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Female with prominent ovipositor. Found mid-day on a sidewalk. Cell phone photo from just a few inches away.
DuPage Co., IL
Trichopoda pennipes. A little bigger than a house fly (and a lot nicer looking.) Parasitoids on squash bugs and some other true-bug agricultural pests.
This is probably my favorite clip in this series (shot 4/4/2019).
It’s not entirely clear whether the mantis deliberately spits out/shakes away the fly’s wing or it if it is so flimsy that it blows away. I’ve seen this exact sequence in other cases, so the mantis most likely decides after a few bites that it isn’t interested in the wing. It eats every other part of the fly, however.
Notice the fly still kicking with half its body gone. This is just what insects do! It's well known that even if the male mantis has its head eaten off during mating, it is able to complete the mating and pass on its genes.
Tachinid fly Siphona species on a camellia leaf. Focus stacked using zerene. They have an interesting folding proboscis
One of the first pictures I made with my DSLR. The bee stayed on that leaf for quite a long time so I managed to make a lot of shots and this is the best one.
I don't have special macro lenses yet...
Sofia, Bulgaria
Another emergence on May2nd. I persuaded the dragonfly to climb onto a stick. Natural light. Focus stacked using zerene
Red ants on a cornflower bud. Not seen this many ants on one bud before.
You can clearly see the reason why though - there are pools of honeydew on the bud. Not sure if this is natural or whether the ants actually damage the bud to make it leak. Focus stacked using zerene stacker
Largest of the fritillaries and very fast and powerful flyers. This is a male. The females are darker and even bigger.
Hatfield Forest, Essex
Carolina Mantis
Related to the Praying Mantis, but huge...about 3.5 inches in length. This one was laying in wait for insects in a blooming Coyote bush.
They are fairly easy to see. Look for a big "leaf" just inside the crown of blooms on a bush where insects are feeding. I found three others, each one in its own Coyote Bush.
Hayard Regional Shoreline RP, Fremont, CA