Juvenile Widow skimmer dragonfly

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Cricket on mums

iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode, Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

Eastern tiger swallowtail on Vervain

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, 1/250 sec, f/13, ISO 400

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

It’s the bee’s knees!

Bumblebee on Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria) iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode

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Honeybees on white asters

Honeybees on white asters (iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Tryst on Celosia

I believe this is a pair of Margined Leatherwings (a type of soldier beetle) engaged in a tryst on a spire type Celosia. (iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bumblebees on Mexican sunflower

Table for two! Tiny bumblebees feasting on a Blanket flower (Gaillardia)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, f/14

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Iris versicolor

Iris versicolor (Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

iPhoneography: Fly on PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower

iPhone 8Plus, Camera+2 app in macro mode

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iPhoneography: Flower fly on Rudbeckia

Flower fly (also known as Hover fly) on Rudbeckia bloom, against a backdrop of caladium leaves (iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

iPhoneography: Cucumber beetle on Gerbera daisy

iPhone 7Plus, Camera+ app in macro mode, Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Skipper butterfly on chive bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

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Crab spider on Columbine bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/100, f/18, ISO 500

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Crab spider on Columbine bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro, 1/100, f/18, ISO 500

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Honeybee on ‘Sombrero Adobe Orange’ coneflower

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Skipper on ‘Sombrero Adobe Orange’ coneflower

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Skipper on Purple coneflower

Skipper on Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

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Hoverfly on a Shasta daisy

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Hoverfly (also known as a flower fly or syrphid fly) on a Shasta daisy

Here’s a random fact I just came across: there is a flower fly found only in the cloud forests of Costa Rica that is named for Bill Gates (Bill Gates’ flower fly). Another one is named after Gates’ associate Paul Allen (Paul Allen’s flower fly). The flies were named such in recognition of their “great contributions to the science of Dipterology” (From the order Diptera, which includes insects that use just two wings to fly)

So now you know, too. You’re welcome. 😁

But wait! There’s more! Curiosity took me to a site that answered my burning question—how long do hoverflies live? A lot shorter life than I imagined! Here’s the answer:

Their live span is similar to other flies. They can live anywhere between 15 to 30 days and it all depends on the climate and temperature they are in.

Tiger on a tiger: Eastern Tiger swallowtail on Tiger lily

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Buffet line: Skippers on Purple coneflower

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Skipper butterfly

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Skipper butterfly on Verbena bonariensis (also called Vervain)

Eastern Amberwing dragonfly

Going through my dragonfly photo archives and came across this “high key” photo of an Eastern Amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis tenera) perched on a waterlily bud. Amberwings are one of the smaller dragonflies. The depth of field is shallow on its wings, but I like this shot because the body and head is still sharp. The high key/bright sunlight works in this photo, too. Normally I try to shoot on overcast days or use a diffuser—but you can’t really use a diffuser on moving subjects! This was shot at Green Spring Gardens a couple of years ago.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Female Blue Dasher dragonfly

Female Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) on Sacred Lotus leaf

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Blue Dasher dragonfly

Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) on water lily bud

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daring Jumping spider

Daring Jumping spider (Phidippus audax) on an iris (unknown cultivar)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Hoverfly on ‘Sweet Kate’ spiderwort

Flowerfly (hoverfly) on ‘Sweet Kate’ spiderwort (I enlarged the little guy so you can see it closeup)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Cicada on ‘Sweet Kate’ spiderwort

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Cicada on Love-in-a-mist

Ah…finally out and shooting flowers for the first time this season, thanks to the urging of my dear friend Michael Powell on this beautiful Sunday. We went to Green Spring Gardens to shoot and although it was pretty windy for photography, we both still managed to capture some images in between blusters! Here’s a shot I got of a cicada making its way through a cluster of love-in-a-mist blooms.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Common Blue Dasher dragonfly

Many of the dragonflies we saw today had ragged wings (this one had just a little bit of wear and tear). With macro shots, you have to make a decision what you want in focus most of the time, particularly with objects that aren’t relatively flat (for instance, if you shoot overhead on top of a daisy or parallel to a sunflower, you’re going to get a wide range of the image in perfect focus). In the case of this dragonfly, I focused on the body and the head. That meant the wings were going to be less in focus. Photography really is all about decisions like these and sharing your vision of the world.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.