Reader Mark Sturtevant is busy with his experiment, and we get the results:
Here is the second installment of pictures that I have taken of insects in flight. In these pictures, I used my main kit, which is a 50mm lens on extension tubes. The first two are of the Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica).
This last picture is of a Clearwing sphinx moth (Hemaris definis). This moth visited our Butterfly bush over several consecutive days in the mornings.
Reader Roger Atkin sent some unidentified arthropods; perhaps readers could help with the ID:
The first picture could be Argiope jinghongensis as I believe it is native to Thailand whereas I don’t know if versicolor is. Anyway it is a St. Andrew’s cross spider with 4 thickened parts to the web. The butterflies and orchids could be anything as their profusion makes it difficult for an amateur to find them on the web.
Oooo. I love those bees. Supper shots Mark.
Congratulations Mark! Those are really nice, and must have required a heck of a lot of patience.
Thanks! But I can spend a couple hours out there stalking my prey and it goes by like nothing.
I know that feeling of being focused with camera outside. Time does fly.
These bees shots are gorgeous.
I like the circular motion blur of the wings in the second photo.
Me too! Very cool effect!
The butterfly appears to be a Tree nymph, Idea malabarica. I just learnt it is in the same family as Monarch butterflies, and one can see the distant relationship.
All good pics, but I especially love the second bee one where you can see the motion of its right wing. Very cool Mark! 🙂
Really nice photos. If only I had the patience and skill to produce images like that.
I like the St Andrews cross spider, we get them here, though a bit of a different variety.
Beautiful photos! I’ve got plenty of experience with the carpenter bees (or wood bees as we called them) on the farm. They drill holes in barnwood, porches, whatever and there is a little pile of sawdust under their holes! They can do some damage in an old barn or shed, but they have the redeeming quality of being pollinators so I always let them be!
No one’s commented on the sphinx moth yet, so I’d just like to say that is one beautiful lepidopteran!
Roger, very nice argiope and butterfly!
Great photos of the carpenter bee and the sphinx moth.