I'm not pondering the possibility that the milkweed borer was clumsy because it was so stuffed after gorging itself on my brussel sprouts. It was too cute to be so rude.)

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.