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Archive for the ‘Macro Photography’ Category

Bluet damselfly

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 22, 2012| 4 Comments »

The length and small size of damselflies make then a challenge for me to photograph clearly. Moreover, it is my experience that they rarely choose to land in places where I can isolate them against an uncluttered background. Yesterday I was fortunate when this Bluet damselfly perched near the end of an interesting budded branch overhanging the water and I managed to get a shot that I like.

Bluets are a whole group of damselflies of the genus Enallagma that often are very difficult to identify down to the species level, so I don’t feel back that I can’t decide whether or not this is an Atlantic bluet or an American bluet or some other kind. Apparently the only way to tell them apart is to capture them and examine them with a magnifying glass. In my case, I am not sure a magnifying glass would help.

I am thinking of buying a guide to dragonflies and damselflies that I can study during the winter so that I’ll be better prepared next year to identify more correctly some of the subjects that I shoot (and I love to photograph dragonflies and damselflies, challenges notwithstanding.

Bluet damselfly in mid-September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly in the woods

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 20, 2012| 4 Comments »

My day began with a brightly colored Monarch butterfly in a field of flowers and is ending with the more subdued colors of an Appalachian Brown butterfly (Lethe appalachia) perched on a tree. Together they provide us with some sense of the diversity of the coloration and habitats of butterflies. (I confess that I am not certain of the identification of the brown butterfly, because there are a number of species that are pretty similar.)

Perhaps you like to stand out from the crowd and the gaudy colors of the Monarch are more your style.  Maybe you prefer to blend in a little better like the Appalachian Brown and find its colors and patterns to be more refined and dignified.

Whatever your taste, there is almost certainly a butterfly that fits you and I encourage to join me in chasing the butterflies through the woods, the gardens, and the meadows.

Appalachian Brown butterfly in early September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spider feeding on captured prey

Posted in Bugs, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2012| 5 Comments »

Recently I have become fascinated with spiders, and in particular the Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia). I’ve spent an amazing amount of time observing them and their webs. Already I have posted photos of the spiders themselves, their webs, and several types of prey that they have captured and wrapped in silk.

This past Monday I observed what I think was a spider actually feeding on a victim that I can’t quite identify. For some reason I used to think that spiders ate solid food, but now I understand that they have a mostly liquid diet. According to an article at earthlife.net, the mouth parts of these spiders have a serrated edge to cut into the prey and a filtering edge covered in fine hairs that prevents solid particles from entering the spider’s mouth. This filtering system is so fine that only particles smaller than 1 micron (0.001 of a mm) can pass through. The spider’s venom has enzymes which can help liquify the insides of a victim and the spider may also excrete digestive juices onto the victim. Spiders then have a sucking stomach that helps them ingest the liquids.

Argiope aurantia feeding on captured prey

Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that I rotated the image 90 degrees counterclockwise to make it easier to see what is going on. Note the positions of some of the spider’s legs as she cradles her victim. If you click on the image, you will get a higher-resolution view of the spider. My apologies if I have been too graphic in describing this spider’s digestive process.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portrait of a grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 19, 2012| 4 Comments »

It’s only a grasshopper, not an exotic insect, but I really like the way that his portrait turned out.

The grasshopper’s pose suggests that he is ready for action and his slightly cocked head helps to give him personality. I was able to get sufficient depth of field and sharpness by using an F8 aperture, ISO 200,  and 1/200 sec and by moving in a bit from the far end of my telephoto zoom (I was at 229mm of a 55-250mm lens). Both the foreground and the background are simple and are made up of a minimum of colors, mostly green and brown. The day was mostly cloudy, so the shadows are soft.

All these elements seemed to work in harmony and I was able to produce this nice, open-air portrait of a grasshopper.

Grasshopper portrait (click for a higher-resolution view)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Kleptoparasitic spider

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 10 Comments »

I have repeatedly observed a small spider or two hanging around the periphery of the web of the large Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) that I have been photographing recently. Initially I thought it might be the male of the species, which is considerably smaller than the female, but when I finally took a clear enough photo of one of these small spiders, I realized it was a different species.

My research suggests that this is a kleptoparasitic spider. Let me explain. It may sound like I’m trying to sound like a scientist, but “kleptoparasitism” is a single word that captures the idea that this spider steals or feed on the prey captured by another spider. According to Wikipedia, kleptoparasitic spiders occur in five different families and I am pretty sure the little spider below is of the genus Argyrodes, which are also called dewdrop spiders.

Kleptoparastic spider eyes another spider’s catch

Let me set the scene for you. The much larger Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider caught what looks like a bee and returned to the center of the web, leaving the wrapped bee on the periphery. The little spider moved in and appears to be checking out this potential new food source. Compare the relative size of the spider and the bee—the spider is tiny. That made it tougher to get a clear shot of both the spider and the captured bee. My shot is far from perfect, but it does allow you to see some of the details (and you can get a higher resolution view if you click on the image).

It seems to me that the little spider plays a risky game, living with (and maybe stealing food from) a larger, more dangerous spider. Maybe he’s a thrill-seeker, an adrenaline junkie who enjoys living in a state of constant danger.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A touch of pink for a rainy day

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Music, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 7 Comments »

The weathermen say that is is going to rain almost all day today. That is good news, because we have had a really dry summer. It means, however, that the colors of the day are more likely to be drab and subdued.

This weekend I visited Green Spring Gardens, a county-run, historical park, and was excited to see that new flowers are blooming as we move into fall. It is well-documented that I have trouble identifying my photographic subjects and flowers are no exception. I don’t know the name of this pink flower that I photographed, but I like the way the image turned out. The composition is simple and graphic and the fuzz on the leaves and the blossom cause them to glow a little.

It is my hope that this dash of pink will help to counteract the blues that sometimes creep in on rainy days. The Carpenters were not necessarily correct when they sang, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”

Pink flower

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early dinner with a Monarch

Posted in Bugs, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on September 17, 2012| 4 Comments »

If you ever get invited to dinner by a Monarch caterpillar, you know what will be on the menu—milkweed. Monarch caterpillars consume amazing quantities of milkweed (and nothing else), growing over 2,000 times their original mass during this 14-day phase of their lives, according to Rick Steinau.

Almost everything you read emphasizes that milkweed is toxic to humans (and to animals), but scienceviews.com notes that native peoples all over the United States and southern Canada used milkweed for fiber, food, and medicine. The article warns that milkweed may be toxic “when taken internally without sufficient preparation.” It is especially fascinating to read of the medicinal uses of the plant. It was used to treat backaches and bee stings, to induce postpartum milk flow, and to deal with a variety of stomach problems. The Meskwaki tribe, according to the article cited above, even used milkweed as a contraceptive, that worked by producing temporary sterility.

Milkweed, however, contains cardiac glycosides that are poisonous to humans and livestock, but also may account for its medicinal effect.  Symptoms of poisoning by the cardiac glycosides include dullness, weakness, bloating, inability to stand or walk, high body temperature, rapid and weak pulse, difficulty breathing, dilated pupils, spasms, and coma. (It sounds a lot like being in love!)

I don’t care how well Monarch caterpillars can prepare milkweed, if they invite me over for dinner, I think I’ll probably refrain from eating and just watch them eat (as I did this past weekend). I love Monarch butterflies in all their forms. Nevertheless, I would take my cue from the artist Meat Loaf, who sang, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.”

Monarch caterpillar feeding on milkweed

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More spider art

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 16, 2012| 9 Comments »

I’ve already posted some photos of spider webs from last Friday morning when I visited Huntley Meadows Park. When I looked over the photos again today, however, I realized I have some more pretty good ones. Once again I am struck by the complexity and the diversity of the webs. Some have primarily straight lines and others have mostly curves. Some are large and intricate, others are smaller and simpler.

All of them are breathtakingly beautiful to me.

A view from a jail cell (not really, but it almost looks like that)

An unusually-shaped spider web

An incomplete spider web

Scallop-curved web

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Amazing spider webs

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 15, 2012| 8 Comments »

Yesterday morning I was out early with my camera and managed to capture photos of some amazing spider webs at Huntley Meadows Park. There was moisture in the air, so some of them have beautiful droplets of water. All of them, though, are incredible in their geometric complexity, in the skill of the craftsmanship, and in their individuality.

Spiders webs are incredible.

Circular spider web

Spider web between two railings

Spider web with dew

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Creeping spider

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2012| 8 Comments »

As I was going through some photos this morning I realized that I have a lot of photos of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider (Argiope aurantia). I have posted quite a few photos, but most have shown the spider with a prey. I came across an image of the spider by herself and started playing with it in Photoshop Elements. This first image is the result of my experimentation—it is cropped and rotated and focuses on only part of the subject. I think it is a little more dramatic thank the original image. (You can get a higher resolution view of all of the images if you click on them.)

Creeping spider

You can see below the original image after a minor crop. I remember when I took the shot that I had to twist my body around to get the desired angle of view of the spider in the center of her web, waiting patiently for prey. This morning I initially liked the image a lot and was going to post it, but then decided to rotate it 90 degrees to see what it looked like.

Side view of spider

After the rotation, it looked like the image below. It seems to me that by simply shifting the plane of view, the spider appears like more of a predator, like she is more aggressively stalking her prey rather than waiting for it to arrive. I keep going back and forth in trying to decided if I like this image more than the cropped image that I started with. What do you think? Which of the three images do you like most?

Creeping spider (full body)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spreadwing Damselfly

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2012| 2 Comments »

Why does this damselfly have its wings in an open position? That was the question that popped into my mind when I first spotted this pretty little damselfly. As far as I knew, damselflies folded their wings together when they were at rest. A little research on the internet showed that there is a family of damselflies called Lestidae (more commonly known as Spreadwings) that hold their wings at an angle from their body when they are at rest.

I decided to show the same photo in two different ways. The first image is a cropped close-up and it lets you seem the facial expression and some additional details of the body, including the drops of water on the chest and legs. As you can see, one of the disadvantages of wings that are spread is that depth of field is a problem. The second view is the image more or less as I composed it in the view finder. It shows how really long and skinny the tails are for this type of damselfly. I think that this may be a Southern Spreadwing (Lestes australis), but I am not certain of the identification because there are other varieties that look similar.

Close-up shot of spreadwing damselfly

Full-body shot of spreadwing damselfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow Garden Orbweaver catches a bee

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on September 13, 2012| 7 Comments »

I’m amazed at the size and intricacy of the webs of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) whenever I see them at Huntley Meadows Park here in Alexandria, VA. This past weekend I had a chance to see how effective these webs are when a bee flew into the web of a spider that I was observing.

Previously I posted some photos of these spider with prey (a grasshopper and a cicada) that had been captured earlier and wrapped up in silk, but I didn’t really understand how the spider accomplished this. In this case, as soon as the bee touched the web, the spider moved quickly from the center of the web and in a few seconds had wrapped up its newest victim. I was so fascinated by what was happening in front of my eyes that my reaction time was delayed and I missed photographing those initial actions. However, I stayed and observed (and photographed) the spider’s subsequent actions.

The first photo below shows the spider as she is wrapping up the wrapping up of the bee. It’s a little hard to believe that the long package is just a bee, but I’m pretty sure that’s all that there is inside. (With all three photos, you can click on them and get a somewhat higher resolution view.) After the bee had finished, she left the package at the periphery of the web and returned to the center of the web, where she usually resides, probably hoping for another victim.

After several minutes wait, she returned to the bee and and began to transport it to the center of the web. In the photo below, you can see how she held the wrapped-up bee with some of her legs as she crawled along the strands of the web. The zigzag portion of the web is part of the path that leads to the center.

Once she was back in the center, it looks like she was preparing to eat her newly captured meal. I really like the varied positions of her legs in this photo as she holds on to her prey.

You may have noticed the blurry contours of another, smaller spider in the upper portion of the final photo. There were two small spiders hanging around the web and they seemed to be fighting with one another. I tried to capture that dynamic and will post a photo if I find one that is clear enough. I suspect that one of them may have been the mate of the female spider. Bugguide notes that the male of this species is considerably smaller than the female. Not counting legs, the male is usually 5-6 mm in size and the female is 14-25mm. I am not sure who the “other guy” was. Maybe he’s another male competing for the affections of this “lovely” lady. Any ideas?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Climbing grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , on September 12, 2012| 2 Comments »

I have become hyper-attentive now when I walk through gardens, woods, and marshes. I have started to slow down and am more aware of my surroundings. A few months ago, for example, I would not have noticed this grasshopper climbing up the stalk of a plant. Now I can look with wonder at yet another fascinating creature, and my life is enriched by the experience.

Climbing Grasshopper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tattered wings (and growing old)

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2012| 6 Comments »

I don’t know if this Blue Dasher dragonfly is long in the tooth (do dragonflies have teeth?) or has simply had a tough life. How do you tell the age of a dragonfly? In any case, his wings are tattered and torn to such a degree that it is surprising that he can still fly. Yet I seem to detect a smile on his face, a reflection of contentment. (Yes, I know, I am guilty of anthropomorphism.)

Tattered wings,but still able to fly

I have been thinking about aging ever since Sunday when I read a wonderful column in the Washington Post by John Kelly entitled “You can learn a lot about growing old from a dog.” Kelly describes how the accelerated aging process of his dog has made him more conscious of the fact that he too is growing old. I recommend the article to all, but want to highlight the final paragraph of the column. Kelly concludes:

“Aging is unknown territory for each of us, despite the fact that humans have been doing it forever. I think there are worse ways to spend your final years than napping next to someone you love, dreaming of what was and what still might be.”

I doubt that this dragonfly will end his final days in peace and contentment like Kelly’s dog, but it is my fervent hope that we can accept the infirmities of growing old with grace and patience, and can focus—as this dragonfly appears to be doing—on the things that we are still able to do, on contributions that can make this world a better place.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tiny Monarch caterpillar

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I love examining milkweed plants, because I always find interesting insects there to photograph. Yesterday I spotted a tiny caterpillar on a milkweed leaf that I was pretty sure was a Monarch butterfly-to-be (Danaus plexippus). The colored stripes were very similar to the one whose photo I previously posted, but this one was significantly smaller.

I decided to do some research on the life cycle of the Monarch to try to find out why this caterpillar was so small. The website butterflybushes.com has a wonderful article on the development of the Monarch. I learned that the larva is so small when it hatches that it can barely be seen, but it then consumes its body weight in milkweed leaves daily (Don’t try that at home!). During the 9-14 day larval stage, the caterpillar sheds its skin five times. Obviously this little guy is in a much earlier stage of development than the previous one, who was probably about ready to move to the pupal stage.

Here are a couple of shots of the little Monarch caterpillar that I took with my Canon 100mm macro lens.

Tiny Monarch caterpillar at rest

Tiny Monarch caterpillar eating milkweed

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Interesting insect–now identified

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 10, 2012| 7 Comments »

I was getting ready to wrap up my brief photo shoot at a local garden this afternoon when I happened to spot this interesting looking insect. Fortunately I had my macro lens on my camera and I had my tripod as well. I maneuvered as well as I could to frame the first shot and this is how I composed the image in the camera. I did a few tweaks in Photoshop Elements but did not crop at all. I cropped the second image slightly as I tried to move in a little closer. The eyes are in better focus, but I lost the sharper focus on the body.

I hope to figure out eventually what kind of insect he is, but for the moment I like the way the photos turned out.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jeremy Sell’s identification skills, I am pretty confident this is a Western Leaf-Footed Bug (Leptoglossus clypealis). Check out his blog at thelifeofyourtime.wordpress.com.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly shadow

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

The sunlight was pretty bright late this afternoon, casting dark shadows everywhere, and I was not at all confident that I would get any decent shots. A butterfly flew into view in a partially shaded area, where he perched on a leaf. He was pretty cooperative as he kept his wings open as I made a few adjustments to my camera.

I like the interplay of light and shadows in the image below, even if the colors are somewhat muted and some of the highlights are a little blown out. I probably should admit that I love shadows almost all of the time—me and my shadows.

Butterfly shadow (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sunday Lady

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , on September 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

There is something about a ladybug that makes me smile. I don’t know if ladybugs trigger happy memories of my childhood, or if the bold patterns and bright colors simply appeal to my aesthetic sensibility. All I know is that I am happy when I encounter them and I am thrilled when I manage to capture their beauty in an image.

My photography mentor, Cindy Dyer, used to comment that a photo expedition was not a success for me if it did not include ladybug shots. By that modest standard, my photo shoot on Friday afternoon—just hours after a 8-hour transatlantic flight—was a definite success.

Sunday Lady

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mating grasshoppers

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , on September 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

This morning as I was walking through the marsh area of Huntley Meadows Park, I happened to catch sight of this pair of grasshoppers. With any other kind of vegetation the grasshoppers would have been camouflaged, but that was certainly not the case against the backdrop of a cattail.

I was struck by the differentiation in color between the male and the female—it reminded me of my time in the Army, when there were different camouflage patterns for woodlands and for the desert.

Mating grasshoppers

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More Handsome Meadow Katydids

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on September 8, 2012| 8 Comments »

Early this morning I went out with my camera and I was happy to spot again the very colorful grasshoppers known as Handsome Meadow Katydids (Orchelimum pulchellum). As was the case the first time I spotted these neon-colored insects, I was at Huntley Meadows Parks in Alexandria, VA. I had a little trouble getting clear shots of the entire bodies of the katydids, but I managed to capture some good close-up shots of their faces. I especially like the first shot, taken looking down at him as he was munching on a leaf.

I continue to be amazed at the katydid’s vivid colors and blue eyes. Wow!

Handsome Meadow Katydid Munching on a Leaf

Close-up Shot of Handsome Meadow Katydid

Body Shot of Handsome Meadow Katydid

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Swallowtail defying gravity

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , on September 8, 2012| 1 Comment »

It felt good to have my Canon DSLR back in my hands after a week-long trip with only a point-and-shoot camera. After I arrived home from the airport this afternoon, I grabbed my camera and headed off to Green Spring Gardens, a local garden that is one of my favorite places to shoot.

There were only some diehard flowers blooming, but there were quite a number of Eastern Swallowtail butterflies. I watched (and chased) several of them, but the one you see below was my favorite. He attacked this flower from below repeatedly, seemingly defying gravity. It just was not clear to me how he was able to suspend himself in mid-air like that. He must have been hanging on with his feet, though he seemed to be moving them constantly.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly defying gravity

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch caterpillar (with aphid)

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 8, 2012| 1 Comment »

The day before I left for my recent trip I managed to get some photos of Monarch caterpillars with my macro lens. It was the first time that I had seen them live. Not surprisingly they were on milkweed plants and seemed to be chomping away with great appetite. I noted too that some of the milkweed plants were full of aphids (and some of them had lots of ladybugs too). I checked a number of sources on-line and they all suggest that the aphids are not directly harmful to the Monarch caterpillars during the two-week stage when they are caterpillars. I looked around today to see if I could see any chrysalis, the next stage of development, or more caterpillars, but found neither. I’ll keep looking!

Monarch caterpillar (click to see more details)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Just another bee

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 4, 2012| 4 Comments »

This bee is not as perfectly sharp as some that I have shot, but the softness of the image and the pink flower give this photo more of a romantic mood (if that is at all possible with a bee as the primary subject). I also like the beautiful colors in the bee’s fuzzy hair. Sometimes I feel like I would be content to photograph different kinds of bees every day, focusing at times on their hard work, at other times on their beauty, and at other times on their ferocity. It would take a long time for my fascination with bees to wear off.

Bee on a pink flower

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bees with a point-and-shoot

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

I am out of town at the moment and took along my Canon PowerShot A620, a somewhat glorified point-and-shoot camera. I had used this before for travel photos, but had never tried out the macro features of the camera. The manual claims that in macro mode you can get as close as 1 cm (.4 inches).

I decided to play around with macro on this camera by taking some shots of bees, one of my favorite subjects. The first photo is one of a bee taken straight on and I am surprised that I got the detail that I did. The other shots are pretty good as well. I would note that I had to get really close to the bees to get these shots. I also am feeling a little hamstrung, because I am producing these images on a netbook computer with somewhat limited capabilities and I am using Paint.Net to manipulate the images rather than PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements.

Eye-to-eye with a bee

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fishing spider waiting for prey

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 1, 2012| 3 Comments »

This morning as I was walking along the boardwalk that runs through the marsh in Huntley Meadows Park, I happened to glance down into the muddy water and was surprised to see something that looked like a cross between a starfish and a spider. I always though that spiders lived in trees and on other types of vegetation, but today I learned that there are also spiders that hunt for their prey in the water.

This spider is from the Dolomedes family, probably a six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton). According to the Wikipedia article, they are often seen with their legs sprawled out by the water while they are waiting for prey (which is what this one seems to be doing). They eat other invertebrates, tadpoles and occasionally small fish (and the female may also eat male fishing spiders if she has already mated). According to fcps.edu, these spiders can walk on the surface water and can stay underwater for 30 minutes. Not surprisingly, they don’t make webs.

This has been quite the day for unusual insects, beginning with a neon-colored grasshopper and ending with a fishing spider. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Fishing Spider Waiting for Prey (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Neon-colored grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2012| 33 Comments »

I just got back from shooting and couldn’t wait to post a photo of one of the coolest looking insects that I have ever seen. It appears to be be part of the grasshopper family, but its bright colors and blue eyes really made it stand out as I was walking through the marsh at Huntley Meadows Park this morning. I’m sure I’ll be able to identify him eventually, but want to share him now. Sometimes folks need a little extra pick-me-up on Fridays.

UPDATE: I am pretty sure he is a Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum). I found a photo in BugGuide that looks quite a bit like this one.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow Garden Orbweaver with a Grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on August 29, 2012| 10 Comments »

A few days ago I posted a photo of a Yellow Garden Orbweaver (Argiope aurantia) that I photographed at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, VA. I was strangely attracted to those spiders and returned the next day to see if I could get a few more shots.

Here is one of my favorite shots from that day. The spider looks to be gnawing on the leg of a grasshopper that has been wrapped up and seems to be a little dried out. The grasshopper actually looks like he has been battered and deep-fried, but that seems to be a bit over the top, even for a Southern spider. You can also see a little of the zigzag pattern of the web at the bottom of the photo that is typical of the webs of this kind of orbweaver.

Yellow Garden Orbweaver Spider and Grasshopper (click on the photo to see more details)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ladybug summer love

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on August 29, 2012| 4 Comments »

Last week when I was at a local garden I came across several pairs of ladybugs mating and several things really stood out to me.

First, the male ladybug is a lot smaller than the female. An article at ladybuglady.com (a great name for a website) points out that females are “usually” larger than males, but essentially it’s almost impossible for the average person to tell them apart until they are mating. If you really want to know how to tell male ladybugs from females the referenced article has photos from an electron microscope with detailed explanations.

The other thing that was obvious was the difference in color and spots between the two. The male is a medium orange with a few small light black spots and the female is a deeper shade of red with larger, darker spots. Wikipedia notes that there are more than 5,000 species of ladybugs (which technically are beetles and not bugs), with more than 450 native to North America. According to that article, the number, shape, and size of the spots is dependent on the species of ladybug. Does that mean these two ladybugs are different species?

Bugguide has some interesting factoids about names used elsewhere in the world for the ladybug. For example, “Ladybird” was first used in medieval England, perhaps because these beneficial predators of agricultural pests were believed to be a gift from the Virgin Mary—the “Lady.” Other European names have similar associations, such as the German Marienkäfer, “Marybeetle.” (Thanks to Gary for pointing out the correct spelling in German—I inserted the Umlaut to make it correct.)

So I am left wondering, will the little ladybugs that result from this coupling look more like mom or like dad?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Glowing flower close-up

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on August 28, 2012| 4 Comments »

Usually when I try to photograph this kind of flower I end up focusing on the petals and the stigmata (I think that’s what those five purplish things at the end of the stalk are called) are out of focus. This time I made a concerted effort to have the stigmata in focus and let the rest of the flower—which I am pretty sure is some kind of hibiscus—take care of itself.

It seems to have worked out pretty well and as an added bonus the light caused the inside of the flower to glow a little, giving some depth and texture to the petal.

Glowing hibiscus flower

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eastern Amberwing dragonfly

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on August 28, 2012| 3 Comments »

I took this photo on an Eastern Amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis tenera)) about a week ago when I was shooting at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA with my good friend and photographic mentor, Cindy Dyer.

Cindy is always encouraging me to upgrade my photograph equipment. For comparison purposes, she put the Nikon D300 that she was using into my hands and had me shoot with  it for a few minutes. It was equipped with a Tamron 180mm macro lens that gave it a pretty impressive reach for the dragonflies that we were shooting. It’s interesting that I was able to use my Compact Flash memory card, which was formatted in my Canon, in her Nikon and the Canon photos and the Nikon photos peacefully coexisted in separate folders on the memory card.

I was especially happy that I got a decent shot of the Eastern Amberwing dragonfly. This type of dragonfly is very beautiful, but it’s very small and elusive. BugGuide notes that this dragonfly is normally about 21-24mm long (in case you’ve forgotten, 25.4mm is equal to an inch).

I’m probably going to remain a Canon guy, but I can definitely hear the Siren call of that 180mm macro lens, which comes in a Canon version too.

Eastern Amberwing dragonfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cicada singing (and a fabulist take on the cicada)

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2012| 5 Comments »

This past weekend when I was out taking photos I was startled when I heard the very loud “singing” of a cicada really close to me. I glanced down and could see the cicada right in front of me, clutching a plant and visibly vibrating. I managed to get this shot of the cicada.

Cicada singing

I decided to do a little research on the cicada because I really don’t know much about them, except for the panic we had a few years ago when the 17-year cicadas were here. In the Wikipedia article, I learned about the different types of cicadas and how they produce the noise that is associated with them that can go up to 120 decibels, among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.

One of the most interesting statements for me in the article was that, “The cicada has represented insouciance since classical antiquity” and referred to a fable by Jean de La Fontaine. Why was this interesting to me? I love words and it’s fun to read words like “insouciance,” a word with which many people probably are not familiar. It comes from the French word for “care”or “concern” (souci) and “insouciance” usually refers to a carefree, light-hearted, nonchalant attitude.

Did I mention that I was a French literature major in college more than 35 years ago? In college I really liked the French classical literature of the 17th century and Jean de La Fontaine was a very well-known poet and fabulist of that period. (Now tell me, how often do you get to use the word “fabulist” (someone who writes fables)? “Fabulist”—it sounds like it should be something that you’d find in People magazine to know how a celebrity rates in being fabulous.)

I went looking for de La Fontaine’s fable about the cicada to learn more of its reputation for being insouciant. There are a lot of different translations from French into English of the short fable, but I decided to do my own translation to avoid copyright issues and to exercise my French skills.

Here is my translation of La Fontaine’s fable called the “La Cigale et la Fourmi” (“The Cicada and the Ant”).

“The cicada, having sung the entire summer,
Found herself strongly in need when the north wind blew,
Possessing not a single morsel of fly or worm.
She went to her neighbor, Madame Ant, to tell of her need,
Asking her to lend some grain so she could survive until the new season.
“I will pay you interest and principal before the harvest, animal’s oath,” she said to her.

Madame Ant, however, is not a lender, which is the least of her faults.
“What were you doing during the hot weather?” she asked the borrower.
—Night and day I sang to all those coming by, whether that pleases you or not.
—You were singing? I am so glad.
Well, dance now.”

We could have a fascinating intellectual discussion about the meaning of the fable, but I’ll leave that for another time. While I was doing research about the fable, I came across a really cool video of the fable on YouTube that was produced by Studio YBM. It’s a cartoon and is in French, but if you’ve read the fable it’s easy to follow. I don’t want to spoil the video for you, but I encourage everyone to watch it to see insects in snowsuits and hear the cicada performing as a hip-hop singer.

So, where do you see yourself in the fable? Are you more like the ants or the cicada? Are you insouciant or are you more like Madame Ant?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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