Over on Instagram (@creativequests), I’ve been posting a series of insect portraits, each with a corresponding question. I’m on #40 now, and I thought I’d start showing some of my favorites here.
I found this assassin bug as I find most of the best specimens, by looking at something else. There were a dozen different species of flies, bees and wasps landing on the nearby flowers, and I’m sure this zelus renardii was watching them just as I was, but with lunch in mind. I really like these bugs (yes, you can call them that, scientifically). One landed in my hair a few weeks later and I considered it a good omen.
I feel so lucky to have noticed this tree cricket on a thistle flower. Nature provided a head-snapping color combination that day. When I took the picture, I had no idea what the insect was. And though I’m now sure it is a tree cricket, and male because of the ‘paddle-shaped’ wings, I haven’t pinpointed which one. It looks most like a snowy tree cricket (oecanthus fultoni) but they have much longer, slender antennae and are not as yellow all over. The image I submitted to BugGuide.net remains in the broad “tree cricket” category.
I got several great pictures of this mantis religiosa as it was changing positions, and I want to thank my bee-hunting partner Lori for indulging me as I snapped away for a few minutes. I learned later that, while they don’t spontaneously change colors to match their environment, some mantises from the same egg case may turn out brown and others green, because at each molt they morph a bit to blend in with their surroundings.
The Secret Life of Flies* says 6,000 species of syrphid flies have been described. All syrphids are bee mimics, so there are about 3/8ths as many kinds of mimics as there are species of bee, which seems a bit much. All the same, there must be enough fewer in number that it isn’t worthwhile for birds to take a chance eating them, or the mimicking would be for naught.
*Erica McAlister’s book is my favorite book of the year. Okay it’s from 2017, but I just read it. The stories, pictures and jaw-dropping facts are enough to keep you engaged, but she’s got an easy-to-read style and awesome sense of humor too.
I’ll likely post favorites from each set of 10 Instagram posts over the coming few weeks. Cheers!
Ticklehead 