Experimenting up close with the Digital Camera

A few test shots to determine the digital camera’s ability to resolve detail. A special thanks to Lisa Ford of the By-the-Way Café in Tweed for the loan of her camera, a Canon PowerShot A530.

What looked like a piece of cotton fluff floating in the breeze proved to be a Woolly Aphid. This is the limit of the camera’s resolution, set on auto with the macro enabled.

The focus was adjusted manually to take this photo of a Drone Fly. The wing venation is detailed enough to identify this fly as a Syrphid Fly, the spurious vein between the radius and media and the closed anal cell at the wing margin are clearly visible. In fact the shape of the R5 cell pins down this fly as a member of the genus Eristalis. (Source: Petersons Field Guide to Insects)

Lasius niger, the common black ant found in gardens. The focal distance was set manually to zero. Can’t get any closer than this … I was almost on top of the subject and the nearest and furthest points in the image are out of focus.

A Pine Spittlebug (Aphrophora cribrata), this adult is out of his element. Spittlebugs or froghoppers are normally found in meadows, where the nymphs of this insect produce the spittlelike substance found on plants. The picture was taken in shade from about three inches away.

The Long Jawed Orb Weaver (Tetragnatha sp.) in the following picture was only about an inch long; the photo was taken in the relatively poor light of evening. The focal distance was near zero.

This spider is only an eigth of an inch long. At first I thought it might be a Black and Yellow Argiope spiderling but having done some research on the Internet it looks like this is an adult Mangora gibberosa. The light was good but I’m either getting too close to the subject or the other variables such as film speed were set at a less than optimal value. I had to back off to improve the quality of the image.

To "Bee" or not to "Bee" ...

Actually, none of these pictures are of bees, but rather their cousins, wasps, and the flies which mimic them as protection against predation.

The first five images show a large Bald Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) nectaring on a Hydrangea. I think this plant is the "Grandiflora" variant, at any rate, it produces sprays of scented flowers that attracts insects ... literally hundreds of different species ... like a magnet.

Mason Wasp (Euodynerus sp.)

Grass Carrier Wasp (Isodontia sp.)

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron cementarium)

Don't know for sure what this wasp in the next two photos is ... it's likely a Weevil Wasp (Cerceris sp.). I'll have to keep an eye out and try to observe one with its prey.

Another mystery wasp species ... ???

A Mason Wasp and a Toxomerus Hoverfly on a Hydrangea

Close-up of a Toxomerus Hoverfly on a Bull Thistle

Check out the hind legs on this Syrphid Fly (Tropidia sp.)

A colorful Soldier Fly (Odontomyia sp.)

Another Drone Fly: the coloration on this fly and the two depicted in prior posts is different ... this one looks like Eristalis arbustorum.

Another stroll through the Heritage Center gardens

The wide variety of blossoms attract a plethora of insect species. There's enough subject matter here to keep going forever ...

An iridescent Long-legged Fly (Condylostylus sp.)

A camouflaged Carolina Locust (Dissosteira carolina)

A deceptive Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) mimicking a bee or wasp

Paper Wasp (Polistes sp.)

Yellow Jacket (Vespula sp.)

A Leaf Cutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis) taking a rest with its cargo ...

I think the next two are male Leaf Cutter Bees (Megachile latimanus)

A walk among the gardens of the Tweed Heritage Center and along "the Trail" ...

Most molluscs are found in the water but some species, such as this colorful land snail (Cepaea sp.) and the common garden slug, are terrestrial.

This Pennsylvania Leatherwing (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) has a hitchhiker, a parasitic mite.

Potter Wasp (Eumenes fraternus)

Sand Wasp (genus Bicyrtes, or Bembix ???) ... awesome translucent green eyes on these insects

Honeybee (Apis mellifera)

The insect above is NOT a bee ... many species of of flies, such as this Drone Fly (Eristalis sp.), mimic bees as a defense against predation. Compare the hoverfly's physical attributes to the bees and wasps above, and the common Greenbottle Fly (Lucilia sericata) below. Flies (order Diptera) only have two wings, members of the order Hymenoptera such as ants, bees, wasps have four.

Death lurks among the flowers; Ambush Bugs (Phymata pennsylvanica) await the unwary. These bugs (order Hemiptera ... true bugs) blend in with a wide variety of blossoms.

Flower Spiders (a.k.a. Crab Spider ... Misumena sp.) can change their coloration to match their background. Their venom is specifically potent to bees and flies. These spiders have good vision for movemant and this specimen was clearly aware of my presence.

Like most spiders the Long Jawed Orb Weaver (Tetragnatha sp.) snares its prey with a web.

The Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina) takes a more proactive approach and hunts its dinner. This species of dragonfly is a relatively weak flier.