The creepy crawly thread.....

[ontos]

Your right Aaron, it is a fly. I think he is a Bee want to Bee. Mike I had a bunch of bumblebees making a nest in the ground. I snook up on them when it was dark and blasted them with wasp killer. It worked great. Haven't been back since.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Glad the wasp spray worked to.

 

[GrauGeist]

Bees (and Bumblebees, Carpenter Bees, etc) usually don't mind you getting in close when they're busy at work...as long as they don't feel threatened by your presence. (a couple examples posted below)

Butterflies, Jumping Spiders and such are a whole different ball game, though

Great shots, Merv, really nice and sharp!!

 

[Wayne Little]

cool shots!

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots guys!

 

[ontos]

Great shots, I especially like the bumblebee 8)

 

[RabidAlien]

Excellent macros! I've found that the best time to get pics of those critters (and butterflies, jumping spiders, etc) is in the spring, after a couple of warm days thaw all the insects out...wait for a cool morning (upper 60's or so) and head out. Its spring, so their biological clocks are kicking them out of bed, but its colder outside, so they're sluggish (sorta like me first thing in the morning. Er....and up to mid-afternoon, in my case) and a LOT easier to get closer to. They still buzz around, but not at their usual over-caffeinated hyper-velocity.

 

[GrauGeist]

When grabbing insect macros, I've found that it helps to Choose a plant and get set up on a particular flower and wait...they'll come!

 

[RabidAlien]

Yep. Chasing them doesn't do you much good.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Some great shots of the Bumble Bees, not a native of the great land, but have some imports down in Tassie.

Wandered out to the shed and came across this little lady wasp type insect trying to lay eggs in the padlock.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

STUPENDOUS SHOTS VIC!!!!!!!! That last shot is a keeper sir!!!

 

[mikewint]

Really nice pics, I get a lot of mudaubers and paper wasps but they're usually in some out-of-the-way place

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Vic!

Not the best place to lay eggs, might keep people from breaking the lock though...

 

[GrauGeist]

Great shots, Vic....but for God's sake, someone throw a towel over that female...has she no modesty???

 

[RabidAlien]

Okay, well, while not really creepy-crawly, I thought I'd post these here cuz 1) these guys are pests, and b) I felt like this thread needed a bump or two. Lettin the dogs out around 5am this morning, they immediately went into "excited beagle" mode, which never happens that early unless there's someone/something in the yard to play with. I happened to glance over towards the neighbor's yard (his backyard floodlight was on...I assumed it was his dogs, but there's been reports of coyote activity in the area due to lots of construction scaring them up out of the streams and rain-runoffs around here), and noticed this guy scrambling up the ficus tree in the back yard. And...since the kiddo is watching "Kung-Fu Panda", I'll just call him "Po". Little guy hasn't made a nuisance of himself yet, although I hear him and his buddies (offspring?) in the trees at the back of our lot quite often, so for now, he's just a curiosity.

 

[mikewint]

Hey RA been a while. Don't see possums around here much, not even racoons. I do have some armadildos in the back that are digging their subway tunnels. Their headed to valhalla if I can get a clear shot. The tarantulas are starting, had one right over the deck door, and one on the garage door that fell off when I raised the door, of course, no camera.
Good pics

 

[RabidAlien]

If you can catch the tarantulas on a cool morning, they're usually a bit slower IIRC. Makes em easier to photograph! Unfortunately, the only tarantulas we have here in the DFW metroplex are found in either pet stores or the zoo. Cool lookin critters, though!

 

[GrauGeist]

Nice shots on that possum!

We used to have them all over in Orange County when I was a kid...especially the orange groves. Now that Southern California has been paved over, I'm sure they're about as rare as the Horned Toads we used to catch all the time.

We do have them up here in Northen California, I'll see them occasionally cruising up the creekbed at night (along with skunks, 'coons and occasional fox).

 

[Gnomey]

Cool shots RA!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Nice shots RA! The skunks have overrun the possums around here.