Bugs and Butterflies

[Cedars]

i have used a thin clear plastic to cover the hole with very fast species....i tried screen but it distorts the photo too much (so does the plastic).

 

 

By thin clear plastic, are you talking about like a food wrap plastic? I hear ya on the screen distortion. I took a pic of a sphinx moth on my window this summer that looks terrible due to the reflecting. His little eyes glowed brightly (probably made that one temporarily blind too).

[Cedars]

everytime i wake up not dead is my birthday. counting naps, somewhere around 666 per year. :eek: :thumbs_up

 

:)

 

i think your ID is spot on for Orb Weaver. while just photographing the old girls hairy legs while she hides under a leaf waiting for breakfast (could this be a French spider? :)), another yellow jacket hit the web, struggled a while, then broke free. here's the photograph of the hairy gams.

 

 

 

Yep, those are hairy legs on that spider!

[Turtle]

:thumbs_up

 

Yep, those are hairy legs on that spider!

 

here's a couple follow ups. one with a scale - she is well over an inch long when stretched out - as she dines under her shade leaf on a well-wrapped Yellow Jacket. the other is a Yellow Jacket husk she cast out of the web. bonus image: fly on sunflower leaf. who's whose hairy now? :)(click images for full-size view)

 

 

 

[Turtle]

i have taken to calling her Charlotte. :)

 

[Cedars]

i have taken to calling her Charlotte. :shrug:

 

That is a fantastic pic you snapped there!

[freeztar]

I witnessed a most fantastic event this evening a while after sunset. As I stood upon my mini-porch outside my back door, a moth fluttered towards me. I took evasive action to avoid being directly in the line of path I presumed it was going to take, towards the light. To my surprise it turned before reaching me and made it's way to the bush beside my door (I'm not sure what kind of bush, it's an ornamental). It landed upon the leaves and checked the tiny flowers growing out of the leaf axils. It checked a couple rather quickly and floated to the undersides of leaves a bit further out of my view. I could tell the branches were moving due to the moth's movements. The light inside made its way out of the triangular windows, which adorn the top of my backyard entryway, effectively lighting my view for a few feet.

 

I've never seen this before. I knew moths were pollinators, but I'd only seen it happen in the daytime. It made sense to me after contemplating it for a bit because it's..err...harder to see at night. The special circumstances of this bush (I'm going to try and ID it) and the ambient light created the perfect theater tonight. I should also note that bees have been frequenting this bush during the day for the last week.

 

Nature never ceases to amaze me. :thumbs_up

[Cedars]

 

I've never seen this before. I knew moths were pollinators, but I'd only seen it happen in the daytime. The special circumstances of this bush (I'm going to try and ID it) and the ambient light created the perfect theater tonight. I should also note that bees have been frequenting this bush during the day for the last week.

 

Nature never ceases to amaze me. :hyper:

 

Your going to try to ID the bush or the moth? I have some clues on which family of moths, if you want a lead.

[freeztar]

Your going to try to ID the bush or the moth? I have some clues on which family of moths, if you want a lead.

 

I meant the bush. I'm thinking an ID of the bush could lead to an ID of the moth.

 

Unfortunately, I did not get a good look at the moth except to say that it was "grey" and was about 2.5 inches wide. I did not see any particular markings on it.

[freeztar]

Tada...A video of the aforementioned moth (still does not clarify the ID) caught in the aforementioned act:

 

YouTube - Moth pollinating flowers at night http://youtube.com/watch?v=4DB-XfMFQ-M

[Ganoderma]

By thin clear plastic, are you talking about like a food wrap plastic? I hear ya on the screen distortion. I took a pic of a sphinx moth on my window this summer that looks terrible due to the reflecting. His little eyes glowed brightly (probably made that one temporarily blind too).

 

i tried that but it stretches and rips too easily. i just go to various stores and look around for random stuff...sometimes places have clear sheets or rolls of plastic. another thing i tried was cutting a hole in the plastic and using a rubber band to hold it on the lens....worked ok....but not great.

 

 

so far the best method has been just leave it open and have a friend on escapee duty :rolleyes:

 

 

here is a shot in the field i got....these spiders give meaning to the words haste!!!!!

 

 

 

about Charlotte's web (cartoon). doesn't it bug anyone else that they drew her as a black widow....i am assuming mactans. They are under rocks, logs in dark places low down....not an orb weaver like they had her.....that has always bugged me! but i have not seen the new movie. i mean really... even old ladies know what a black widow is....and what an orb weaver is...i doubt even granny would compare the 2. jeesh!

[Cedars]

OK I will look for something thicker. Another project I gotta start focusing in on.

 

Nice shot of the spider!!

 

I was going thru my crex pics again and submitted two different kinds of skippers to Wisconsin butterflies and they were approved! Yay! I found another couple I can submit later this week or so.

 

Ritz camera has a pretty good deal on some digitals. Its a two lense kit for 799. Its killing me not to invest in that deal. I was playing around with it at the store and feel it would really help my bug photos. Played with a close up lens too. Figure I gotta give up coffee before investing in that one!

[Ganoderma]

i just bought a cannon EOS Kiss (i think america calls the 400d) for about $600 usd for the kit. and there are lots of lenses to buy for it....i am still playing but the capabilities are GREAT! i can't blame my camera for my bad pictures anymore :)

[Cedars]

i just bought a cannon EOS Kiss (i think america calls the 400d) for about $600 usd for the kit. and there are lots of lenses to buy for it....i am still playing but the capabilities are GREAT! i can't blame my camera for my bad pictures anymore :hihi:

 

I picked up a new camera mid March. Nikon D40x with the two lense kit. I still take too many fuzzy pictures, but WoW, I am pleased with the ones that turn out good. I have alot to learn. Now that the weather is breaking, I am gonna be snapping pics like crazy testing how to operate it.

[Cedars]

Yeah, this new camera is changing my whole attitude on picture taking.

 

These guys winter over as hatched butterflies, among the first to emerge in the spring. I did find a caterpillar last year and photographed that. Now I need to find the cocoon and get a photo of that.

 

The third photo I think is pretty cool as it shows how hairy these guys are

[freeztar]

Yeah, this new camera is changing my whole attitude on picture taking.

 

These guys winter over as hatched butterflies, among the first to emerge in the spring. I did find a caterpillar last year and photographed that. Now I need to find the cocoon and get a photo of that.

 

The third photo I think is pretty cool as it shows how hairy these guys are

 

Those photos are great Cedars!! :hihi:

 

The archive grows! :)

[Cedars]

Those photos are great Cedars!! :hihi:

 

The archive grows! ;)

 

I looked it up on butterfliesandmoths and found my county was missing this entry. I submitted it to the person who handles MN butterflies and the report was approved. He told me its the First Minnesota Butterfly Submission for 2008!

 

Oh and I gave it to bugguide and they approved it and added it to their data. So the Mourning Cloak is registered as a MN butterfly now.

[Cedars]

My trip to Crex Meadows April 23 (and the 700 pics I took) have taken some time to review. This guy has tentatively been ID'd as Wolf Spider (Lycosidae) Genus Geolycosa with two species suggested as possibilities G. missouriensis and G. wrighti. I found one interesting paper on two florida types that offer some potential clues on how I may be able to coax one of these guys from their lair. Another interesting piece was for the two types studied, its the females who build the lair and males are roamers.

 

http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/carrel/publication/pdf-article/ecology-wolf-spiders.pdf

 

I do need to get back into the ruler habit again.

 

The first pic is the den and you can see how the spider was tossing out clumps of sand. The second pic is her (I assume her) peeking out at me. The den opening was more than 1/4 inch, but less than 1/2 inch. I have seen these burrows many places around the meadows, with some being close to or exceeding 1/2 inch.