This monstrosity whizzed past my head as if to try to intimate me. It is much bigger than an ordinary fly. And those wings! Someone asked if it is a horsefly. No, it is called a "Patterned-wing fly" (xenox tigrinus). This beast just might be big enough to haul off a Peanut M&M or two, but not half-the-bag, so I let it be..
When I got out of the office, I heard a LOUD cicada in a small tree and stopped to see if I could spot it. Then the sound stopped, and I dropped my gaze from the branches and accidentally saw it on the trunk. I didn't expect that. I took the compact point-n-shoot from my pocket and snapped a picture. This thing must have realized that I was watching, so it started sloooooowly sidestepping, until it was on the side of the tree. That's more obvious than the first hiding place! Big head... little brain.
I do not understand the fear of spiders... I mean that someone would be more afraid of these than any other creepy crawlies. Does it count for nothing that they kill mosquitoes?! Plus, in contrast to the local micro phlebotomist union, spiders do not seek people out and continually pester them. My arachnid friends sit politely, minding their own business, and they even pose nicely for the camera. C'mon, what's not to love!!
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Yellow lights do not attract bugs at night. The light we use at home is a beacon extraordinaire! It's an energy saving white light, but it causes a heap of bug activity in front. It is funny to watch people get the wiggly heebie-jeebies and swat like crazy every time they pass through this bug zone. (Is it wrong of me to be amused by that?) I should charge admission for the entomological zoo we have at my front door. I could buy itch relief product by the case, mark it up and rake in serious cash-ola, hand over fist.
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Another idea is to make my own little bug identification chart. That one had some real appeal to me, because then I could issue a challenge to find a bug that was not already identified on my chart. Hey, I'm a homeschool dad, and that's the kind of thing we do, right?.
Well, I took a picture of this moth, and then I started searching online for an identification. Do you know how many varieties of moth there are?!!!!!.
Forget it! I'm going back to the zoo idea..
This is a male Chickweed Moth. Thank you Carletta for identifying this moth for me.
I took a day off last week, and went swimming at a friend's house. After a dip in the pool, I meandered through their backyard, donating blood to the local micro phlebotomist union (mosquitoes), enjoying the flowers, and birds and bumblebees. Speaking of the "birds and the bees," this romantic couple ought to get themselves a room! I thought they might be cucumber beetles, but I'm not sure now. Let me know if you think you can ID our Romeo and Juliet and/or the flowers.
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UPDATE:
This has been identified as the Soldier Beetle, aka Goldenrod Leatherwing or Pennsylvania Leatherwing. A great big thank you goes to Carletta and Old Man Lincoln for their help!.
And... the flower is butterfly weed (asclepia tuberosa).
[click to enlarge]
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More than half of us are sick at the Craver household, so we're going to try to drown it out with hot tea and soup. Yes, even in this heat and humidity, we're having hot liquids. When it comes to illness, we don't mess around. Please pray for my wife. She makes great soup, but she also is not feeling well, and instead of resting, has to take care of the rest of us like a resident physician. We did not sleep well last night, and I can tell by the scratchiness in my throat, that this particular bug is going to affect our voices. (Mrs. Craver sings.).
This Cicada was between the outer doors at church. I slid a sheet of white paper under it, and after making a mad fuss, it stayed on the white paper for me. Wasn't that nice? I got down on my belly and took its picture before lifting it by the paper and releasing it outside.
Monday night I went to bed at a decent hour. There was a spectacular lightning show going on outside. All I could think about was photography; I was itching to catch me some lightnin'! Feeling über restless, I asked myself, "What the heck am I doing in bed?!!" So I jumped out of the sack, hobbled downstairs, and set up the tripod outside the front door.
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There was no rain. Just frequent, muffled bursts of lightning. I set the program to "bulb" and held the shutter open for 20 or 30 seconds at a time. My camera takes a really long time to record those images... I wonder why..
I tried over and over and over again. The lightning mostly showed itself as a diffused brightness in a patch of clouds. I wanted to see proper lightning bolts, not radiated light. The whole time, I felt pesky mosquitoes all around me. I experimented a little with infrared, but the ISO was too low to catch anything..
Finally, I decided that the frequency had subsided enough, that I should call it a night and get back to bed. I woke my wife up to show here one shot (not this one) that I caught, but I didn't post it here, because it was blurry..
I wasn't in bed five minutes before itchiness drove me to the brink of insanity. I HAD to get up again!! We have this little tube of stuff to put on mosquito bites, and it has ammonia, so it smells nasty. They got me real good on my calves, feet, and even toes!! (Shhhh... Don't tell anybody, but I have bare feet under my desk today.).
I'm still itching from being a human sacrifice on Monday night, but it was totally worth it! They say we can expect large hail and strong winds tonight. This time, I'll stay inside, if you don't mind.
Yumpin' yimminee! Look at how this little grasshopper is content to sun himself in a patch of mulch. He was only about an inch (2 cm) long. I took another macro of him, where I tried to get a detailed look at his face. I wanted to show you his simple eyes (ocelli). The facial macro did not come out as clear as I had hoped, but I'll add it below anyway. You'll need to enlarge the photo to see the details.
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Since I wanted to zoom in on a still shot of the face, I asked if I could pick him up, and he did not say no. ;-) Then, I held him close to my mailbox, which has a blue post. That's why the background is a funny shade of blue. He didn't seem to mind being held, which is weird. The picture in the mulch was only a few short hops after the closeup at the mailbox.
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I really like Picasa's option to add text. It is handy for naming species of bug or flowers and identifying sites and landmarks.
How do you identify bugs? This one was out in front of the house. I looked it up at bugguide.net.
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Sorry, that's all I got now. I'm swamped, and generally having a scummy day anyway.
I hope I don't have to pick up too many more leaves around here. Oh, there are a few stubborn remants in my neighbor's Maple, but I expect they'll drop before very long. Instead of raking the leaves off the lawn, I like going over them with my mulching mower. It bags them at once, so I think it's much neater and less exhausting than using the rake. It is the best way to gather the leaves from my tree, because the Craver house inherited a Honey Locust with lots of wee-little leaves.
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I over-seeded a couple months ago, so the lawn was nice and thick. It was springy underfoot--just the way I like it. It was relatively warm and sunny with blue skies.
What a great day to be outside!!
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I had help from a ladybug. I wasn't sure what it was doing, but I never turn down an offer of assistance with yard work. It was a funny little thing with dimpled armor. It looks like the right wing got smooshed in. (You may have to click on the image to see it clearly.)
What a sloppy snout! I was under the impression that bugs were better at grooming than this cricket. His muzzle is messy with lint or something, and it even looks like he's drooling! Maybe they usually are, but when I found it, this one was already dead. I scooped it up from the floor, put it on a paperweight (rock), placed a blue sheet of paper in the copyholder, lowered the desk lamp and snapped the photo from approximately two inches away -- no flash. The filthy face is probably lint from the floor that got there when I scooped it up. I'll see if I can clean them up better next time.
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S2 dressed up as Wolverine for trick-or-treating. Big sister drew the hair on his face, and I constructed the adamantium claws from plasticware and tinfoil. Later, browsing through the pics, I touched up the facial hair for some wicked mutton chops. (I also thickened the brows and lengthened the canine.) What do you think? Pretty tough, eh?
What a funny looking turtle! From the back especially, this ladybug looks like a small turtle, making its way across a sandy beach.
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Sandy beach. Hmmm. Can you believe the rough texture of my car?!! Plus, the sides have fancy reddish markings near the wheel wells. No, not painted flames, but rust. It gives the car a certain character, don'tcha think? Folks, you can't get this kind of detail by washing and waxing too frequently, nor by babying the vehicle like parking inside a garage. No, I leave it outside and try to avoid soap and wax, so that it now doubles as sandpaper and beach-backdrops for sojourning insects. Ain't I clever that way?.
Why are you looking at me that way? ...And why is the ladybug looking at me that way? Notice that cockeyed glare? Sheesh! Now even the bugs are critical of my jokes!
Nine PM, Saturday night. We backed into my spot on the driveway. As I was still gathering my things, S2 called out, "Dad, you better get your camera and take a picture of this already... then kill it so I can go inside." Why do these kids think I have to kill any bug they don't like?
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"Whoa! What on earth is that?!! I've never seen anything like it! It's too dark. Hang on, Son. Lemme get that second flash out of the trunk.".
This thing was about two inches long, not counting the legs. I haven't figured out what it is, but are those cornicles sticking out of the thorax?!.
I took a few pics, but didn't see it bothering anybody, so I left it right there, unharmed..
Thanks to Fishing Guy we have an update: The Crane Fly (also called Mosquito Hawk) is harmless. The pointy tip at the end of the abdomen indicates that this one is female. The knobby protrusions are not cornicles as I had guessed, but halteres. They supposedly act like stabilizers, which is funny, because these things look clumsy when they fly.
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I never made it to either. Most of my time was spent walking the path between the archery range, the nature center and our campsite. Surprisingly, I ran into some friends who I knew from ten years ago. Mostly, I meandered, looking for macro shots..
Laughing to myself, I came up with a new concept for one of these photo-hunt thingies. The new idea is really stupid; that's what makes it funny. More about that on another day..
Imagine the thrill to capture these shots of dragonflies. The way they look and fly--hovering and darting is mesmerizing. They sat still and let me move up reeeeeal close.
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If you haven't seen it, check out Imac's magnificent turquoise dragonfly. You won't be disappointed.
I DO believe I can see her eyes better now, than I did through the viewfinder. You know what? She's staring right at me. Hey Spider! Take a picture; it lasts longer!
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A gas man walks hurriedly past our hero's front lawn..
Unexpectedly, Sam's watch beeps. He looks carefully at the timepiece. His wife's expression is concerned, and she asks if he absolutely has to go right this minute. "Be right back." He smiles, kisses her goodbye, and grabs his sunglasses and car keys..
This is Secret Agent Man. The watch indicated that a bug was planted by an evil Canadian mastermind named Alan, who tries to steal Sam's jokes. As Sam's eyes are shielded by the sunglasses, he glances up and down the street, careful not to turn his head. It looks clear; maybe the watch malfunctioned. He checks again it indicates a device ten feet away at 'twelve o-clock.' He walks. Six, four, two... "Aha!! Found it" he thinks..
There is a big, juicy-looking cicada clinging to the buds of his juniper bush. Nonchalantly, he removes the bug, and squishes it underfoot, pretending not to notice that its exoskeleton houses transistors instead of slimy goo..
From the very end of the block, an engine cranks and tires peel a little as the driver hastily splits the scene. Yup... black hummer. He probably has his goofy cat with him. Blast that pesky evil punster! Just for show, Secret Agent Man takes his car to the corner store and back. When he returns, the cicada is gone-- vanished without a trace. His jokes are safe... for now.___________________________________________
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No folks, I haven't suddenly decided to switch to writing corny fiction. (I can imagine the big sighs of relief from that.) It's just that I had this macro shot and didn't know what words to put with it. (There really is a Canadian Alan who tells puns; that part is true.) As for the rest of this fabrication... well, I had to say something...
Hey fly, don't I know you from somewhere? Your face looks familiar. Did you used to wear a bee uniform?
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Flies. Hmph! They're so annoying! Sometimes I wish I had Superman's laser vision, so I could zap these pesky bugs in midair. Mwaaa-ha-ha-haaaa! Could you imagine the disastrous results if I missed? There would be burn marks on everything... and everyone..
Bzzz... Zap! Sorry.
Zap! Sorry again. Try not to stand in the way.
Zap! Okay okay, I'll go get a rolled-up newspaper!
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Bzzzz...
They call this strange little character a bee fly. It is approximately the size of a grain of rice. It was very interested in my bluegreen camera bag. Perhaps it was the color of the canvas tote that worked as a beacon to this cerulean striped fly. Yes, it's actually a fly; it only looks like a bee. The mimicry was designed so that we would think it's a bee and not take its lunch money.
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Hey, do you perchance use Picasa for your photos? The August issue of Popular Photography suggests a shortcut on page 108. To flip an image horizontally, press Ctrl + Shift + H. That nifty little trick should come in handy when attempting to decipher Russian signage..
Anyhow, that made me wonder what other hidden secrets I might want to learn, so I googled "picasa shortcuts." Here are a couple more that I expect to find useful:
Ctrl + Shift + V flips it vertically
Hovering over a photo, Ctrl + Alt is a full-screen preview.
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Enjoy!
These weeds were so out of control! (That's thirty feet of thorn and thistle going back to that wooden fence.) It's too late in the season to start working on a proper garden. I'll probably prep the soil in the fall, provided I can borrow my friend's tiller. But we didn't want to leave it a mess until then.
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So we cleared it out to something more manageable and gave it a modest touch.
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Before starting, I looked around at the little flowers. This pretty little thing has a bug hiding in its shadow. I had not noticed it until now.
Hey, that's some stealthy camouflage, Mr. Mantis!
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I like to tell people that I'm praying for them. Not just thinking nice thoughts for someone, but when I say it, I mean that I seriously intend to exercise supplication to the Lord on their behalf. Often, I will stop right then and there to pray, so that I don't forget later..
Didn't Jesus teach his followers to pray in secret? Why? Some people were using prayer as a means to show off. There is more to public prayer than pharisaic piety and warm fuzzies. The big reason I like to tell people how I'm interceding for them is so that God would be glorified. When God does a thing, He should get the credit for it. It's as simple as that..
Oh, back to camouflage... have you ever seen pink camo? What's the deal with that?!
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