Scuttle Zoom

Tiny and fast across the vast expanse of sidewalk.

Red Meadowhawk

Back in Colorado, the first thing I did was visit my dragonfly pond.

Pointy-Eyed Mantid

This little fella was very tiny and more of a hopper. I only noticed it becasue it didn't move like the grasshopper I thought it was at first sight.

When I got close, I realised it wasn't a European mantid nymph because of the eye shape. I submitted it to the BugGuide under Yersinops, a Larimer County Bug Hound found a similar mantid, but as I mentioned in my submission, I thought it might be a ground Litaneutria minor (Scudder) which I read about in Bagging Big Bugs p 59 by Cranshaw and Kondratieff.

Moth on Screen

This little moth seems to be raising its skirt to show a little lacy slip.

Drinking Upside-Down

Looks Like Colorado

But no, this is my mom's Chinese Lilac in Marshfield and a Massachusettes Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

Hover Fly Butt

I like hover flies.

Yellow Jackets

Well, I found my first reason to call an exterminator. Note that each speck there is a half inch long yellow jacket -- now extrapolate the total size of the hive.

Mom was asking if it could be sprayed. Once I saw the size of the thing, I told her to get a professional. When the fellow came to get rid of this nest, he saw it and his first move was to put on his bee suit and tell us to go hide in the house. Two hours later there was only a small swarm hanging around the former site of the hive.

Dalmation Moth

A moth on my mom's sink.