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offshorebirder

Here are a few more insect pics from coastal South Carolina:

 

 

This is an annual Cicada of some kind (Tibicen spp.)

 

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This is a female Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly. E. Pondhawks are among the most aggressive and voracious of all dragonflies - they often capture and consume other dragonflies larger than they are.

 

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This is a female Great Blue Skimmer.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
offshorebirder

Velvet Ant - a wingless wasp that is a formidable hunter. It paralyzes prey for its larvae to feed upon underground.

 

 

 

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offshorebirder

Here is a short video clip of the Velvet Ant (females are wingless, males have wings). The one in the photo above + video is Dasymutilla occidentalis. Their local name is "Cow Killers" - but although their sting is strong, it is not really that strong.

 

Also present was a smaller species - Dasymutilla quadriguttata. Day before yesterday I had two members of both species (4 Velvet Ants total) in a 40-meter stretch of dike at Bear Island Wildlife Management Area in coastal South Carolina.

 

I did not get any photos of Dasymutilla quadriguttata but you can see them at Bugguide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/874302

 

 

* Be sure to increase the video quality to 1080p HD

Edited by offshorebirder
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offshorebirder

A few more photos for this topic:

 

Here is another kind of hummingbird moth (Sphinx Moth). It is a Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa) nectaring at Turk's Cap Hibiscus just after sundown.

 

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Here is a mating pair of Regal Moths (Citheronia regalis) photographed beneath a Black Walnut tree - their host plant. Saluda, North Carolina, in the Appalachian mountains.

 

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Here is a Common Checkered-Skipper butterfly drinking from damp mud:

 

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A previous post of mine included a Cow Fly (tabanus spp), a huge relative of Horse Flies. This photo gives an idea of their size - note the much smaller Horse Fly at the bottom of the photo.

 

I imagine the poor Cow Flies thought they had found a Bison or something, but it was just a large, dark, hot, Co2-emitting van. They seem to be aggregating around the rubber window gasket - looking for the soft parts on the "Bison" perhaps. Some of the flies appear to have landed on top of each other - I am not sure if it was an impromptu mating aggregation or what...

 

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Edited by offshorebirder
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  • 1 month later...
offshorebirder

Here is a photo of a roosting Tersa Sphinx (a type of Hummingbird Moth) - left and right views.

 

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~ @@offshorebirder

 

The most recently posted image is TERRIFIC!

I've never seen a Sphinx Moth at such resolution.

Great color and luminosity, too!

Thank you!

Tom K.

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offshorebirder

Thanks @@Tom Kellie.

 

I was fortunate; I unintentionally disturbed the Sphinx Moth (AKA Hummingbird Moth) while pulling up some invasive weeds and it flushed out of hiding. I watched it during its 20-meter flight to another hiding place low to the ground, memorizing its location. Then I went and got my camera, and was rewarded with daytime photo opportunities of a roosting Sphingidae.

 

Equipment was a Canon 7D mk I and a 300mm f/4 IS lens.

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~ @@offshorebirder

 

That's a GREAT background story!

I especially like knowing such details, as they provide a sense of ‘how to do it’ were I ever to find myself in a comparable situation.

Your nimble response I admire!

Many thanks for the thorough explanation!

Tom K.

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Great shots everyone. LOVE the macro shots @@offshorebirder.

 

Here are a few from around our place in Arizona:

 

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offshorebirder

Nice shots @@Atdahl - love the Phasmid!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Amsterdam. My balcony. This summer.

 

~ @@CaroleE

 

That lovely image demonstrates that one needn't trek to remote lands to make stunningly lovely wildlife images.

The color...the composition...the focus...all TERRIFIC!

Truly a marvelous image, with splendid luminosity.

That you saw it, photographed it and shared it with us on Safaritalk is a blessing.

Many Thanks!

Tom K.

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@@Tom Kellie

 

Thanks Tom.

 

I sent this photo to my Mum and said exactly that...you do not have to travel far to see wildlife.

 

The making of this photo was anything but relaxed. I had just come home from work, watering the plants and spotted the dragonfly. I went to grab my camera only to find the wrong lens on it. Mad scramble to find and wrench open camera bag, change lenses and then take a half decent photo before it flew away!

 

Therefore I really appreciate your very kind comments.

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@@Tom Kellie

 

Thanks Tom.

 

I sent this photo to my Mum and said exactly that...you do not have to travel far to see wildlife.

 

The making of this photo was anything but relaxed. I had just come home from work, watering the plants and spotted the dragonfly. I went to grab my camera only to find the wrong lens on it. Mad scramble to find and wrench open camera bag, change lenses and then take a half decent photo before it flew away!

 

Therefore I really appreciate your very kind comments.

 

~ @@CaroleE

 

Ha! Your description caused me to laugh out loud, as I've done exactly like you!

I'll spot something — a wildly beautiful red sunrise, for example — and pull out the camera only to discover everything's wrong!

A frantic scramble which only the angels see — I hope they aren't able to hear the oaths I mutter — in search of the right components.

In nearly every case, the sight remains as before, nothing lost.

Your mom is right. Nature is at our windowsill.

Tom K.

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@@Tom Kellie

 

I forgot about the oaths :)

 

~ @@CaroleE

 

What can we say?

Mad scrambles for camera gear occasionally include the odd phrase seldom heard during vespers in a convent.

Tom K.

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  • 1 year later...

Spent a Sunday morning on a hike, unfortunately in Florida by 8 am the humidity and heat becomes such that very little is out and about in the open areas. I was rewarded with this lovely Dragonfly though who decided to sit patiently while I photographed him, and the beautiful work only an 8 legged seamstress could create. I didn't know where the owner was and I didn't feel brave enough to go walking through the bush to get closer.

Smiling Dragonfly.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Spot-winged threadtail, a species of damselfly found only in the Kimberley region of Australia.

 

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Nikon D7200, 18-300mm lens @ 300mm. f/6.3, ISO200, 1/15sec.

Hand-held whilst reclining in the same pool!

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  • 3 years later...
Towlersonsafari

we have seen a couple of fine beetles recently, whilst looking for butterflies, and i see there is a place for them here! first, at our local nature reserve, a Black headed cardinal beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea) with what looks like a mite attatched

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Edited by Towlersonsafari
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Towlersonsafari

and then, whilst looking for the duke of Burgandy butterfly ( nobody knows why it is called that)  the Bloody nose beetle, so called because if attatcked it emits a bloody coloured fluid

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  • 2 weeks later...
Towlersonsafari

i have been seeing some more beetles-i think this is a tobacco coloured lonhorn beetle (Alosterna tabicicolor), and then a red headed cardinal beetle (pyrochea serraticornis)

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Towlersonsafari

And at last some dragonflies and damselflies a female Banded Damoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) and a Four spotted chaser (libellula quadrimaculata)

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Towlersonsafari

We also saw a bee that seemed to be flying like a fly-and it was a hoverfly that impersonates a bumble bee  volucellini bombylans

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~ @Towlersonsafari

 

Such insect images! They're impressive and inspirational.

 

I've taken the liberty of forwarding this link to several entomologist friends.

 

The clarity, focus, color and composition is exemplary.

 

Thank you for demonstrating how to bring out the beauty of small-scale invertebrates.

 

       Tom K.

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Towlersonsafari

You are far too generous @Tom Kellie.i must admit though, since taking an interest in butterflies a couple of years ago, and noticing more in the way of beetles etc, it does add a new dimension to wildlife watching and bumbling about the countryside! from a photographic point of view trying to get enough depth of focus is the really tricky thing .My ambition this year is to take photos of butterflies in flight- we can but dream!

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