Post your macro photos here

[aroy]

Egg plant flower

 

[aroy]

Four O'Clock


Normal Lens


Macro at 1:2


Macro at 1:0.88

 

[Bukitimah]

 

[Bukitimah]

 

[paul04]

 

[BobB]

View attachment 177325

Great shot of a very, very bizarre insect. Any idea what kind of bug? That mottled area behind the head looks like undeveloped wings. Maybe it just hatched and is resting on a leaf.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

Not a great capture of an ant.



That is not a dew drop coming out of its butt. This little 1/2mm insect sat directly below the mouth of the ant, there are hundreds upon hundreds of them on the underside of leaves.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

A better ant capture.




More tiny insects, of these there are thousands upon thousands. They bunch themselves at the top of young aspen trees (3 feet tall).

 

[wev]

That is not a dew drop coming out of its butt. This little 1/2mm insect sat directly below the mouth of the ant, there are hundreds upon hundreds of them on the underside of leaves.

View attachment 177391

Aphid-herding ants -- something I'm not thrilled to find around the department. We have a species that herds root crown mealy bugs for the nectar, as well.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

This is (I believe) a red velvet ant or cow killer. It is actually a wingless wasp. Dasymutilla occidentalis


​

 

[wev]

This is (I believe) a red velvet ant or cow killer. It is actually a wingless wasp. Dasymutilla occidentalis
​

A female, the ones without wings and a really nasty sting.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

Have these insects been paralyzed from the ant's secretions? There are dozens of trees with bunches on them.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

These are hanging out on the same plants.

 

[Blacktop]

 

[wev]

Have these insects been paralyzed from the ant's secretions? There are dozens of trees with bunches on them.

View attachment 177399

No the ants protect them and, in return, sup on their excretion, which is high in sugars, hence the name honey dew. If you see the ants caressing them with their antennae, they are stimulating its production. I have watched ants move a colony of aphids to the most succulent parts of large leaves, carefully arranging them in neat rows.

 

[wev]

These are hanging out on the same plants.

View attachment 177400


View attachment 177401

That's a ladybird larva, one of the predators the ants are trying to protect their herd against -- they love munching aphids

 

[Bourbon Neat]

Thanks for today's education @wev. Three stages of life for the ladybird. 1)larva 2)pupa 3)beetle.

 

[Bukitimah]

Great shot of a very, very bizarre insect. Any idea what kind of bug? That mottled area behind the head looks like undeveloped wings. Maybe it just hatched and is resting on a leaf.

Bob, it is a Weebe.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

Thanks for today's education @wev. Three stages of life for the ladybird. 1)larva 2)pupa 3)beetle.

 

[Bourbon Neat]

Aphids are very small subjects










Another not a dew drop