Macro Photography

[Lisbeth]

Amazing, Ex!

There are some rather strange ones and very colourful too. The ants are not at all boring; hairy ants This morning I drowned a couple or three, who were speeding around in my washbasin, tiny ones I try to avoid it, but this morning....

[ExFmem]

Thanks peeps. Anybody ready for a few more creepy crawlies?

All from Florida

A few beetles:

Delta Flower Beetles





???





Palmetto Weevil





Metallic Wood-boring Beetle (with Ambush Bug)





Rainbow Dung Beetle - male

[ExFmem]

Nymph of Wheel Bug (is an Assassin Bug)





Ambush bugs (closely related to Assassin Bugs)











Nighty night - sleep tight

[Mel]

Fascinating!

Can the ambush bug change color like a chameleon?

[Richprins]

Astounding, Ex, always a treat!

I didn't know there were dung beetles in America!

[Lisbeth]

Fascinating!

Can the ambush bug change color like a chameleon?

I was just thinking the same thing (also the "Fascinating"). Or do they only live on yellow flowers

There are some incredible beasts around and we do not watch them enough

Are they all from your garden?

[Michele Nel]

Incredible...beautiful colours although quite scary looking...

[ExFmem]

Mel asked: Can the ambush bug change color like a chameleon?

Here's a little bit of info on that, but it sounds like the question hasn't been definitively answered as of yet.

Ambush Bugs are found on the tops of flowers waiting to attack insect visitors and are efficient insect predators. They can sit still for hours while waiting for a meal to approach. Any insect that gets too close to an Ambush Bug is quickly grabbed with its strong front legs and held. A sharp beak is jabbed into the victim and its insides are sucked out.

The success of an ambush bug in catching prey may depend largely on habitat choice and how much it blends into the flower it is perched on.

They can vary quite a bit within a single species. Most are gold, yellow, leaf-green, tan, brown, or white, often with dark mottled patches or bands. It’s not clear whether individual ambush bugs change color like chameleons (and some crab spiders) to match the plants they’re resting on, or if they simply move to (or survive on) plants whose colors happen to match their bodies. It could be that they change color with
each molt: young individuals, early in the season, being pale green, matching the new foliage of springtime, while older specimens become gold and black in later molts to match the flowers that develop in midsummer. The temperatures during egg stage may also affect the overall darkness of the insects.

https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/fiel ... mbush-bugs
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RP says: I didn't know there were dung beetles in America!

Yes, RP, America, too, is full of, uhm...dung. Especially lately...
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Sis, they are all taken either on our property, a designated Conservation Easement of 10 acres, or within 2 miles where there is a wildlife/hiking preserve.
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Michele, yes, there are some pretty scary looking ones, and the Ambush bug's habit of turning their prey into a sippy-cup is even scarier.

[ExFmem]

Now for a few bees...

[ExFmem]

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Help. please - anybody know what this critter is? I can't even decide if it's a wasp, bee, bug, alien ???