We are down to about five batches of wildlife photos, so please send in your good ones. Thanks!
Today’s batch of lovely insect photos comes from regular Mark Sturtevant, whose captions are indented (he also provided the links). You can click on the photos to enlarge them.
As I have gotten very far behind in post-processing of pictures, this set is hot off the press and scandalously has not been shared anywhere else except for here and on my main Flickr page. All were taken around the house or from area parks in eastern Michigan, where I live.
Beetles dominate this small batch. First up is a Rove Beetle, possibly Platydracus, from a staged focus stacking session on the dining room table. Rove beetles form a large family of very active predatory beetles (Staphylinidae), and they are easily identified by their short wing covers. They can be difficult to photograph since sitting still is not what they do, so I got this one to pause for a moment on a perch.
Next up is a pea-sized Dung Beetle, Canthon sp. There were several of these trundling around little balls of dung in the amazing place I call the Magic Field, where one can find critters that I see nowhere else. I tried hard to get pictures of them rolling their little treasures, but they would immediately stop and bury themselves in the soft soil on approach, refusing to come out and do what Dung Beetles do best. I hope for better luck this season. Dung Beetles are in another large family, the Scarabaeidae. I think most species have nothing to do with dung, but rather feed on roots, leaves, pollen, or fruits.
Here is a small beetle from another large family called the Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae). No matter the species, Leaf Beetles seem to always be bright and shiny, and they sit out in the open on vegetation. I somehow always know that I have a leaf beetle, even if the species is new to me as this one was. This one is the Sumac Flea Beetle, Blepharida rhois. Flea Beetles are Leaf Beetles that can jump.
Next up is an Assassin Bug, Zelus luridus. These common predators in the Hemipteran family Reduviidae can be found openly lurking on leaves along forest trails. Their extremely laconic nature makes me wonder how they ever catch anything.
The caterpillar shown in the next picture is the Bronzed Cutworm, Nephelodes minians. The larvae are generalist feeders on grasses, and are considered a pest on cultivated crops. No doubt I’ve seen many of the brown adult moths at the porch light, but there are so many species of “little brown jobbies” in their family (Noctuidae), that I doubt I would know them on sight. This larva was strangely inactive. Even moribund. It was either about to pupate, or it was terminally parasitized.
Back at the Magic Field, in the very early season one can find nymphs of my favorite grasshopper, the Coral-winged Grasshopper Pardalophora apiculata. These spend the winter as nymphs (in fact I just got back from visiting this field in February during a freakish warm spell, and sure enough the wintering nymphs were revived and hopping everywhere). But come this spring they will quickly grow up to be a robust Band-Winged Grasshopper with pinkish-orange hind wings, as can be seen in the link. They are a delight to watch as they ponderously launch themselves to fly, but they never go far owing to their chonkyness. The Magic Field proudly hosts at least six different species of Band-winged grasshoppers alone. Grasshoppers in this group usually have brightly colored hind wings, which among other things are used as a kind of deception to fool predators into thinking that they are brightly colored, while in fact when at rest they are well camouflaged. Band-wings belong to the short-horned grasshopper family Acrididae.
The shot of the Rove Beetle is magnificent. And got even more so when I enlarged it to see all the detail.
Nice photos and commentary!
Elegant – I love the assassin bug.
Is it me or was that exact dung beetle featured before? I’m not complaining – the opposite, really – I’m just wondering … if I remember that face, kind of thing.
My previous set had a dung beetle but it was a different species.
I like the shot of the assassin bug, too. Such a delicate creature.
What wonderful pictures of tiny creatures, and they were all new to me.
That Sumac Flea Beetle is spectacular! Thanks Mark.
Amazing clarity! Even 45 years after I did my senior college thesis on the compound eyes of trilobites, I still love and am fascinated by the compound eyes of insects and other arthropods. What do those wonderful eyes see?
The images would be a mosaic pattern of dots like an old newspaper print. Only it can include colors that we cannot see.
Not to be disrespectful, but I think it’s more likely that the brains of insects — and possibly the eyes themselves — do a bit of a neural processing to present a more unified picture of their environments.
Human eyes present people with an inverted image due to the optics of lenses. But our brains automatically interpret what we see as being right side up. Our brains also regularly elaborate on details that our physical eyes don’t actually see.
I would expect that the brains of insects do something similar to the mosaic patterns their compound eyes objectively “see.” I’ve long been skeptical about the idea that insects perceive only what we’ve deduced just from the physical structures of their compound eyes. What do you think? Are there any serious studies about this?
Very nice photos, by the way. (As usual.)
Great stuff.
That is a cute grasshopper, and it looks like it’s missing its left rear leg. I’ve always liked grasshoppers and appreciated your commentary and description of band-winged hoppers. The ones around here are usually black with red wings (the coolest) or greyish-yellow with yellow colored wings. I can see how the bright colors and then the disappearing act once landing could fool predators. Even when I see exactly where they land, it can still take a few seconds to see it. I’ve been meaning to do a “spot-the” for years now. Maybe I’ll get around to it this summer. All the other photos were splendid as well- cute little leaf beetle. Thanks.
I’m interested in this “Magic Field.” Would you be so kind as to submit a photo of this field? I’m curious as to the flora (sparse/thick?), are there trees, lots of grasses, yellow or green, long or short etc.?
Thank you – these are wonderful, as always. I look forward to your successful dung-rolling beetle photo in a future post!
All of your insects look they made an appointment beforehand and came suitably presentable and ready to pose. Because as kind as you are to the little critters, word surely gets around. Who wouldn’t want their picture take by a professional?
I love sumac flea beetle larvae because they glue their poop on their backs. (Kids like them too.)