Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, insects, long horned cactus beetles mating, nature, photography, wildlife
so, yeah, i like photographing insects. you all know that. but those who know me very well know i like …um….catching them in the act!
and it just turns out that my yard is a hot bed for insect sex.
you can’t turn around without seeing long horned cactus beetles hooking up. they make rabbits look like prudes.
in this photo, the one on the bottom is EATING during copulation! (oh no she dih-unt!? oh yes she did!) aren’t you guys glad i didn’t use a macro lens???? can’t you just HEAR john mayer singing his creepy song “your body is a wonderland?” (ew….i just grossed myself out. creepy guy. creepy song.)
here you have a lonely beetle.
don’t worry little one…stick around long enough, someone is bound to find you.
for more photos i have taken of insects in flagrante, visit here and here.
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature | Tags: animals, insects, nature, palo verde beetle, photography, wildlife
and so goodbear came back from a very exciting movie and was feeling a bit like a femme super hero.
first order of business upon my return? let the dogs out. let the dogs in. glance at wall by door as letting dogs in…and BOOM!
WTF????
look at her! she’s HUGE!
and she’s trying to get into my bedroom window! back off beetle chic!
she’s gone now. i used my crazy super powers and my magical canon flash to intimidate her and make her fly away in an outrage!
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, insects, macro, nature, photography, wildlife
back to the forest this weekend. made it safely home without any rattlesnake encounters. it was actually too cold for them to be out. the mosquitos were horrible.
but the beetle action? the beetle action was sweet!
“help meeeeeee….”
that’s a polyphylla decemlineata. here he is later, chillin’ with one of his buggie friends:
we got there just before dark, set up our area, the guys started grilling while we went and photographed some critters before the light disappeared.
after sunset, r turned the black lights on and soon the moths all came. thousands of critters. we were only interested in one specific moth species.
probably our last blacklighting trip for the year.
Filed under: beetles, insects, life, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, butterflies, fig beetle, friends, gardens, insects, life, nature
and so goodbear and buzzybeegirl found themselves at the botanical gardens one evening…..
they heard a buzzing. more of a hum, or a whirrrrr. hundreds of figeater beetles were visiting the garden that same night.
here they have found the motherload: a juicey fig.
but what’s this?
how sad. scads of dead fig beetles littering the ground be low. as you can see, they are a striking metallic green.
there were other lovely critters, such as this resting fritilary butterfly…
they wandered through the grounds. they chatted. they attended a small chinese music concert. they cursed themselves for leaving their “real” cameras at home.
but they were too hungry to last long at the concert. they left to meet buzzy’s husband at a mexican restaurant and pigged out. goodbear woke up the next morning second guessing her menu selection….
hope you like today’s bug shots!
and hope you have a nice friday!
Filed under: beetles, insects | Tags: animals, beetles, hiking, insects, nature
yes…he really IS called the “pleasing fungus beetle.”
sorry the picture is so crappy. i only had my point and shoot with me yesterday. these guys were all over when we went hiking in the mountains yesterday morning.
Filed under: animals, beetles, dogs, insects, life, nature, pets | Tags: animals, beetles, burying beetles, dogs, environmental, hiking, insects, life, nature
we did a sunday morning hike again, but this time cody brought his friend hannah. here they are after the hike. as you can see, cody bear is happiest when he has spent time in nature.
and i met this cool guy. v. brought her dad along. as soon as cody bear saw him he melted. “that man has to cuddle meeee!” he loved this man. and he was a really nice guy and he volunteers for the center for american burying beetle conservation! in a nutshell, it sounds like loss of habitat and insecticides are playing a big part in the diminishing numbers.
wish i could blog more, but i have so much to do. just wanted to pop on and let you all know that cody had a great morning. going to take him and pickles shopping now!
Filed under: animals, bees, beetles, garlic, insects, nature | Tags: animals, bees, beetles, insects, nature, spring, summer, wildlife
oochy, what a fun lunch i had!
first of all, i felt my first bee of the season when i was stung! a native bee. a sweat bee, in fact. it was exciting because it is the harbinger of many bees to come.
then, while watering the plants i SAW my first native bee of the season. an augochlorini, doing bee type things on my yellow sedum flower.
annnnd….
i found two petrified june beetles!
(d’ja ever see the movie “junebug?” i liked it.)
oh, and hell no, i wouldn’t be holding the beetle if it was alive. i’m not quite there yet people. i leave all the heavy lifting to buzzybeegirl! she leaves the grillin’ to me.
so…there will be many bug lighting excursions this summer. not to mention the garlic harvest in late may. (a very delicious weekend, indeed!) so grab beers and head over!
woah….someone’s getting a little to excited about the spring. please excuse me.
Filed under: beetles, insects, nature, new mexico, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, cacti, gardening, insects, nature, wildlife
strong winds have knocked down one of the 50 year old cacti in my front yard today. it toppled right into the driveway and i almost drove right over it. some of you may remember this large cactus from our long-horned cactus beetles love episode.
how sad…
and right before valentine’s day.
you see, the beetles would hang upside down from the tender leaves of the creosote bush, shaded from the afternoon sun by the cactus. after they had . . . procreated they would go out for a bite to eat. and eat all night long. eat eat eat. you could actually hear them chomping!
it probably weighs around 100 pounds. i’ll have to break it up with a shovel to move it. and since there is no time tonight….let’s all just hope i don’t forget about it and back over that bad boy in the a.m. that would be quite a kick in the pants!
Filed under: beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, bugs, entomology, green, insects, nature, photography, wildlife
so by now you know when i show an insect it is because i want you to see how cool it is. i’m not trying to gross anyone out. buzzybeegirl, r and i find some of the more interesting, lesser known bugs and try to get some good shots.
the truth is, sunday night we saw many beautiful things while buglighting. very few creepy things. mostly pretty.
so, here is the 11 lined beetle. (i have been told that’s what it is but i sometimes suspect the brainiees make stuff up to make me look silly on my blog. JUST KIDDING!)
also, just so you know how i get creeped out by bugs, as well:
if the insect is outside i grab my camera, but if the bug is in my house…..i grab my suitcase and the car keys.
Filed under: beetles, insects, nature, photography | Tags: beatles, beetles, bugs, entomology, gardens, insects, nature, photography, plants
….on my paddle plant!
i don’t have time to find out what kind he is because i want to post a blog about the dogs then have to run out to the wildlife center, but….doesn’t he look like a muppet????
he’s one of the few beetles i’ve found in my yard that doesn’t have cody bear fur stuck to him! instead he has some sort of spider web stuck on his nose. messy guy.
what beatles song goes best with this insect?
update: it’s a weevil! i didn’t know they got that big! so he’s NOT a creature from fraggle rock. bummer.
