Tag Archive | insects

Weekend Expedition 22: Strathcona Park, Vancouver

This Weekend Expedition was to the wilds of Stratchcona Park (no not that one). This is a large park in East Vancouver that features some huge cottonwoods, playing fields and a big community garden! Also, there is a bald eagle nest in one of the cottonwoods, so it is just the place for an insect/raptorophile such as myself.

These chicks will likely fledge in a week or so. I thought this was a cool shot showing them all stacked up in the morning light.

There are many ways to enjoy the park, like biting your best friend’s head at full gallop!

A Cranberry Girdler (Chrysoteuchia topiaria) rests on a grass stem. The gardens are a good source of pests!

A male Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum: Megachilidae), a European import, waits on Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) for a female.

A female Wool Carder gathers Lamb’s Ear fibers for her nest.

The Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) is a gorgeous flower feeder in the summertime.

Coming in!

Honeybee in a poppy.

A pretty little ichneumonid (Mesostenus thoracicus)grooms.

The under-log fauna. Isopods are actually quite attractive little beasts.

A large stinkbug on a dead daisy.

A Linnaeus’s Spangle-wing (Chrysoclista linneella), sits on a trunk. There were hundreds out today, flying around a grove of European Linden.

This crab spider enjoys the haul of Spangle-wings.

How not to make money off a viral story

Jun12

In September of last year, I was contacted by Ephraim Ragasa, a student at the University of Florida for permission to use a photo I took of Psorophora ciliata, the Gallinipper mosquito. These large mosquitoes are surely one of the largest blood-feeding mosquitoes in North America, and it is quite a shock when they come around looking for blood.

Ephraim wanted to use the photo for a Featured Creatures article, a common assignment for students in the Entomology and Nematology Department at UF. Since that time, for whatever reason, the media has picked up on this and spun it into a story of “Giant Mosquitoes Invading Florida!” or some other such tripe.

The photo has been copied and reproduced at least a hundred times since then, being used by news media, in pest control websites and on blogs. Only Deborah Netburn, a journalist with the L.A. Times has contacted me for permission to use the photo. She turned out a very nice article, with the scientific name spelled correctly and the facts straight. I was happy to help her.

For the others, many did not credit me, I certainly have not seen any payment, and frankly it pisses me off that everyone except me is making money off my image.

It turns out that the copyright notice on the UF website is nebulous and seems to imply free usage rights for “educational purposes”, so I guess it is down to me that the photo does not give me any income, although the pest control companies will be receiving an invoice for their uncredited and illegal commercial usage.

Anyway, all of these issues been covered extensively and in much better detail by Alex Wild, someone who makes his living from photography, but speaking as a student who is having trouble paying tuition, I lift my middle finger at the unethical commercial exploiters of copyrighted work. So there.

Update: The Hastings Park Eagle agrees with me:

Cheapskate Tuesday 19: Speedlight(s) and a bounce card

Jun4

These images show the Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (Desmocerus aureipennis), and the subtle effect of using a bounce card to add fill to a side-lit subject. Of these two, I think the once without the card is nicer.

One of the cheapest lighting modifiers to use is a handheld white surface, often called a bounce card, to direct fill light toward a subject. When the light source is the sun, or a small speedlight, this is said to be effective for filling in unsightly shadows and flattening the exposure somewhat for a more pleasing appearance. It is a fine idea for people, but what about insects? Will bouncing back some of that diffused key light greatly improve the appearance of a photo? I did some experimentation to find out.

In the following series of frames showing a Silphid beetle (Sexton Beetle) of the genus Nicrophorus, the key light is a speedlight diffused with the Cheapskate Diffuser MK II, and the bounce card is placed directly beside the subject to the right.

In the frame on the right, the structure of the thorax is revealed in more detail by the bounced light from the reflector.

On the bare rock, the subject’s shadow is softened by the bounce card.

And here, with a bit of a key light error, the harsh shadow is undone by the bounce card, revealing detail on the head (but not enough to save the frame!).

In these next two frames, the diffused key light is also above and to the left, a second bare speedlight (in the Monster Macro Rig) lights the background, and the bounce is directly below the subject.

In this case, the effect is to flatten the exposure of the foreground, somewhat muting the effect of the angled key light. I prefer the frame on the left, even though the exposure is somewhat off.

OK, so with a bounce card in the bag, what else can we do?

Well, it can make a nice instant white background, changing this:

Into this:

Check out all those mites!

All in all, the effect of the bounce card seems to be rather subtle in most cases, but may be useful for filling harsh shadows in a way that avoids the dreaded double highlights of using fill flash (especially in the eyes of the subject). Because it is cheap and light to carry, I think I will keep it in my photo bag, but will probably be judicious in its use. I think it is probably only suitable for things that don’t fly too readily!

I am sure I am just scratching the surface of using a card to bounce fill onto a subject, but I am itching to show you more of these beautiful beetles.

First Robber Flies of the season!

May23

This morning, on another dog walk at Mt. Tolmie, I came upon my first Robber Fly of the year. It was perched on a closed Camas bloom, which wasn’t very pleasing, so I nudged it onto some other substrates. Because it was a cool and wet day, the robber obliged and did not flee. I do not know what species it is, but it looks to be a small male Laphria, which are known as the “Bee-like Robber Flies”. The Robber Flies )Family Asilidae) are some of my favourites, as they are often showy, have spectacular predation behaviour and can turn their heads to track flying prey!

After shooting the fly on several different backgrounds, I put him on an oak twig, figuring it would be a good place to catch the sun and warm up. To my surprise, a second male robber was perched on the very next twig! Please enjoy the following pictures responsibly, and if you have a fly-gasm, try to muffle yourself if you are in public.

Of course the robbers were not the only flies out there:

relatives of the Asilidae are the Empidae, or Dance Flies.

a wet Calliphorid

A Tipulid in the grass

On the subject of Tipulids, check out this spectacular male Tiger Crane Fly I found yesterday!

Wednesday morning walk in a Garry Oak Meadow

May22

Snakefly

This morning I again took Maggie (the dog) to Mt. Tolmie, a great Garry Oak meadow ecosystem. Of course, I brought along my camera. I was not disappointed with the subjects!

Snakeflies seem to be especially abundant in this park

A Philodromid (Running Crab Spider). Genus Tibellus?

A beautiful Northern Alligator Lizard

Northern Alligator Lizard

another beautiful Selatosomus edwardsi

This is a moth of the genus Adela, but I am unsure what species it is. .

Cheapskate Tuesday 17: Micro Aquaria!

May21

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A couple weeks ago, I explained my desire to shoot some aquatic invertebrates in small aquaria, using a store-bought betta tank. This larger enclosure will serve well for the larger animals I might encounter, but is not ideal for many smaller creatures. Because of this I decided to make a few really small aquaria using microscope slides and cover slips. I am sure I picked this idea up somewhere, but I cannot recall where. The advantage of this design is that it is suitably small to contain the movements of the animals close to the glass, and is of good optical quality, as the slides are designed for microscopy.

Materials needed: standard microscope slides, cover slips, and silicone sealant suitable for aquarium use. This uses glacial acetic acid as a thinner, so it dries non-toxic.

With this design, I have made three sizes, to accommodate a variety of animals. The smallest is great for things like mosquito larvae and pupae, and one day I hope to get a full pupation sequence…Anyway, the structure of these is simple enough to grasp from these photos.

Things to watch out for while using these :

1) Formation of air bubbles on the inside of the glass when full. This can be remedied with gentle teasing with a small paintbrush and cloning out in post.

2) Especially when working in saltwater, any water splashing on the outside of the glass will form an ugly rime that will mar photos. Make sure the front face is clean!

3) in this small volume of water, heat can build up quickly, so be sure to work in a shaded area, or on a cool day to avoid killing your subjects.

4) release subjects where you found them!

For setting these up, Catherine and I placed the aquaria with a folded sheet of cardstock as a backdrop on a park bench. Diffusers to the side softened the light and lit the background. Flashes were fired with YongNuo radio triggers, and I shot with a 100 mm macro lens, in some cases with 33 mm of extension. I kept th lens hood on to minimize flare from the lights. In the future, I will try a black base below the aquarium to eliminate reflections.

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Below is a gallery of shots we took at Cattle Point in Oak Bay yesterday, which also includes some previous mosquito shots from Vancouver. Many of the intertidal shots needed extensive post work to eliminate bubbles, which would have been easier had I remembered my paintbrush!

: A small sculpin. Note strange water artifact from drop on outside…

: Shore Crab

: Anemone

: Hermit crabs are abundant and entertaining subjects.

: Some lowered contrast at the bottom indicates unwelcome reflections…It would be better to have a black base.

: Amphipod

: Other Amphipod!

: The smallest sized aquarium makes a good fit for narrow creatures such as mosquito pupae.

In Victoria!

May17

I am back in my real hometown: Victoria, BC, looking after my mom’s dog Maggie while my mom makes a trip to the Rockies. Because I am getting out twice a day with the dog, and sometimes can be persuaded to go out shooting with my brother, there is a good chance I will get some decent photo opportunities. Here is some of what I got yesterday.

Aedes togoi, an introduced mosquito from Japan, was first discovered in Victoria by my entomology professor Richard Ring. This one was hanging out at Cattle Point adjacent to the rock pools where it breeds.

Selatosomus edwardsi, a very pretty Click Beetle. I have found them previously in Victoria.

A moth peeking out to see if it is safe

Good day for a crow, bad day for a crab

I don’t always find jumping spiders in the high intertidal zone, but when I do, there are barnacles nearby.

Camas, once a staple food of some Salish people, is still abundant around Victoria, and is quite beautiful this time of year.

A male Running Crab Spider, Philodromus dispar.

Out catching snakes with my brother! Photo by Colin McCann.

A very pretty Pterphorid (Plume Moth).

This male Anna’s Hummingbird was defending a territory from a blackberry cane.

He really is lovely! Last year I found a nesting female.

A big mess of earwig nymphs!

Another of the hummingbird! I can’t resist!

A bald eagle launches from Cattle Point.

Weekend Expedition 17: The un-Expedition

May13

stinkbug

This weekend I was busy with science outreach at the Science Rendezvous, where I gave a talk on caracara predation behaviour. I only got the chance for a short outing around the lab, and a quick visit to Hastings Park on Sunday before some heavy rain started. I did manage to return with some modest prizes, including some heron fishing footage.

A Stonefly in the headwaters of Stony Creek behind SFU.

A Mayfly in the headwaters of Stony Creek behind SFU.

This Mayfly lived much less than a day, before the water striders got it.

Julie Wray waits to deliver fresh science at the Science Rendezvous.

Julie Wray of the Elle Lab waits to deliver fresh science at the Science Rendezvous.

feast of the gerrids pink California Poppy

Believe it or not, this is a Neuropteran, family Coniopterygidae. They are often called Dustywings.

Found this under some plywood behind the Insectary Annex at SFU.

Totem Pole covered in algae, Hastings Park.

A Great Blue Heron fishes in Hastings Park

Below is the Heron Fishing video. Watch it in HD if you can, and see this impressive bird on goldfish patrol!

Students do learn!

Apr26

Isn’t it gratifying when the lessons you teach your students stick?

Antonia Musso, who was my entomology student in 2010, correctly identified this as a Stonefly (Order Plecoptera) and that they are best preserved in ethanol. She also remembered the most important lesson…Bring the cool insects to me! Adam Blake was quick on the species ID, determining it to be Pternarcys californica (family Pternarcydae). His photo is here.

Antonia and Adam wrangle the Stonefly

By the way, Antonia also has a cool tattoo!

Weekend Expedition 14: Pacific Spirit Park

Apr22

Millipede

On this Weekend Expedition, Catherine and I found out what just a tiny bit of Pacific Spirit Park has to offer. It is really large, and we did not cover very much ground!

Since this was a joint effort, we decided to concentrate on forest invertebrates, which worked well during our last field season in French Guiana. Catherine is really good at spotting things!

The first of her great finds was this lovely Dance Fly (Empididae). They look a bit like Robberflies, and in fact are somewhat related (both are Orthorrhapha). The Empidids are a really diverse group, so if anyone has ID suggestions, I would love to hear them!

IMG_2259-2

The second major find is what looks like a gravid Wolf Spider. This big girl was sheltering in a rotted log, and impressed us with its lovely large abdomen.

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And check out these Net-winged Beetles (Dictyoptera simplicipes). There were a whole bunch in a seeming mating aggregation on a rotting log in one dark little section of the forest. So colourful!

Those have to be one of the most impressively bright insects of early spring that we have!

The second bright spot in these dark woods was this gorgeous male Amaurobiid, sheltering in a knot hole in a snake fence. You can see his modest hacklemesh web and his dark retreat. These spiders are fascinating and beautiful, and I would like to learn more about them…

A fern frond for colour and contrast in a small patch of sun.

The author in situ. Photo by Catherine!

As we left the park, this Equisetum emerging from the moist soil near Camosun Bog was a beautiful sign of spring.

But wait! There’s more! On our way out to a bus stop, we were immediately impressed by a large gathering of bees in Chaldecott Park. These were Andrenids (update: they may have been Colletes) busy mating, digging nests and provisioning them. There were hundreds if not thousands in this small 20 m sq. patch of grass. I did not get a good chance to shoot them really well, because a big rainstorm was coming, but I think I will head back out there this afternoon with Mike to examine some of the bees for parasites. This patch might also be a good spot to put in a temporary fence to keep folks from damaging the nest site. With all the concern for native pollinators, it seems like a good place to try to protect.

Colours boosted to emphasize bees.

The same as above, with yellow and green pushed to white and desaturated. Look at all those bees!

at the burrow

excavation