a little wild   (a small slice of wildlife)

One of my favorite insects, Ptychopteridae. I love the way they flit and fly.

Hymenoptera

Lots of Polistes cf. fuscatus all about. At this time of the year, I think they were likely to be foundresses waking up from overwintering.

Coleoptera

Gorgeous red beetle, need to identify. Best guess is Microrhopala vittata, Goldenrod leaf miner beetle.

Scarabidae. Looks like Bumble Flower beetle, Euphoria inda.

Eyelashes 🙂

And another:

Rove beetle, Staphylinidae:

Hemiptera

Very cute little bug. Isthmocoris piceus, in Geocoridae.

Diptera

Tons and tons of Bibionids, probably Penthetria, mostly males. Notice the larger eyes.

And here’s a female (note the difference in the eyes):

Sarcophagidae. Note that relatively sharp bend in the “M” vein below, which means Oestroidea, rather than Muscoidea. And the three black stripes on the scutum tend to indicate Sarcophagidae. This is perhaps Sarcophaga sp.

I don’t know what this fly was doing, but it was very engrossed and let me take lots of photos — this is a little unusual. Also Oestroidea?

Trichoptera?

I don’t know what this is, but my best guess is caddisfly. Phryganeidae seems plausible.

Ephemeroptera

Lots of mayflies looking for mates. I don’t think we were that close to water, so a little surprising.

Spider

Salticidae. Probably Eris female, perhaps Eris militaris.

Lots and lots of Lycosids. I think this first one is Schizocosa:

and this one is Pardosa. Note the bulbous posterior lateral eyes (PLE) and large spines on the legs.

Trombidiidae

Gorgeous velvet mite

A firefly larva, Lampiridae:

Hydrachnidia in the swamp:

And finally, the vernal pool (off the Vernal Pool trail).

Some nice choreography, Mother Nature! Well played.

A classic Hollywood horror movie jump scare, while I was poking around in a vernal pool with the Laowa 24mm probe lens.

It gives out a thin beam of light, so you can only see a limited angle. Everything is totally, unnaturally still and quiet. See some movement out of the corner of my eye. Root around in nooks and crannies looking for what was scuttling, and suddenly come face to face with this impressive beast.

Once my heartbeat calmed down again, nothing but respect, well played.

EDIT: “That is the rear end of an aquatic isopod. Most likely family Asellidae. Maybe genus Caecidotea

https://bugguide.net/node/view/1271342″

April 8th, 2024: My second total eclipse — 44 years, 1 month, 3 weeks after my first one.

An absolutely stunning experience. I had forgotten how eerie the sixty seconds before the eclipse are. I brought along a white sheet, and was able to see the shadow bands for the first time, which was a huge thrill.

Photography wasn’t a priority, visual observation was. And honestly, I was lost in the moment and didn’t really even pay attention to details, was just feeling how amazing it was.

All shots were exposed for the corona, rather than the chromosphere. I wish I had at least one shot exposed correctly to bring out the chromosphere.