Having way too much fun with the macro setting on the point and shoot, I went for a little hike.
Bull ants. Lots of times local kids will call these ‘fire ants’, but they’re not.
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| From Bugs 2013 |
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| From Bugs 2013 |
Evil looking hanging thief. This one gave me trouble in identifying. Typically they are stuck more near the shores of the Great Salt Lake here. One of the advantages of having woods, desert, plain, and marsh habitats all in this ~1.5 mile trail, I guess.
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| From Bugs 2013 |
Back home, Wiggles had molted one last time and become the more active 5th instar.
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| From Bugs 2013 |
All the fun with the little point and shoot had me watching the local classifieds for a new lens for Bertha. Finding one on Friday for a reasonable price, it’s not the best on the market, but good enough for me to see if I want to shell out for that nice one.
Heading to the garden, I stumbled on a big turf war raging.
Bumble bees were swarming, looking for a place to plunk down. This beauty resting on one of the pumpkin blossoms. (the markings weren’t on the predominant utah list of bumblebees for a more specific identification, will trace it down later)
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| From Bugs 2013 |
But, my squash bees were none too happy someone was in their turf.
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| From Bugs 2013 |
Then, Wiggles finally got around to making his cocoon.
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| From Bugs 2013 |
I had tried to get the new time-lapse function to work on the new point and shoot, but the battery ran out while we were gone, so I missed the beginning of the process in the video.