bugs

Dragonfly liftoff captured at 5000 frames per second.

Video credit: Joris Schaap / CC BY 3.0
@bugs #photography #nature

It re-swallowed the water after this photo. Would anyone happen to know why it would have done that?

I appreciated the fact that he let me get this close to him while eating.

Small white spherical eggs, with small orange/brown dots, are laid in straight lines on a cactus spine

What kind of spider is this?

A big ol T. aspersa that snuck up on me in the garden. Didn't see her little friend until later

I found a few finishing off the last of the parsley for me. I didn't want to burn an ultraball on them, so they're still out there in the tall grass

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zwd2248hi4dk79zb7xqwy/20230909_080115599.jpg?rlkey=n57wle4fcosmryw2b984elx87&dl=0

Found in rural NC, Piedmont area.

Found it on my tomato plant. I'd seen them before in sizes up to 4-5 cm. They eat the tomato leaves like crazy. And (naturally) poo a lot. Some black granade like aggregates. Once grown they molt into a moth that I saw a few days ago. And now my tomato plants are again riddled with these buggers.

This photo was done with the help of a stereoscope. The grid squares are 4mm inside, and 5mm outside the lines. So this juvenile has about 1cm.

I'd love to ID them. Any advise on how to control them without pesticides is also welcome.

I think it's a root borer beetle

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1976428

(OC) Cross post from c/pics

They love milkweed. You can attract them to your yard if you plant some. I've personally raised large colonies of these for research, they're truly remarkable insects for a number of reasons, beauty of both the larvae and adults being chief among them.

One of the more common issues that plague the Monarch is Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, a parasite that can be identified by examining a body-dust sample through a microscope. OE is passed on via spores that are consumed, and if an animal is affected by OE and undergoes metamorphosis, it will emerge with a number of defects that often lead to reduced lifespan or imminent death.

Sadly, in research environments, the only way to deal with OE outbreaks (a sign of poor control) is to euthanize the animals to contain the spread of spores. This is typically done using a freezer, which ostensibly allows the animal a peaceful death by slowing down its metabolism and numbing its senses.

Tiger beetles are notable for one thing: their speed. They can move up to 9km per hour, which given their size, is spectacular (a 1:125 body length per second ratio).

Because they run so fast, they can be observed pausing after short bursts. Scientists suspect this brief respite is a way for the insect to get its bearings. But, like a lot of entomology, there are other ideas...