Posted in Photography, arizona, tagged grand canyon, landscapes, Nature on May 11, 2008 | No Comments »
The visit of Australian friends a couple weeks ago provided an excuse to go photograph Arizona’s most famous landmark. Appearances aside, the Grand Canyon is not an easy subject. Most shots appear flat in comparison to real-time views, failing to capture the canyon’s immense depths or the enormity of the open space. [...]
Posted in Blogging, Insects, Photography, arizona, tagged entomology, mother's day, Nature on May 11, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Rose Aphids - Macrosiphum rosae
Tucson, Arizona
It’s fair to say that without the encouragement of my mother, who allowed all manner of newts, snakes, caterpillars, tadpoles and ants into the house, I would not have gone on to become a biologist.
Thanks Mom, and happy mother’s day!
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon [...]
Posted in Insects, Photography, beetles, tagged amphizoa, coleoptera, entomology, Nature on May 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Amphizoa insolens - trout stream beetle
California
Amphizoa are among the more enigmatic insects I’ve photographed. These dime-sized beetles are found only in the mountains of China and western North America, a disjunct distribution paralleled by a number of interesting taxa, including the giant redwoods. All six species are predaceous and aquatic, living in debris and [...]
Posted in Insects, Photography, tagged aphids, birth, bugs, entomology, Nature, pests, rose on May 3, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Macrosiphum rosae - Rose aphids
Arizona
Posted in Insects, Photography, arizona, beetles, tagged Nature, phengodidae on May 2, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Distremocephalus - Phengodidae
Arizona
The beetle family Phengodidae is odd any way you look at it. The adult female (not pictured) is larviform, which means she never loses her grub-like appearance as she grows into sexual maturity. She has no wings and no long antennae. But she does bioluminesce, and that gives the family their [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, tagged database, image gallery, insect photography, site design, technology, web 2.0, web design on April 27, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Myrmecos.net is 5 years old. It has grown from a few dozen photographs to about 4,000, and in recent years 1,500 people visit the site every day. In spite of the site’s high profile, myrmecos has not changed in any fundamental way since it first went online in 2003 (archived versions are [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, Science, Taxonomy, tagged entomology, snelling on April 25, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A few of the many species described by Roy Snelling:
Myrmecocystus tenuinodis Snelling 1976
Stenamma dyscheres Snelling 1973
Neivamyrmex wilsoni Snelling & Snelling 2007
Posted in Insects, Photography, beetles, tagged desert, dunes, Nature, sand, tenebrionidae on April 24, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Eusattus dilatatus - dune darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae)
California, USA
Sand dunes are an unusual habitat, and the creatures found on them are equally odd. One of the more charismatic dune endemics is Eusattus dilatatus, a large darkling beetle found in southern California. This scavenging insect has long legs for digging and a waxy cuticle to [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, tagged Nature, proceratium on April 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Proceratium californicum
San Mateo Co., California
From Antweb:
This rarely collected ant is known from valley oak (Quercus lobata) riparian woodland in the Central Valley and from adjacent foothill localities (oak woodland; chaparral; grassland). It is presumed to be a specialist, subterranean predator on spider eggs. Alates have been collected in April and May.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm [...]
Posted in Insects, Photography, Science, tagged Mutillidae, Nature, pain, stinger, wasps on April 20, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Velvet ants- which aren’t really ants at all- are wingless wasps that parasitize ground-nesting bees. They are attractive insects, bearing bright colors and cute frizzy hair. But in case you are ever tempted to pick up one of those cuddly-looking little guys, let the photo above serve as a reminder about what lies [...]
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