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.

Cute Toes

Kabuki mask grasshopper with the cutest widdle toes.

Farewell to the Beetle

Rowan tearfully let his beetle go. In an attempt to make him feel better, I let my wolf spider go at the same time (in a different part of the yard).

She is a very cool beetle and hopefully enjoyed her stay with us. She did seem to relish the giant mealworms as she bit them clean in half. It made Rowan feel a little better that she took her time in leaving and didn't make a quick goodbye of it. Very tactful of her.

We wish her the best of luck this season.

Lace Bug

Well, I've narrowed this tee-e-e-e-e-ensy bug to the order Hemiptera (true bugs) and family Tingidae (lace bugs), but that's as far as I've gotten. It's on a small sunflower plant/weed and you can see the soft but spiky-looking texture of the leaf for a subtle size comparison. My guess is that is was only a few millimeters long.

Cat's Head's Web

My neighbor Theresa asked me over to see the spider and web on her swing.

Standing Toe Biter

We went to the Butterfly Pavilion again today and brought our friends, Ryan and Michael. I forgot to check my battery charge before we left, so not many pictures. Grrr. I need to by a converter or a backup battery for all the times I've forgotten. At least I don't preview each image anymore, that really ate up my battery charge quickly.

She's Got the Whole Weevil in Her Hands

Found this little fellow on a sunflower.

Orange Odonate for Orange

Here's another tiny meadow hawk. The good folks at The Bug Guide identified it for me as Western Meadowhawk (Sympetrum occidentale).

This picture's for Orange who is always so kind and upbeat.

Checkers

Pontia protodice A checkered white, I think. I liked the diamond shapes along the edge of the fore and hind wing.

Lemme Have a Look at You

This dragonfly nearly turned its head upside-down to look at me.

Yet Another Tiger Beetle

Now that I know what to look for, I seem to see one each walk. They're still wicked fast.

Ol' Blue Eyes

It was very windy and dark with threatening rain. I didn't have much of a chance of shooting anything, but I caught a glimpse of an orange something flying away from my tromping feet. I followed it for a while, never getting as close as I would have liked, but got this close.

It wasn't till I got home that I saw the blue eyes. All I did was crop this and add a little contrast.

Wolf on a Rock

Ready to pounce on something just as the sun is setting.

Another Heart Bug

I know I've photographed a "heart bug" before, but I still like their little romantic markings.

Mama Spider

This was taken on the bridge across the South Platte River. The spider had set up her web underneath the guard rails. The spiderlings were nicely backlit.

Surely You're Joking

You can tell an insect a tall tale, but they are very skeptical creatures.

Another Tiger

This one was significantly faster than my first. His (?) wings worked just fine. My new lens setup required me to get pretty close and this isn't a bug that generally seems to like to be so friendly.

Check out the mandibles. I still can't get over those. I really wish I'd managed to get a frontal shot before it vanished. Rowan was wishing for a net.

More First Shots

Now it's pretty obvious how much I need my sensor cleaned.

Showy Bee

Muwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

I still can't stop the evil laugh.