 A dragonfly on my finger September 11, 2011 - photo by Betsy Seeton  Taken September 11, 2011 - A male, White-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly. HERE'S THE LINK TO MY PHOTOS OF INSECTS: http://www.gettingintouchwithnature.com/insects.html 
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The photos below were taken August 30 & 31, 2011 by Betsy Seeton  What a cool looking spider!       Mud Dauber  Mud Dauber - He turned to look at me when he saw the camera coming close to his face ...       Caught this little fella peeing ....      Photo of a Dragonfly - July 22, 2011  Dragonfly letting me getting very close   Photo of of damselflies mating - July 22, 2011   Photo of dragonflies mating - July 24, 2011  photo of dragonfly close up      A dragonfly landed on my thumb ...  photo of dragonfly on my finger   "Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." ~ Albert Einstein   Look at this spider's little face! He/she is looking straight at me. I threw the flower down to give contrast for the photo because the spider was so camouflaged against the rock.          I've posted over 75 ladybug photos dedicated to their own page. For larger images, click here or on the collage below. These make fabulous framed prints. Email me for special orders.  All photos by Betsy Seeton. Please do not download any image without my permission. My photography is for sale and for educational use with permission.  Taken July 17, 2011 I'm having technical difficulties with this blog today. Am trying to reach my host - Weebly - but can't even get an email to go through to them. Sorry for the site loading strangely. Everything on the right gets wiped out and the left moves way far over. Maybe they'll fix it soon, but last year it took weeks upon weeks to fix ....
Betsy  Yellowjacket    Small bumble bee   Yellowjacket coming out of the flower after sipping on some nectar    I posted this on My Blog yesterday: "It was my incredible good fortune today to find a place where the bumble bees gather. Yesterday I saw a huge one, and today I saw three on one photo shoot, and about four on another outing. I was able to get within inches of them and then I let one crawl on me! What a special treat."  An amazing thing happened when I was photographing one of these beautiful creatures. A wasp, or some strange bee-looking bug, attacked my bumble bee. It was a large bumble bee and the little guy knocked her two feet from the flower she was sipping. The bumble bee was a bit dazed, but didn't get aggressive or try to fight back. And the attacker went after her again! I didn't think twice before defending the bumble bee. I swiped the air with my arm to knock the attacker down. It worked. I cleared the air of the offending bug and the bumble bee went on merrily sipping nectar.  This was my first time ever holding a bumble bee. It was down by my foot and looked a bit disoriented. I picked it up and it crawled on me. I'm not sure she was okay. I've seen my honey bees like this. She tried to fly but could only buzz her wings and not take flight.  I handled a lot of honey bees over the past several months that were dying beneath their hive. Some had a frenzied drunk-like behavior. They couldn't rest. They would crawl, stumble, fall and keep on going. This bee was acting very similar to the honeybees.         I go out nearly every day in search of capturing insects through a camera lens. I commonly find grasshoppers, ladybugs and daddy longleg spiders. I've also become very familiar with damselflies, and of course, my honey bees.  Honeybee I can be found chasing down any flying creature! I go toward bumble bees and wasps, and even spiders.  This yellow bug (above) was so calm and fearless. I love that.  Taken June 25th I see dragonflies every now and then. They are spectacular! I've seen ornate ones, huge ones and colorful ones. Each time I luck upon them, it's magical. I've only gotten distant shots so far. I can't wait to get a good capture! They take my breath away; so do butterflies. I've tried getting photos of various wasps, but they very rarely land on anything, so they're mostly in constant motion.  Blurry photo of damselflies mating Today I saw a pair of damselflies mating. They flew together in unison. I followed them for twenty yards or so, from one weed or blade of grass to the next, but then I got distracted for a nano second and lost sight of them. I got one semi blurry photo. What I love about my new interest in photographing insects, is the interaction with these little creatures. I'm finding ways to communicate with them and that's something I never thought was possible.  I also love watching these creatures explore the world. Look at how this little guy (below) is reaching out to touch the plant. He had been on the green leaf and I introduced him to a flowering plant.  He was moving all over it. Maybe it was a plant he wouldn't have normally been crawling around had I not placed him there.  When I mention to people that I'm enjoying my macro lens and how interesting I find the insect world, I get a lot of blank stares and those nods that people give when they're thinking how weird someone is. Maybe it is weird. But it's an amazing world out there. There's so much life crawling around, flying around, hopping around, digging, hiding, eating, exploring, and capturing a tiny fraction of it through a lens is fascinating.   Damselfly Yesterday I followed a grasshopper around from blade of grass to blade of grass. They'll stay put if they don't fear me, but I have to get so close with my lens that I can see them seeing me and often they'll slide around the blade of grass so I can't see their eyes. They move from side to side like a game of hide and seek. But every once in a while, they get used to me, and realize I'm not going to hurt them. Yesterday that allowed me to pick up the little guy and let him walk around my hand. He stayed for quite sometime. As with all living creatures, I talked to him (or her.)  I've read about grasshoppers spitting a tobacco like substance that other insects don't like. I've never had one do it to me. This little fella seemed quite happy to explore my hand and wasn't in a hurry to hop away.  These little guys are just the cutest! I do the same thing with ladybugs. I pick them up or pick up the leaf they're visiting sometimes. They will also hide from me, but they are less ready to fly off the way the grasshoppers are ever ready to hop away. I've gotten to where I know when a ladybug is going to fly off. I can see her outer shell begin to slowly open. Sometimes I can get the fear to subside and she'll stick around.  Mexican Bean Beetle - see info on this bug at the bottom of this blog. The Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis, is a species of lady beetle which is a notorious agricultural pest. It is one of the few lady beetles that feed on plants rather than other insects.  Grasshopper Anatomy
 Song of the grasshopper .... "That familiar chirping in the fields of the countryside is the result of grasshopper stridulation. A row of evenly spaced, minute pegs on the largest joint of the hindlegs is rubbed over the more prominent veins or ribs of the forewing. Usually, but not always, only the males can sing. Each species has its own song." source:http://www.planet-pets.com   The Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis, is a species of lady beetle which is a notorious agricultural pest. It is one of the few lady beetles that feed on plants rather than other insects.  I loved how calm this daddy longleg spider was. I actually adjusted his legs for a better photo op (below) using a leaf to pull them straight. The spider let me move her legs without getting alarmed or trying to run! I thought that was pretty amazing!  "Grasshoppers only weigh about 2 to 3 grams, but can thrust their legs against the ground at a force of 30 grams with legs half-extended. This works when leg muscles contract. This must all take place quickly, the thrust and contractions, because if the thrust builds up too slowly, the grasshopper will not get a quick take-off and the leap will not be very far. The northern grasshopper can actually leap 20 times the length of its body at full force." source: eHow.com by Emilia Lamberto.  I think this might be some kind of moth (below), but I don't know. The texture looks like suede!   Let me know if you know what kind of bug this is. Thanks!  I think this is a Mexican Bean Beetle. Here's what I learned today:
The Mexican bean beetle, formerly called the bean ladybird, is one of the most destructive insect pests of beans in New York State. The beetle feeds on the leaves of almost all types of beans, including snap, lima, pinto, navy, kidney, and soybeans. With snap beans, bush varieties seem to be attacked more readily than pole varieties. Most of the damage from the Mexican bean beetle occurs during July and August. Both the adult and the larval stages feed on the foliage, chewing out holes in the leaves. They usually feed on the undersides of the leaves, and sometimes will attack young pods and stems. As a result of feeding, only the veins are left, giving the leaves a lacy appearance. Yield may be greatly reduced and the entire planting may be destroyed in severe infestations. source: http://www.entomology.cornell.edu |
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 This is a honey bee I rescued from drowning on May 29, 2011. She was trying to get her bearings in my hand. She wanted to stay on me even after showing her a leaf and flower, so I let her rest on me. Click image to see lots of bee photos  Click for ladybug photos My LADYBUG photo book is now available for sale! This makes a stunning gift book or the perfect coffee table book that adds color and beauty to any setting. Full of inspiring quotes.
  My INSECT JOURNAL CONTINUES ON THIS WEBSITE One square mile of land contains more insects than the total number of human beings on earth!
The Earth has a surface area of 196,939,900 square miles.  It's estimated that there are more than 200 million insects for each human on the planet!
 Transfer of nectar between two honey bees. The nectar goes from the worker bee to the house bee A recent New York Times article claimed that the world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of humans.
 Roly poly all rolled up There are some 900 thousand different kinds of living insects known in the world. The true number of insect species can only be estimated from present and past studies. Anywhere from 1 million to 10 million insects may still be unidentified as yet, according to scientists.
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About insects ...
"These small, six-legged creatures include bees, ants, flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, cockroaches, termites, fleas, and beetles. Although some insects annoy us by spreading disease, damaging crops and household items, and biting people and pets, these represent only about 17% of all the 800,000 species. The rest of the insects serve a very valuable purpose in nature. These serve as food for birds, frogs, fish, and other animals; pollinate crops; destroy other harmful insects; give us honey, bees wax, shellac, and silk; and keep the land clean by feeding on dead animals and plants." Source of the above: http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com |
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