Vanessa atalanta
Vero Beach FL
2/23/06


Long-tailed mealybug
Vero Beach FL
2/24/06


Odontomyia spp. (Stratiomyidae)
Vero Beach FL
2/22/06


Vanessa atalanta
Vero Beach FL
2/24/06

So?

Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae
Finally got some half-decent shots of these.
Vero Beach FL, 2/21/06




Here is another Carmenta texana
Vero Beach FL 2/21/06
So? What can I say? I dunno. Sometimes life in the human world is a disappointing experience, Somtimes a day in the field is a disappointment. Some days are great, though, and you just forget the shit and carry on. Maybe you will see a Black Racer chase an Anole up a tree (I did), sometimes you get a shot at some cool Leps. Sometimes you just want to hide in a cave and pretend that there is no such thing as Homo sapiens. (This is me every day. ) Anyway, hope the 3 people who manage to find this page enjoy the photos. I enjoyed taking them.

Synanthedon sapygaeformis

A beautiful little Sesiid that I found yesterday near FMEL. It was about 12 mm in length. Went looking today, but no sign of it. It is interesting to compare with Carmenta texana:, which I also found in the same area.
2/16/06
Vero Beach FL

2/15/06 Vero Beach FL
Red Banded Hairstreak
Calycopis cecrops


Dolichopodid
Vero Beach FL
2/14/06

Heliconius charitonius
Vero Beach FL
2/14/06

Dolichopodid

Fort Pierce FL
2/12/06
This is the best Dolichopodid shot I have ever taken which isn't saying much, but whatever.
I was just remarking to a fellow on Bugguide that I wish these things were slower...Then I went out into the back of the dorm and found this little beauty immobilized by cold. Great luck, or divine intervention (which was not that good a Slayer album anyhow)?

Some kinda Coccinelid

2/12/06 Ft. Pierce FL
A cold day in Southern Florida, and this dude was hanging out with another ladybug and a small orbwever.

Grab Bag

Xylocopa micans, male.
Check it, yo'.
I had no real idea what it was I was seeing here, just that it was a Xylocopa, and it was pretty. Jeff Hollenbeck sugested it might be a X. micans male, so I looked it up. Sure enough that is what it seems to be. We have only 2 species in this genus in Florida, and this is the only one with a greenish-blue abdomen. I am quite pleased with this picture, and I hope to see some more of these soon.
Anyway, I am wondering what the heck the differrent colours are for. How do they mate? How long lived are the males? Where is my million dollars?
Vero Beach FL 2/11/06


Junonia evarete, The Mangrove Buckeye
Vero Beach FL
2/11/06


Xylocopa micans
Vero Beach FL 2/11/06

Otter in the Mangroves

Lutra canadensis
Vero Beach FL
2/10/06
Saw this guy swimming down a channel. He saw me and stretched up to take a closer look. I can't quite describe the sound he was making, but it was something like "Pfft! Pffft!". I suppose it is strange to have some dude taking your picture while you are swimming around a mangrove swamp.

Zeta argillaceum

Zeta argillaceum
Vero Beach FL
2/10/06

Diaprepes abbreviatus
Vero Beach FL 2/9/06


Megachile spp.
Fort Pierce FL
2/7/06


Trichechus manatus
Fort Pierce FL
2/7/06

Zebra Longwing

Heliconius charitonius
Vero Beach FL
2/9/06
Finally I have got a decent image of this butterfly! There were so many flying around today, but it was a bit cool, and thus they were less wary.

Vanessa atalanta
Vero Beach FL
2/08/06
Here is a Red Admiral. The back wing is a little torn, but this gives it character. Spend your lifetime munching leaves, getting fat, molting occaisionally, then WHAM! you are a flying creature looking for nectar and mates and that is it man. If ou survive a few weeks, you are lucky. If you survive 5 months, you are a Monarch. How dorky is that? Anyway those are my thoughts on Lepidoptera. No message here, and the photo is never gonna win any prizes, but I sure like taking pictures of them.

Flyin' Halictid

Northbound departure
Vero Beach FL
2/1/06
Here is what I would call a failed shot of a halictid bee. But on second thought, it has a distinctive charm of its own. The pollen on the leg hairs has taken on a curious golden appearance, and the metallic colouration of the cuticle remains intact. This is what these guys do most of the time anyhow, so it an accurate representation of behaviour.

Crablike Spiny Orbweaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis
Vero Beach FL
1/27/06
Can you guess what the spines are for? That's right, kids, because Jesus put them there to remind everyone of his spiny crown! (I think I read that one in Nature last week. )

Spring Fishfly

Chauliodes rastricornis
Vero beach FL
1/31/06
You little ripper! This is a Fishfly! These little beauties live in streams and otha fresh bodies of wata! Crikey! This lil bugga is tryin' a boit me!

(That is my best impression of Steve Irwin. Too bad I don't have audio. )
Anyway, isn't this male fishfly quite beautiful? I found him on a wall just above a nimber of antlion burrows, ao at first I thought that is what this was. I have yet to see a live adult antlion, but I have seen an Owlfly. Neuroptera are weird...