Ambush Bug Revisited

On July 6 I had a photo of the Ambush Bug. Here is a newer photo of the bug taken inside the house on my desk where it was easier to get a better close up.



The entire bug is interesting in shape and colour but the body part that makes it unique is the front leg. Notice how it makes a bit of a pincher to hang onto its prey.



I thought the bug looked quite familiar when I first saw it earlier in the month. After some reflection, I remembered that I did a watercolour sketch of the bug 5 years ago and then did a limited edition from an etching later. Here is a photo of my original watercolour.

Wet Baby

I'm not sure how this baby got so wet as my rain gauge hardly showed any amount of rainfall.



He, or she, did not want anything to do with me!



Mom was hard to photograph as she looked from above while scolding.



Dad, while also hard to photograph, gave the species away. Baby was a wet, unhappy, fledgling Red-winged Blackbird. I wanted better photos but decided that I had already created more than enough stress for the evening.

Unknown Beetle

This beetle was in our library room crawling across the floor. It's not ones first choice for sight when looking up from a book.



I've spent a few minutes looking for a species name but have not been sucessful yet. Any ideas?

Web Sites and Spiders

It's Tuesdays and my web site is updated with the names of last weeks 152 species of wild flowers found in the Hamilton, Ontario area. There are also 5 new wild flower photos to look at and a few others on the Past Photos sections if you missed them or want to look again.

Meanwhile, Fleur-Ange and I are finding spiders in the meadows around our house.



This one, we think, is a Flower Crab Spider. If so, it can actually change colours to help match the flower it is on in a matter of a day or two according to what we read. (Of course I can't remember where I read it now. It was yesterday. Sigh!) Fleur-Ange found the spider on a Motherwort plant.



This second spider, I found in a Red Pine tree. It was fairly small.



OK, it was really small. I just accidently found it while looking for new pine cones. Here is a magnified look:



It appears to be in the "Sheet-web Weaver" family of spiders with about 2 200 other species in its family. If any one knows the species name of either spider, please pass it on. I've looked in various places, books and web sites, and have not had the time or patience to sort them out. (Oh the joys of dial up connections....)

Syrphid Fly

We looked through several books before deciding that this insect was a Syrphid Fly. It was spending time on Mullein flowers. These are three of the best shots that Fleur-Ange managed to capture. I just did some creative cropping of the photos.



Yes, Syrphid Flies look a bit like bees.



These photos make the fly look large, but they are about 1 cm, or less, from wing tip to wing tip (may 1/3 inch?).