I’m not the only one who thought spring was right around the corner until this latest winter storm hit…

I was out in the woods today for work and found this little fella still alive, literally “chillin” on a tree, despite the foot of snow that was just dumped on us. Its not really ‘collecting jar season’ yet, but when an entomologist wants a bug bad enough they manage to make anything into a jar. For me, I dumped a whole pack of tic tacs out in the snow so that I could bring home this lacewing for a photo op. I’m a nerd, but I think it was worth it.

Lacewings are comprised of the family Chrysopidae in the order Neuroptera. The larvae are crazy-aggressive and feed on other insects. In fact, they are often reared for the biological control of mites, aphids, and other crop pests. The adults vibrate on the substrate for courtship communication.

…and she has come out of her shy shell.

Josh and I brought home a new baby on Sat. She’s a 2mo. old German Shorthaired Pointer, who we’ve named Little Mayan Fraulein, or Maya for short (after where we went for our honeymoon).

…Ladybird beetle, that is. This particular beetle made a good subject last night for practicing with my new flash

Ladybird beetles are also commonly referred to as Lady Bugs…except that they are not a true bug but a beetle in the Coccinellidae family. They are a good insect to have in your garden because they feed on common pests like aphids and scales (which is another insect).

Just like the blister beetles, ladybird beetles practice reflex bleeding from their joints when trying to defend themselves.

Another interesting tidbit about ladybirds…the female lays infertile eggs with her fertile eggs so that the hatching larvae have something to eat in case there is a scarcity of food.

I think this picture is funny…its a runaway longhorn beetle in my lab.

The photos below are of an American Coot up along lake Ontario. They shouldn’t be up this far north until the spring time…so I think this one is a little confused. Also, they have really long, goofy looking feet…you should google it to check ‘em out.

I discovered the website (Doctor Bugs- Mark W. Moffett) of someone who is quite inspiring…wish I could go on some travels with him, and maybe get some photography tips. If you read through his website he says he learned how to do macro photography of insects by reading a book on how to photograph supermodels…interesting, huh?

These two aren’t the greatest pictures ever taken as far as quality…but to my credit they were taken from a car window in the sort of drive-by photography style. As an added perk, the snow buntings are a new life bird for me. They summer in the far Canadian arctic and winter in barren fields in the northern U.S.