Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus Ternarius)

This species is fairly common, but I have not had much opportunity to photograph it until a recent journey into the deserts of Central Washington. They made a characteristic rhythmic buzzing sound as they moved from one lupine bloom to the next. They have a noisy, buzzy flight that I really enjoyed observing.



Tricolored bumble bee (Bombus Ternarius) flying among silky lupine (Lupinus sericeus) flowers





Tricolored bumble bee (Bombus Ternarius) flying among silky lupine (Lupinus sericeus) flowers

Bumble Bee Portrait

Twenty separate exposures were combined in layers (called focus stacking) to create this portrait of a bumble bee.



portrait of a bumble bee (Bombus huntii).

Flying Bumble Bee (Bombus huntii)

arge bumble bee (Bombus huntii) flies toward the camera after collencting nectar from a rhododendron flower

Urban Ant - Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.)

From a friend's yard



harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.)

Green Bottle Fly

You don't want to know about the habits of the green bottle fly, a member of the blow fly family. But I have always admired the green iridescence of its exoskeleton.
The photo below paints something of an idyllic picture. Don't be fooled. Sure, this fly will enjoy an occasional meal of flower nectar - but If you want to know more about how this fly thrives - just go here.



green bottle fly (calliphora sp.) , a member of the blow fly family

Grasshawk Dragonfly (Neurothemis fluctuans)

I love the color palette of this dragonfly. 


grasshawk dragonfly (Neurothemis fluctuans)

Termites In The Air (Reticulitermes flavipes)

Thousands and thousands of termites filled the air on a warm, humid day. This phenomenon, while filling every homeowner with a sense of dread, is something to see. Hoping to get a photo of the colony from which all of the airborne termites were emerging, I took some time to locate the source, but by then, the emergence was mostly finished. This species must have contact with the soil to survive, so they are unlikely to inhabit a wood structure with a good, concrete foundation.


From AnimalsDiversityWeb: R. flavipes reproduce in swarms. Swarming occurs when a colony reaches a certain size and when temperature and moisture levels are favorable. Usually this occurs on warm days after rainfall. Some researchers speculate that swarming occurs after rainfall because the ground is moist, which make it easier to create a new nesting site (Benavides, 1988). Alates, winged swarmers, fly from their native nest until they hit a "fracture point" in the air. This causes their wings to fall off (Benavides, 1998) This flight is not considered a mating flight because R. flavipes are only sexually attracted to their mates after their wings have broken off (Light, 1922). Once they find a mate, which takes a while because the female is choosy, they walk together to find a suitable nesting site. They mate after they've built a "nuptial chamber" in their new nest (Benavides, 1998). At her peak a queen will lay an egg every 3 seconds, or 30,000 a day. She will lay 10's of millions of eggs during her life



subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) workers and winged reproductives



subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) beginning their reproductive and distribution flights.



subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) workers and soldiers in decaying wood

Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

The naturalist, J. B. S. Haldane, was asked by a cleric about what he might infer about the Creator, based on his wide ranging study of life. Haldane supposedly replied that the creator had "an inordinate fondness for beetles" based on the then current count of beetle species at around 400,000.

Beetles are the largest of insect orders, and therefore one of the widest spread and most successful orders of life on Earth. 

They demonstrate tremendous diversity, and come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors...

One of the most colorful beetles I have photographed is the tiger beetle.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

They are aggressive, voracious predators with lightning quick moves.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Never mind that it took me three days to photograph one in flight.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

flying six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Camouflage Moth (Noctuoidea) – Disappearing In Plain View

This moth has evolved the neat trick of looking like a twig by day. Looks pretty effective to me...

camouflaged moth

A Goofy Looking Insect - The White-Headed Fly (Archytas apicifer)

Insects are almost always interesting in one way or another – at least for me. It is not lost on me that many people find the crawling, flying and creeping denizens of the insect world creepy if not completely revolting.


Nonetheless, it is rare that an insect makes me laugh. This little white-headed fly seems to have an abundance of personality simply because it has a face that can be anthropomorphized – an unusual occurrence in the world of diptera (flies)












white-headed fly (Archytas apicifer)

The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)

If you have ever been to the southern part of the United States, you probably learned early on that it is not wise to sit in the grass for a picnic, or any other activity. Thanks to this vicious little insect, the imported red fire ant, many outdoor activities take on a certain edge of risk.


These ants are tiny and hard to spot, and since their accidental introduction to the U.S. in the 1930's, they have become a major pest. With no native predators to keep them in check, their populations have expanded through the southern part of North America.


Their little nest mounds are everywhere, and easy to spot if you know what to look for.



imported red fire ant (solenopsis invicta) nest mound

If you agitate the nest mound at all, they emerge in mass to defend their home.



imported red fire ant (solenopsis invicta) defensive reaction

For such a small ant they pack a powerful sting.



imported red fire ant (solenopsis invicta)


Photographing the portrait below was not easy. I had to use a magnifying loupe to see which end of the ant was the front! 





imported red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)

Red Saddlebags Dragonfly (Tramea onusta)

These dragonflies are deceptive in flight. When I first spied one at the Brackenridge Field Lab, I didn't recognize it as a dragonfly until I got a second look. The curious red markings on the wings make it look like a large fly with red wings until the transparent part of the wings are perceived – then suddenly a dragonfly appears.



This quality is not immediately apparent in this image, but place one against a bright blue Texas sky and your eyes can be fooled. This photo took all day to get.

Unexpected - A Flash Of Virescent Color

For nearly three years I have been on a quest to photograph the virescent green metallic bee. They are not particularly uncommon, but they are small and quick - and despite my unusual attention to the small denizens of the insect world, I have only caught glimpses of them.

I had hoped to catch a photo of the tiny creature with my high-speed camera system - which requires considerable planning and time. Good fortune smiled upon me, however, in the middle of an assignment to photograph honey bees.



So I had all of the complex equipment that I use to take high-speed images set-up and ready to go when I spied the magnificent emerald flash of a green metallic bee among a field of flowers buzzing with insects.



I continue to find it remarkable how life on such a small scale can be so vibrant and intense.



This bee also reminds me of an even smaller insect that I photographed last year - the cuckoo wasp. This little insect has an intensely green exoskeleton that is also extremely thick and tough. It must be durable because part of its life cycle requires it to sneak into the heart of a bee hive and hijack a larval cell for its own use. If it is discovered, it will need a thick hide to survive the attacking bees.