My penchant for macro photographer of small animals continues unabated. Here are some images from Saturday and Sunday along Skyline Drive and the Whiteoak Canyon / Cedar Run loop in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia:

A fly with a hairy back of golden iridescence. Compare it to this one:

Very similar in some regards, but check out the size differences in the eyes, and the abdomen… Perhaps this is a case of convergent evolution, or maybe simply sexual dimorphism.

Next up, check out this interesting larva:

… a beetle of some sort, perhaps?

Here is a very green shot of a true bug (some sort of assassin bug, I think), sipping on a fly:

And last, please enjoy this lovely salamander, like a star-dappled night sky: