Mostlymacrobugs

It’s that time of year again. The most feared, yet strikingly handsome flies are out in force. Here’s a striped or greenhead horsefly just a tad late for if that’s still a thing. 😅💚

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🧬Tabanus lineola
📸 Single frame
🔬 60mm macro
⛅️
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{Head First}
Happy everyone! Lots of crickets in our yard means lots of wolf spiders to eat them. 😉
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🧬Hogna aspersa
📸 Stacked images
🔬 60mm macro
⛅️
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{Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing}
I noticed a little bit of lichen moving on our tree while looking for critters. It wasn’t until I took a macro photo that I could tell what it was; a green lacewing larva! I had no idea they were so small. You can see that this one is carrying more than lichen on its back.
As it turns out, the debris they carry may be lichens and other bits of plant debris, but it often consists of the bodies of past prey, such as aphids, that have been sucked dry of their contents. Obviously this provides excellent camouflage to protect the larvae from large vertebrate predators such as birds, but some studies have shown that carrying the bodies of dead aphids on their back helps these larvae evade detection by ants that are tending and protecting the colonies of aphids they prey on. So cool!

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🧬Leucochrysa pavida
📸 Single frame
🔬 60mm macro
⛅️
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{Still Here}
Happy all! Here’s a female tan jumper from this past summer. Their faces tend to look timid, however, they are anything but when hunting. Hope you are having a great weekend. 🖤
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🧬Platycryptus undatus
📸 Single frame
🔬 60mm macro
⛅️
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Happy Monday! Here’s a twice-stabbed lady beetle posted up on our patio cushion.
🧬Chilocorus stigma

📸 Handheld single image
🔬 60mm macro
⛅️

It’s finally ! Here’s a female striped horse fly sizing me up for a little nibble.
Fun fact: horse flies can claim being the fastest insect. The male Hybomitra hinei wrighti has been recorded reaching speeds of up to 145 km (90 mi) per hour when pursuing a female! 😍
Maybe a less fun fact: all of this week’s posts were taken on a potted birds of paradise plant we moved outside to our patio for the summer. 😎👍
Have a great weekend!



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For shy and reclusive creatures, weevils sure become exhibitionists during mating season. 😳💚😆
Happy friends! As my daughter grows and becomes more interested in my hobby, I’m pretty sure our “birds and bees” conversations will come sooner than I’d like. For now, we’ll call it piggy back rides. 😉

First dragon of the season - a brown setwing. Tough to get close to these beauties during a warm, sunny day when they are most active. Maybe I was the first human it had seen…🤷‍♂️😆
🧬Dythemis sterilis



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Wolf spider selfie? I wouldn’t dare say no. 😅
🧬Rabidosa rabida

So pleased to see more native ladybugs this season like this polished lady beetle. As Asian ladybugs are hearty and their larvae poisonous to most all who attempt to eat them, I figured that’s most of what I’d see from now on.
I’ll keep planting native plants and flowers and hopefully we’ll get more local action around here. 🌸🌻🤞
🧬Cycloneda munda

Speaking of the Asian ladybugs..Did you know that Asian ladybugs have such dynamic immune systems they are being studied to hopefully help create medicine for us humans? 💪🏻🐞

Female Sylvan jumper with crane fly for 💚
This little huntress dropped near the ground with her catch as soon as she saw me coming. I was able to gently turn over the leaf she was hiding under and get a couple shots. Didn’t want her so spooked that she let go of her hard earned meal (which has happened before😬).
🧬Colonus sylvanus
📸 Single frame

Female bronze jumper riding out the rain storm for ☔️
🧬Aris militaris