Assorted arthropods from last summer
Nov 22, 2018 18:02:30 #
The first pictures are from Flickr, and the rest are posted here.
First up is a leafcutter bee, genus Megachile, at an artificial bee house. I should get one of these bee condos for the yard! I am sure it would be very interesting.
Leafcutter bee by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Next is a giant Saturniid moth known as the tulip-tree silk moth (Callosamia angulifera). Their affinity to cecropia moths is pretty obvious, although this species is a bit smaller. I came across this dead and leafless tree that someone had dumped in a local park (no idea why), and it had several mysterious pendulous cocoons on it. Most were empty, but two were still occupied. These were brought home and kept to see what might emerge. I did not know what they could be except that they were probably Saturniids of some kind. The first had badly deformed wings, but from this I knew it was the tulip-tree silk moth. This species is almost entirely dependent on tulip trees as their host plant. The second that emerged was this lovely female! The challenge here was to photograph it while still teneral and unlikely to fly far. But the day was windy so I resorted to setting it up in the open garage for pictures. I managed to get pictures by hanging it from a pole and having the camera set several feet away on a tripod, controlled by a remote shutter cable. When the moth would begin to relax and close its wings I could remain comfortably in my chair by simply reaching forward to gently poke it with a thin stick. This would cause the moth to raise up its wings and another picture could be taken. She was of course released later that same evening.
Tulip-tree silkmoth by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
The next picture is a small inchworm (Melanolophia sp.)that was remarkable in its ability to hold this awkward position for several minutes while I took pictures.
Next is a male Phalangid (might be Leiobunum sp). A feature of males is that they have these rather elaborate pedipalps that are used in a rather precise way to hold on to females during mating. I have pictures of that to show later.
Next is a parasitized hornworm caterpillar and a funny story. When I was out in a park this professor that I knew from work abruptly emerged from a trail, and he was carrying this branch with the cat on it. He had been using a leafy branch during his hike as a hat to keep away mosquitoes, and was later very surprised to see the occupant hanging down right in front of him! He gladly relinquished the find, and here it is. It is the larva of one of our clearwing sphinx moths in the genus Hemaris. The white Q-tips that decorate it are of course the cocoons of parasitic Braconid wasps.
Finally we have a male skimming bluet damselfly (Enallagma geminatum) plus the usual parasitic mites that seem to be on all the small damselflies around here. I badly want to have a better success rate at photographing damsels like this one. The macro requires me to get fairly close and they often fly away. The telephoto lens that I also use, though amazing in many circumstances, does not have the reach to fully pull in small insects like these. So next summer I would like to try the 1.4x telextender which I have but hardly ever use.
Looking forward already to next summer for this and for many other reasons!
First up is a leafcutter bee, genus Megachile, at an artificial bee house. I should get one of these bee condos for the yard! I am sure it would be very interesting.
Leafcutter bee by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrNext is a giant Saturniid moth known as the tulip-tree silk moth (Callosamia angulifera). Their affinity to cecropia moths is pretty obvious, although this species is a bit smaller. I came across this dead and leafless tree that someone had dumped in a local park (no idea why), and it had several mysterious pendulous cocoons on it. Most were empty, but two were still occupied. These were brought home and kept to see what might emerge. I did not know what they could be except that they were probably Saturniids of some kind. The first had badly deformed wings, but from this I knew it was the tulip-tree silk moth. This species is almost entirely dependent on tulip trees as their host plant. The second that emerged was this lovely female! The challenge here was to photograph it while still teneral and unlikely to fly far. But the day was windy so I resorted to setting it up in the open garage for pictures. I managed to get pictures by hanging it from a pole and having the camera set several feet away on a tripod, controlled by a remote shutter cable. When the moth would begin to relax and close its wings I could remain comfortably in my chair by simply reaching forward to gently poke it with a thin stick. This would cause the moth to raise up its wings and another picture could be taken. She was of course released later that same evening.
Tulip-tree silkmoth by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrThe next picture is a small inchworm (Melanolophia sp.)that was remarkable in its ability to hold this awkward position for several minutes while I took pictures.
Next is a male Phalangid (might be Leiobunum sp). A feature of males is that they have these rather elaborate pedipalps that are used in a rather precise way to hold on to females during mating. I have pictures of that to show later.
Next is a parasitized hornworm caterpillar and a funny story. When I was out in a park this professor that I knew from work abruptly emerged from a trail, and he was carrying this branch with the cat on it. He had been using a leafy branch during his hike as a hat to keep away mosquitoes, and was later very surprised to see the occupant hanging down right in front of him! He gladly relinquished the find, and here it is. It is the larva of one of our clearwing sphinx moths in the genus Hemaris. The white Q-tips that decorate it are of course the cocoons of parasitic Braconid wasps.
Finally we have a male skimming bluet damselfly (Enallagma geminatum) plus the usual parasitic mites that seem to be on all the small damselflies around here. I badly want to have a better success rate at photographing damsels like this one. The macro requires me to get fairly close and they often fly away. The telephoto lens that I also use, though amazing in many circumstances, does not have the reach to fully pull in small insects like these. So next summer I would like to try the 1.4x telextender which I have but hardly ever use.
Looking forward already to next summer for this and for many other reasons!
Inchworm
(Download)
Male Phalangid
(Download)
Clear wing sphinx moth (parasitized)
(Download)
Skimming bluet
(Download)
Nov 22, 2018 18:22:13 #
Nov 22, 2018 18:34:05 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
So next summer I would like to try the 1.4x telextender which I have but hardly ever use.
you know you can put tubes on your big zoom
Nov 22, 2018 19:27:13 #
Nov 22, 2018 22:26:31 #
Nov 22, 2018 23:33:45 #
tinusbum wrote:
you know you can put tubes on your big zoom
Yes. And I should try that too.
Nov 22, 2018 23:34:28 #
Nov 23, 2018 08:06:40 #
Yes, a Bee Condo sounds a good idea. Nice selection of images with info.
Nov 23, 2018 09:12:09 #
Nov 23, 2018 10:22:52 #
Nov 23, 2018 11:21:13 #
Nov 23, 2018 19:59:17 #
A wonderful set my friend. A very nice variety of subjects. Excellent detail in all shots. Well done. Most of the time I shoot with 37mm of tubes. I used a 1.4x extender on a 300mm prime lens at a survey this past spring. I'd have to use that a lot to get use to it. Tough finding my subject in the viewfinder.
-Doc
-Doc
Nov 24, 2018 01:08:45 #
docshark wrote:
A wonderful set my friend. A very nice variety of subjects. Excellent detail in all shots. Well done. Most of the time I shoot with 37mm of tubes. I used a 1.4x extender on a 300mm prime lens at a survey this past spring. I'd have to use that a lot to get use to it. Tough finding my subject in the viewfinder.
-Doc
-Doc
Using a zoom lens really helps to find the subject. I suppose with a long prime the way to go is to start back at a distance, and walk forward (but that is a tripping hazard)!
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