A flashback to last year’s buggiest Super Bowl commercial: I can’t be bothered to choose between the Patriots or the Giants this year, so I’m just going to enjoy my beer and hope for more insects in the advertising.
Posts under ‘beetles’
Insects, large & small
And now, a parable from my recent Australia trip. One morning, in the forests of Cape Tribulation, I happened across a lovely stag beetle. I took it back to the cabin where I’d set up an insect mini-studio. My photography session did not go smoothly, however. The set was persistently interrupted by pesky Tapinoma melanocephalum [...]
Australia buried under a plague of soldier beetles?
The insect news is carrying stories of soldier beetle swarms overrunning Australia: A local Bondi resident, Sandra Bianchi, said she and her husband first noticed the beetles on Tuesday afternoon. ”We were looking out onto the balcony and then all of a sudden there was a swarm,” Mrs Bianchi said. ”There were millions of them. When [...]
Friday Beetle Blogging: Omoglymmius wrinkled bark beetle
From the steaming jungles of north Queensland, a beetle looking as if cast from plastic: This odd creature, a wrinkled bark beetle, is a specialized predator of slime moulds. Although at first glance they don’t appear related, wrinkled bark beetles are actually highly modified ground beetles. ***update: Since a number of you have asked, here [...]
And now, a cactus longhorn beetle
Note the soothing green backdrop. Take a deep breath. Relax. Ahhhhhhhh……. photo details Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro on a Canon EOS 20D ISO400, f/20, 0.5sec, camera mounted on a tripod ambient light
Answer to the Monday Mystery
The MNM took an entire month off, but you guys are still sharp as a fossorial foreleg. What was that strange entomological extravagance? All ten points go to Kojun, who took less than 20 minutes to converge on the correct answer: the image showed the antenna of an ant-nest beetle in the ground beetle subfamily [...]
And now, some beetles
This blog has gotten heavy of late. I think it is time for pretty beetles: photo details: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, f/9, 1/200 sec indirect strobe in a white box
Answer to the Monday Night Mystery: Corn Rootworm
What was the mystery behind the mottled elytra? Only the most serious corn pest in North America. Diabrotica virgifera is not only tremendously damaging to crop yields, it is also rather clever. Farmers have traditionally fought this insect by rotating corn out with soybeans every year. The insect lays its eggs in the soil, and in [...]
Soldier beetle in the sun
The late afternoon sun was hitting the goldenrod just right, so I snapped a few shots of a beetle enjoying the last nectar of the season. This species- the goldenrod soldier beetle- is common across eastern and central North America in late summer. photo details: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS [...]
A Prairie Sunset
One of my favorite insect artists is Rick Lieder, whose skill at composition with natural light is unparalleled. Yesterday afternoon I visited Meadowbrook park at sunset to have a go at practicing my own natural light photography. I’ve got a long way to go to match Rick’s talent with the medium, but I was pleased [...]
A personal weblog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
