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A Bug for Dan

Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
I spent an hour or so this morning trying to photograph blue wasps. There were dozens of them flying around a hedge but the damn things never land and are very fast. This was my best effort. I think I will also be on some kind of watch list now, I was getting strange looks from passers by.

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If you could capture one alive and put it in the refrigerator for a little while, that would slow it down without any long term harm to it. It would be more artificial set up, but it would let you get a decent photo without them flitting off.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
I'd offer more detail, but it might be enough to identify me and there is a person on this forum that I don't want to have that sort of information. Maybe I'll PM you about it some time.

I am finding it to be a very useful book. It was great good fortune to find it available. The CSIRO and Australian government produce a lot of useful science publications.

I met Lincoln Brower once about 10 years ago. An interesting fellow. He is probably one of the best authorities on the monarch. Many of the facts they teach about monarchs in elementary and high school here were discovered by him.
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No worries but until that time I'll be thinking Wile E. Coyote and the ACME company.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
Have I been that obvious? I thought I was being super genius about it.
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You're in trouble rodent! :mad: I was walking along a seaweed covered estuary beach this morning and noticed all these bugs moving around in the seaweed. Very hard to photograph because they blended in with the seaweed, I finally found one on the sand and got a photo. Then I went to another spot and on the way saw a Pheasant Coucal fly across the road, I've never photographed one so I stopped and got 1 shot off before it flew away. When the camera didn't do a burst I realised it was still in macro mode from you stupid bug which turned out to be a sand flea which isn't even a bug but a crustacean. :neutral:

Seaweed covered beach.

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Bug that isn't a bug.

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Dud shot of a Pheasant Coucal ruined by @Dan From Smithville

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Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
You're in trouble rodent! :mad: I was walking along a seaweed covered estuary beach this morning and noticed all these bugs moving around in the seaweed. Very hard to photograph because they blended in with the seaweed, I finally found one on the sand and got a photo. Then I went to another spot and on the way saw a Pheasant Coucal fly across the road, I've never photographed one so I stopped and got 1 shot off before it flew away. When the camera didn't do a burst I realised it was still in macro mode from you stupid bug which turned out to be a sand flea which isn't even a bug but a crustacean. :neutral:

Seaweed covered beach.

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Bug that isn't a bug.

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Dud shot of a Pheasant Coucal ruined by @Dan From Smithville

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Sorry man. If it is any consolation, that may be an insect in the picture. I could be wrong, but it might a Collembola.

I will think good thoughts of you getting that awesome photo of Pheasant Coucal.

Look at it from this perspective, I've never even heard of one until now. I have never had the privilege of stepping foot on the mighty continent of Australia to even have a chance of seeing one. If I did get to Australia, it is more likely I would stumble into a king brown snake while being disoriented from a bite from a red-bellied black snake that I stepped on after being bitten by a Sydney funnel-web spider. Then I would be trampled by a gaggle of kangaroos.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
Maybe it is a sand flea. Can you more shots of them?

Beautiful habitat. I wonder what it would be like to black light there.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
Sorry man. If it is any consolation, that may be an insect in the picture. I could be wrong, but it might a Collembola.

I will think good thoughts of you getting that awesome photo of Pheasant Coucal.

Look at it from this perspective, I've never even heard of one until now. I have never had the privilege of stepping foot on the mighty continent of Australia to even have a chance of seeing one. If I did get to Australia, it is more likely I would stumble into a king brown snake while being disoriented from a bite from a red-bellied black snake that I stepped on after being bitten by a Sydney funnel-web spider. Then I would be trampled by a gaggle of kangaroos.
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As long as it's not a blue ringed octopus, if one of those get you you'd be looking for a king brown to take the edge off the pain. Pretty sure it's a sand flea but as always I could be wrong.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
As long as it's not a blue ringed octopus, if one of those get you you'd be looking for a king brown to take the edge off the pain. Pretty sure it's a sand flea but as always I could be wrong.
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I think you are right. I just like Collembola and am always hoping to see exotic species.

Those octopi are very pretty for being so dangerous. But many dangerous things are very pretty.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Found this one while searching through some pics, taken about 5 years ago. Google images says Tectocoris diophthalmus

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ChristineM

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
We get a lot of gendarme bugs (fire bugs) usually they arrive in a wood delivery hibernating in the logs. Bringing wood inside for the fire will warm them enough to wake. The cats are fascinated by red and black things crawling about the rug. I brush them up and take them to a nearby field.

Gendarmes-Pyrrhocoris-apter.jpg
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Giant Spider, maybe some kind of orb weaver. Looks like the victim is a bee so that gives a size comparison. The first photo is a little out of focus but I thought it was interesting that a small bug has settled on it while the spider wraps it up.

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Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
Subduction Zone said:
It looks like a boxelder tree bug on acid. Here are some young ones:

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And here is what they are like when mature:
box-elder-bugs.jpg
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these are pictures of adults of two different species from two different families. You got the bottom one right, but the top are adults of the family Pyrrhocoridae. The wings are brachypterous--truncated, so they sort of look like juveniles. I believe @Christine has the right ID for them. I've never seen live specimens. Just museum specimens. Good pictures.
 
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