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5 November 2012
Monday macrobug: Praying mantis
Photographed this one before the leaves changed – a big gravid female. Look at the size of that swollen abdomen – much like my wife was on that same day!
29 October 2012
Monday macrobug: parsleyworm
Look what I found while out weed-whacking in the yard: (gloved fingers for scale) That’s the larva of the black swallowtail butterfly. This good-looking caterpillar is colloquially known as a “parsleyworm.” In these last two shots, check it out without and with the osmeteria (fleshy “horns” behind the head) everted in defense: The osmeteria get to be about 3 times longer than that last shot, but I couldn’t photograph them …
22 October 2012
Monday macrobug: long beetle
This one popped up as I was splitting wood the other day. Here’s a very long beetle on fresh oak: As near I can figure, this fellow might be in the genus Calleida. I couldn’t find a perfect match, though.
8 October 2012
Monday macrobugs: Wasp trio
Last week, we featured an insect that got into the house. This week, three insects that found their way into our screened-in porch. Wasps have an uncanny ability to get in there and get stuck. We inadvertently nab at least one per day that way. Pencil eraser for scale.
1 October 2012
Monday macrobug: Walking stick
Usually the bugs I photograph are outside. But this guy was on the leg of the coffee table in our living room! How he got in, I have no idea. Pencil eraser for scale.
17 September 2012
Monday Macrobug: spotted pine sawyer
That’s an adult Monochamus clamator, the spotted pine sawyer, a kind of longhorned beetle. This one was on my deck this morning. My, what long antennae you have! “Give me a kiss,” the beetle says…
17 August 2012
New macrobugs from the Bentley farm
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a “macrobug” photo. So here’s two for you: a harvestman (“daddy longlegs”), and a pelecinid wasp:
1 August 2012
Cottonwood trees being consumed by caterpillars
In Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, my students and I camped under the shade of cottonwood trees… But some of the cottonwoods’ branches were looking a little thin… Caterpillars were munching on their leaves. And some trees had been completely denuded by the voracious little larvae: All three photos are taken on roughly the same scale (note the Moon as a reference point in each!).
25 July 2012
Dobsonfly
Here’s your macrobug of the week: a male dobsonfly we encountered last weekend, while making houseguests some pizza. What a beast! Envelope for scale: Adding a finger (not too close) for scale: A better perspective on the envelope, with a shirt button thrown in too: Lola looks intimidated as she contemplates this insect through the screen door: Houseguest from Nevada says, “You have some big bugs in Virginia!”
4 June 2012
Weekend critters from Shenandoah National Park
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 …
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.