Leaving on a Jet Plane

 Insects, Photography, Travel  2 Responses »
Aug 222012
 

As hard as it is for me to believe, we’ve reached the end of August already. Where the summer has disappeared to I have no idea, but at least BugShot 2012 is finally here!

Bright and early tomorrow morning I’ll be making my way down to Archbold Research Station in central Florida to hang out with a bunch of bug nerds and photography geeks for 72+ hrs of total macrophotography immersion. To say I’m excited would be a bit of an understatement at this point! I can’t wait to meet and learn from not only the dream team of instructors (Alex Wild, Thomas Shahan and John Abbott), but also the other participants who will be bringing a wide array of skills and specialties to the workshop.

As has become somewhat of the norm whenever I travel for work-related stuff, I’m going to try and post a summary of the day’s events each night with highlights, photos and various other musings, while tweeting things as they happen (when WiFi allows).

While I haven’t been able to get out quite as much as I would have liked to in preparation for this workshop, I did manage to find a nice barklouse last weekend while on vacation. This Cerastipsocus venosus (family Psocidae) was hanging out with me on the cottage porch while I BBQ’d dinner and sat still long enough for a few pictures.

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft 3 Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus, photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus, photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

 

Friday Afternoon Flies

 Academia, Busy Busy Busy, Photography  3 Responses »
Aug 032012
 

It’s been the kind of week where stress levels have been on the rise and I’ve asked myself more than once why I’m killing myself over a million and one things instead of drinking beer and relaxing on a patio somewhere.

Finding the energy and drive to keep pushing forward, writing and making progress even when faced with what seem to be insurmountable obstacles is tough, but it helps to stop, take a breath, and look up from the dark pit of deadlines from time to time and just ogle over a fly or two to remind myself why I love what I do.

In case you find yourself in a similar position going into the weekend, here are a couple of shiny flies which I hope will cheer up your day like they did mine.

Shiny Neurigona sp. Long-legged fly Dolichopodidae

Neurigona sp. (Long-legged fly – Dolichopodidae)

Laphria index Robber fly Asilidae

Laphria index (Robber fly – Asilidae)

BugShot 2012 Student Portfolio

 Insects, Photography  13 Responses »
May 312012
 

I’m applying for a student fee waiver for this summer’s BugShot Insect Photography Workshop, and spent today putting together my image portfolio. After some ruthless culling and extra time spent with edits, I’ve arrived at 10 photos which I feel best represent my insect photography. Going through my photo library was an enlightening experience, and I’m quite happy with the progress I’ve made since my first attempts at macrophotography 5 years ago. Of course there’s still plenty of room for improvement (hence my hopeful application to learn from the masters), and there are a number of different techniques and ideas I want to play around with, so I don’t see myself running out of subjects or projects anytime soon!

Click the images to view at a larger size (650px long edge).

Like a Deer Fly in the Headlights

 Biology, Insects, Photography  9 Responses »
May 162012
 

I went down to an inland dune habitat in Southwestern Ontario yesterday with my lab mates to do some collecting. For the most part insects were pretty scarce to come by, except for the biting flies, which were out in abundance.

Chrysops cuclux tasting

Chrysops cuclux making sure I will taste just right

Thankfully this was the only deer fly (family Tabanidae) that I had the misfortune of waiting on. I initially went to brush it off, but when I noticed it was oriented in such a way that I could snag a photo, I bit the bullet and allowed it to continue while I contorted my camera around to document another happy customer.

Chrysops cuclux tasting

It's true; the first cut is the deepest

Unlike mosquitoes, who’s mouthparts act like a hypodermic needle to stealthily imbibe your blood, deer flies cut and slice the skin, causing bloodshed which they then lap up. Much like a skinned knee is usually more painful than the prick of a phlebotomist, a bite from a deer fly will rarely go unnoticed, and in this case, make it all the more difficult to photograph whilst squirming!

 

——————–

If you’re curious, here’s a shot of my arm this morning, about 18 hours after the bite occurred. There was a swollen welt about 1″ in diameter that was quite firm and which occasionally had a strange tingling sensation, yet wasn’t itchy. Things seem to be back to normal 36 hours after the bite, with only a small firm area directly below the bite.

Chrysops cuclux bite after 18hrs

Chrysops cuclux bite after 18hrs, with black fly bites for comparison

——————–

If you’ve had a run in with a deer fly before and are curious what species it might have been, check out CJAI #8 (The Chrysopinae of Canada East of the Rocky Mountains) or Tesky’s hand book to the Tabanidae of Canada.

They’re Alive!!!

 Biology, Entomology, Photography  No Responses »
Apr 192012
 

After overwintering in a Ziploc bag stored in my barbecue, I was excited to see the first of my Eurosta solidaginis fruit flies (Tephritidae) had emerged from its puparium this morning! This was my first attempt at rearing Goldenrod Gall Flies, so I wasn’t sure what sort of success I was going to have, but so far, so good. Now to wait and see if I get any surprises!

Triumphant Eurosta solidaginis Tephritidae Goldenrod Gall Fly

Eurosta solidaginis (Tephritidae), the Goldenrod Gall Fly

Spring Peepers: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

 Biology, Natural History, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized  11 Responses »
Mar 252012
 

This past week saw some unseasonably AWESOME weather around Southern Ontario, allowing me to break out the shorts and sandals nice and early. Better yet, our local fauna has started to emerge from their winter hiding places, with flies buzzing, ants battling, and frogs calling!

Thursday evening I went out to a local conservation area with a few of my labmates in search of the early indicators of vernal vertebrate life: spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). It wasn’t long until we heard the high pitched squeaks of males calling throughout a small pond, so we donned waders and headed in to the water! Of course, just because you can hear the males doesn’t mean their easy to find, especially in a mucky-bottomed pond hiding logs just waiting to drag you (and your photo gear) into the depths, and among clumps of reeds forming perfect hiding places & bandshells for their performances. Add to that dozens, if not hundreds, of calling frogs, and you have an ear-splitting distraction which makes it difficult to hone in on a single individual!

Eventually I did find a male who was out in the open and doing his best to seduce any potential mates in the area. While being in the open made it easy for me to see and photograph him, it also made it easy for him to see me coming, causing him to stop calling as soon as I crawled in close for a photo. With some patience, a better angle, and some interesting body contortions, I finally got a few photos I was happy with.

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)? More like Spring Peeker

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)? More like Spring Peeker...

 

Why you no call for me Spring Peeper?

Why you no call for me Spring Peeper?

 

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) in mid call

Success! Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) in mid call

Presumably this male will eventually find himself a mate, hold on tight and contribute his spawn to the pond ecosystem. Perhaps one day his progeny will emerge as tiny froglets, like this young’un I found in Maryland a few summers back.

Spring Peeper froglet dealing with the jungle of a lawn!

Spring Peeper froglet dealing with the jungle of a lawn!

Funny story to finish off; when I got home Thursday evening I posted to Twitter:

 

It was a good lesson in word choice, as I had several followers asking why I wanted to hurt these innocent little frogs or what caliber firearm I was using… Oops! Rest assured that no spring peepers were harmed in the production of this blog post!

Mushroom Monday

 Busy Busy Busy, Nature, Photography  7 Responses »
Jan 302012
 

Just a quick post to let you know I’m still alive. It’s been a busy few weeks, and writing new blog posts has had to take a backseat lately. Sorry about that. I hope to get a few posts up in the next few weeks as I get a handle on some of the projects, but until then, enjoy this photo of autumnal mushrooms!

I used this photo in one of my lectures last week (more on that soon, I promise) and figured I’d share it with all of you as well. My fungal identification skills are less than zero, so if you have an inkling as to what it may be, let me know!

 

Fall Mushrooms from Bancroft Ontario Canada

 

More to come soon!

Waiting on Space Dust

 Astrophotography, Nature, Photography  1 Response »
Aug 172011
 

This past weekend saw the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower for 2011, so the wife and I headed out to a local high point to see what we could see.

People star gazing looking for meteors Perseids

What’s with the funky sky and shadows at 1am? That’s thanks to the full moon high in the sky and urban light pollution, which significantly decreased our ability to see stars, nevermind smaller pieces of comet dust burning up in the atmosphere! Of course, it did create some interesting effects…

Telephone pole highlighted by full moon and urban light pollution

So did we see any meteors despite the lighting? We were lucky enough to observe 7 by my count, including a super bright, green fireball which left a green residue hanging in the night air for several seconds. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen. But the more important question; did I capture any on camera? Sort of…

Perseids Meteor Shower 2011

Can you see the meteor trail? No? Can’t blame you really, how about I blow up the left hand side a tad:

Meteor trail from Perseid Meteor Shower 2011

Yep, that’s my first successful meteor capture! Nothing special, but it’s something at least. I’ll keep working on it, hopefully during a couple of different meteor showers this fall/winter before next summer’s big show!

I think I need to find a way onto the International Space Station for next years Perseids though…

Making Lemonade

 Art, Photography, Tips  7 Responses »
Jun 152011
 

Sometimes equipment, technique and the weather don’t always come together when I’m out photographing insects. Take for example, my recent efforts photographing a halictid bee on a flower. Trying out a new feature on my camera, in the wind and with the winter’s rust still hanging on, I came away with this picture, straight out of the camera:

Halictidae Bee overexposed

Ugh, what now?

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