I improvised a new macro photography rig (more on this later) and wanted to test it out. I had about half an hour to spend at Moose Hill Mass Audubon. The macro photography worked great, and there were some insects I found absolutely gorgeous.
This fly was beautiful, from the strange abdomen to the bizarre bulbs to the plume antenna. Best guess: Ceratopoginidae.
This fly had eyes of the purest ruby red. Love it.
What a beetle. This probably is the Net Winged Beetle, family Lycidae. According to this source not too much is known about it. And yes, the bright coloring is aposematism. On the other hand, I’m not certain how to distinguish this from a glowworm, which is also a possibility.
A rather startling dash of color (no editing, by the way):
Again, half an hour to spare at Devil’s Rock while my son had guitar lessons.
Do flies have leks? The four flies on the same plant would seem to be trying to mate. I’d love to know the answer.
Looks to my (amateur) eyes to be a fungus beetle:
This Robber fly is from the genus Laphria, I believe. Pretty much every time I see a Robber fly, it has prey. They have to be really successful hunters. Or maybe I only see them when they land, which is what they do after they capture a meal.
I found a web full of baby spiders, newly hatched. They were too young to have pigmentation, so they had a ghostly apparition, brought out because the flash also gave them a dark background. Not sure what kind, but the eye pattern is visible in this photo. Perhaps Linyphiidae?
a little wild 