Tiny Red Dragon

 
This dragonfly is smaller than many in this little mud puddle, but I love the red racing stripes. He(?) spent a lot of time raising his abdomen above his wings. I wonder if he was flashing his colors to attract another red dragonfly. 

Experiment 2-B

 
The nymph is saying: You are SO lucky this glass is between us! 

Experiment 2-A

 
Damselfly nymph in the same aquarium as in Experiments 1-A through 1-C. Curse the bubbles! They WILL be popped in future experiments! 

Mystery Butterfly

 

I generally try to ID these myself using http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ but I wasn't able to find my species this time.

The closest visual local I could find was Magdalena Alpine (Erebia magdalena) but it didn't seem quite right -- maybe the picture was just vague. If I hadn't seen the range of the Dingy Purplewing (Eunica monima)
was far south of us, I would have guessed that. The British Ringlet seemed close too, but that's an even longer flight. :)

Behavior-wise, it seemed to fit the brushfoot/satyr family as it rests on four legs instead of all six. It rested with wings closed while resting on pine tree bark and tried to orient its wing edges toward me to present the smallest viewing area. The eyes were darker than most, I couldn't see details of pupils. It was very active, maybe due to the heat. This was taken in the early afternoon in the Eagles Nest Wilderness near Dillon, Colorado. 

Experiment 1-C

 
Another picture that shows I need improvement. But check out the cool fringe on the underside of the bug. 

Experiment 1-B

 
Same bug from the back. 

Experiment 1-A

 
Backswimmer bug, from what I've read it's family Notonectidae and wing position shows it's Hemiptera or true bug. These little bugs are interesting in that they are their own diving bells.

You can probably tell this was taken in a small aquarium (2.5 gal or 9.46 l). After I get all the land based camera equipment that I need, I promise to go out and pick up the aquatic gear.

Despite the artificial environment, I was happy to get a close picture to see how these little fellows managed some of the aquatic acrobatics. They are fast and aggressive towards other insects but real chickens when it comes to people. 

Protective Pine

 
Right after I nearly weeded the mantis, she(?) retreatred to the pine tree. 

Hygiene

 
Always make sure to wash your hands after handling humans. 

Summer Friend

 
I met this summer's generation today, but I nearly gave the poor thing a heart attack. I was pulling weeds and nearly crushed her (him?). It took about a half an hour before she stopped flashing her wings at me and let me hold her. 

Turquoise Dragon

 
This fellow was alive and well and nice enough to rest in a predictable place every few minuites.

Rowan and I went to the local almost-stagnant water pond. There are so many damselflies and dragonflies I don't see how an adult mosquito or mosquito larva would last more than a few minutes. 

Rappin'

 
I see this beetle picture (on a Prairie Cone flower) and think, "This fella just needs a little bling bling and a turntable he's ready to par-tay."

Yes. I spend too much time thinking about insects. 

Beautiful Eyes

 

When classifying spiders, the arrangement of the eyes tell you a lot. Check out this picture and then check out the classification pictures at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Spider Survey. The size and orientation can even give you an idea of how the different spider types hunt. Did you see Thomisidae? 

Gimme a Hug

 
Crab spiders aka Ambush Spiders are cool. We have lots of them here and they range in color from bright yellow to pale green to dusty brown. My dad says they look to much like ticks for him to find them cute, but I disagree. My boys find them to be rather passe; it's getting harder to impress them. 

Chocolate Butterfly

 
I think I've got this narrowed down to a Duskywing skipper of the genus Erynnis, but for species I'm not sure. If pressed, I'd put a nickle on Rocky Mountain Duskywing (Erynnis telemachus).

A five year-old, red-haired, fellow hiker and photographer named Sarah pointed this particular skipper out to me. 

Chicory

 
These were blooming up and down the road to Eldorado Canyon State Park. They were absolutely stunning in the rain. When everything else was gloomy browns and greys, these blue flowers really stood out.

I'm not sure about my identification because some features were obscured by rain, but I thought it was Common Chicory, aka Blue Sailors aka Cichorium intybus. My doubt comes from the fact that my bloom seems to have about nine petals and the identification guide photograph has about thirteen. 

Berries

 
Rain, rain and more rain. So, we went for a hike. Okay, we would have gone on a hike anyway. It's been very dark and wet, but also pretty dramatic. 

CCAI Flowers

 
Flowers planted outside the back doors of CCAI. I liked the soft colors. 

Pink Thistle

 
Pretty colors, threatening points. 

White Evening Star

 
Also known as Plains Evening Star, Stickleaf and Nuttallia nuda. This is the first picture I've gotten of these. It might be explained by the fact that I'm generally photographing in the day and these only open in the evening. We've had rain for the past few days and yesterday the boys and I headed out when the drizzle let up ... at seven in the evening. A hand held picture wouldn't have been possible with my old camera -- this was taken at ISO 800. 

Cat Face

 
Araneus gemmoides, very pretty spiders. I've yet to find a large one in our yard, only spiderlings. This one was in our neighbor's yard and I transported it over. 

Ruins

 
Another non-macro. This is the corner of the homestead house. Where the pond is now, there used to be crops. 

Engraver Beetles

 
Engraver beetles evidence in the ruins of a mountain homestead. 

Yellow and Blue

 
Ubiquitous and beautiful blues. 

Death of the Dragon

 
On a walk with my older son Kai, I heard a faint flutter. It was a dying dragonfly. His (?) wings were tattered, he was thin and lethargic. He held completely still when I came near.

I don't have a zoom lens or an extension tube or even a close up lens yet for my new Canon Rebel XT, so I have to get within inches and make due with the snap on Raynox lenses that work great with my Fujifilm.