Post your Insect shots
- Thread starter jdeg
- Start date
Immature yellow banded pennant dragonfly
Hornet or cicada killer? 
Not quite white stripes but not yellow either. More like cream or ivory. Definitely not a great image but literally was the only one that captured some detail. Obviously the 1.7x TC slows down the AF a lot and is part of the reason why I've been having trouble with focusing when coupled to my 300mm f/4 PF.
There was a swarm of these flying around. Unfortunately none of them would settle down. No sooner would I achieve focus when they'd suddenly dart away really fast. I even upped my shutter to 1/4000" but still couldn't capture any in reasonable focus. Had to do some post processing sharpening with this as it was.
Not quite white stripes but not yellow either. More like cream or ivory. Definitely not a great image but literally was the only one that captured some detail. Obviously the 1.7x TC slows down the AF a lot and is part of the reason why I've been having trouble with focusing when coupled to my 300mm f/4 PF.There was a swarm of these flying around. Unfortunately none of them would settle down. No sooner would I achieve focus when they'd suddenly dart away really fast. I even upped my shutter to 1/4000" but still couldn't capture any in reasonable focus. Had to do some post processing sharpening with this as it was.
Hornet or cicada killer?
There was a swarm of these flying around. Unfortunately none of them would settle down. No sooner would I achieve focus when they'd suddenly dart away really fast. I even upped my shutter to 1/4000" but still couldn't capture any in reasonable focus. Had to do some post processing sharpening with this as it was.
View attachment 361292
I also asked in a local Facebook group, and absolutely everyone who responded said these are cicada killers. In fact, many people are having issues with large groups swarming in their yards. When I mowed yesterday afternoon, there was one hovering by a holly bush. After making many attempts to get close to the bush, the cicada killer wasn't going to budge. So I finished mowing the rest of the yard before making one last attempt to cut the grass next to the bush. But NOPE. The darned thing was still hovering in the same place.
One of the Facebook comments mentioned we haven't had many cicadas this year so these cicada killers are searching for other types of food before they lay their eggs. Another comment said they will only be around for about a month before they die. Many people said they won't sting people unless you step on the ground hole where they are burrowed.
For those of you who usually get cicadas, have you had many this year? I haven't heard them in the yard like I usually do.
