First, the beetles:
This yellow and black one may be a bug, on second look? What do you think?
Sorry for scaring the crap out of you, little lady beetle.The Bugs:
The Damsels:I'll give you ten points if you can name any one of these species.
And finally, this gigantic fishing spider. It wasn't eating the slug, but we did watch it eat several smaller spiders that dared to walk near it. Lightning fast, what an amazing creature.
Again, we had a great time yesterday doing a bioblitz for Crawford County along the upper portions of the Sandusky River. This river is a hidden gem of northern central Ohio.
Tom
Is the third damsel a fragile forktail?
ReplyDeleteYou got it. Ten points.
ReplyDeleteTom
Let's see . . . maybe I see a bluet (blue stripes) and a black-winged (brilliant iridescence) among the damselflies. Just a guess. (I was an English major, not a biology student at Michigan.) Yesterday I found a black-winged iridescent damselfly with a bright white dot on the top of each wing. Can you ID it from that description?
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos! Bugs are so beautiful. By the way, what's the difference between a beetle and a bug? Hard shell over the wings?
On my blog yesterday I posted photos of a crab spider grabbing and killing a flying insect. If you would check my blog and ID that insect I'd be most grateful. The closest I could come was Phantom Crane Fly, but its legs seemed too short.
I see huge grey spiders like that scurrying around big boulders that overhang the lake shore. Could they be fishing spiders?
These are such great shots. One of my photo goals is to get a macro of a lady bug. Yours is wonderful even if you did scare it to death :)
ReplyDeleteMy guesses are ...
ReplyDelete#2 - Variable dancer
#4 - Ebony Jewelwing
Nice shots!
Okay, these damsels are making me crazy...
ReplyDeleteTurquoise bluet?
Variable dancer?
Fragile forktail
Ebony jewelwing?
Amazing bug photos. I wish I knew more about them. It would take me another lifetime to find out more about the bugs around here.
ReplyDeleteGreat guesses everyone. Keep working with #1 and #2. I'll reveal what I think they arelater on. These are pretty tricky, being just images of heads and thoraxes.
ReplyDeleteTom
One more try:
ReplyDeleteStream bluet?
Blue-tipped dancer?
We're running out of options here... ;)
Good quiz, Tom - I'll take a crack.
ReplyDelete1. Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela sexguttata
2. Firefly - maybe the genus Pyropyga
3. Four-lined Plant Bug, Poecilocapsus lineatus
4. Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis
5. Stinkbugs, perhaps Spined Soldiers, Podisus maculiventris (can't make out much detail)
6. Stream Bluet, Enallagma exsulans
7. Blue-tipped Dancer, Argia tibialis
8. Fragile Forktail, Ischnura posita
9. Perhaps Rainbow Bluet, Enallagma antennatum? (can't make out much detail)
10. Fishing Spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus
COOL, Tom! I especially like the beetles. I'm sending this on for Eric Streble, ( Matt and Kim's 3 year old son, who absolutely LOVES bugs!
ReplyDeletemom
What a neat bunch of bugs! I'll pass on the damselflies, but the photos are great. Such a variety.
ReplyDeleteWait! My bad. That black beetle with the orange flanges on the thorax is not a lightning bug; it is a soldier beetle in the genus Podabrus! Retract the lightning bug!
ReplyDeleteJim
Tom: I do love your bug photos. I saw that green Tiger Beetle at the Kent Bog.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post - love the photos of the beetles, bugs, and even the spider. Don't know how you manage to find all these creepy crawlies (could that be an identification for one of them??).
ReplyDeleteOk- Let's reveal the Damselflies.
ReplyDeleteThe first is a stream bluet.
The second is a blue tipped dancer
The third is a fragile forktail
And the fourth, which was tricky because it looks the same size as all the others, was actually an ebony jewelwing!
As far as the other bugs go, I really need to do more research, since these were all mostly new to me. Jim and Swampy did a great job, thanks to all for your great comments.
Tom
These are wonderful Tom, I really like the ladybug they make great subjects !!
ReplyDelete