Click on the center of the image below to see a short clip
of an "Arkansas Firefly" glowing while flying:
The "Wheel Bug", a type of assassin bug is a true bug (hemipteran) ! It eats other insects like the
Tomato Hornworm caterpillar in the next photo. It can inflict an exceedingly painful bite.
If you encounter true bugs then be careful about contact with them. Don't touch them without wearing leather gloves, unless they land on you -- brush them off gently to avoid being bitten.
"Tomato Hornworm" is a caterpillar the larval stage of the
Sphinx Moth, Hummingbird Moth or Bumble Bee Moth
Order: Lepidoptera
This Giant walking stick (Megaphasma dendricus) has a size reference. It is 8.4 cm or 3.3 inches from flat portion of the metal clamp to the top of the handle. From the posterior end of the abdomen
to the tip of the antennae is also about 8.4 centimeters.
Giant walking sticks (Megaphasma dendricus) so closely resemble the twigs of trees that they are easily missed. Their nearly perfect camouflage protects them against predators. Some members of the family Phasmidae reproduce by
parthenogenesis.
It would appear that these two Giant Walking sticks are mating, and that
there is a sexual dimorphism with the female being about twice the size of the male.
They can be as large as 15 cm.
Order: Phasmitodea, formerly Orthoptera
Argentine Ant ( Iridomyrmex humilis ) peeks off the edge of a Paper Flower (Bougainvillea) petal.
Native to South America this ant is now the most common ant in Los Angeles. It has no sting, but it can bite. It often defends scale insects and aphids against predators in exchange for sweet syrup secretions. This type of relationship or symbiosis is called mutualism.
Order: hymenoptera
(Apis mellifera))">
A Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)) brings pollen to a flowering desert shrub (Dalea bicolor variety, Family Fabaceae). Note the presence of yellow pollen on the bee's posterior leg.
(Apis mellifera))">
A "Ladybug" or more correctly:
Convergent Ladybird Beetle (Hippodamia convergens)
Convergent Ladybird Beetles are used for the biological control of aphids and scale insects.
Blue damselfly of the insect order Odonata it is the same Order as the dragonfly. It folds
its wings backward when it is resting unlike its larger cousin the dragonfly
(Actias luna)">
Luna Moth
The Luna Moth (Actias luna) lives in the Eastern half of the USA and in Southern Canada. Early in the morning when the moths are cold they are not able to fly. I laid this incredibly large moth on a piece of black velvet cloth
stretched out on a table. I used a single small flash unit hand held to light the moth at a low angle to bring out surface details. I had only enough time to make one exposure before the moth warmed up sufficiently to begin to flying.
Vinegar Fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
The Vinegar Fly above was one I captured on some rotting plums in the backyard in California. It has marked wings and I found this bewildering because it was not listed in any of my Field Guides. The discrepancy was resolved by contacting an expert from the local university.
It turns out that some wild Drosophilae sp. have marked or pictured wings. The Vinegar Fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is often called "Fruit Fly" but it is not a member of the true fruit flies: Tephriditae, like the walnut husk fly, oriental fruit fly, and the
Mediterranean fruit fly (med fly).
The red eye color of the wild Vinegar Fly is the characteristic that I find
most easily distinguishes them from the med fly.
