For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Vacation Time - Day 4 Part 4

Ever felt that all eyes are one you or you are being watched? :)
The bees were buzzing around but to get a picture of them in flight is almost impossible as you can see. :) Well it is an ALMOST good one. :)
The Antlion larvae is only about 5mm in length. As everyone knows, they make cone-shaped holes in the sand and lay in wait for ants to fall in.
Because of the gradient, there is no way the ant can get out and faster than lightening, the antlion grabs it with its pincers and drags it under. Dinner is served!!
The males of the Western Julia Skimmer have a pale blue abdomen.
They bask on rocks and twigs from which they make short flights using their bristly legs that act as a basket to capture prey in flight.
In contrast to other four-winged insects, the fore- and hindwings of dragonflies are not coupled; they function independently. Thanks to this double flight-power system, large dragonflies Anisoptera) are capable of carrying out Incredible flight maneuvers. Even gliding flight, which is seldom found in Pterygota, is part of their repertoire. This energetically and thermoregulatory important flight behavior enables one to treat the wings of these animals as aerofoils.
Braconid wasp (Bathyaulax) are medium size and have very long antennae.
The female has a long ovipositor which they use to drill into plant species to reach the host.

24 comments:

MadSnapper said...

no thanks to being watched by that first photo. scary. the rest are really interesting. i love all these close up views of your insects, it enables me to really SEE them and their great detail and colors.

troutbirder said...

Antlion. Now there's a scary name for you!

Andrea said...

How could you take the antlion picture...
It's great.
Never saw one.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I agree on the spider Sandra. :) Thanks.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

LOL!! Such a big name and such a tiny creature Ray, :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Andrea. I looked for a hole which was active. You can usually see it by the tracks or by dropping an ant in it. Then you dig it out quickly. It looks just like a very small lump of sand, but it soon moves and there you have it. You have to look very carefully to find it in what you dig out. :)

Rambling Woods said...

Love the little spider eyes..I didn't know that about dragons.. I should know that...Michelle

Gaelyn said...

I've never seen an antlion before, only it's trap. The Bug Lady has been busy now with spring.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Once again I say thank goodness these spiders are so small Michelle. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

We have still not had much rain Gaelyn so we are off to a slow start this season.

Becky said...

I can't get over how clear your shots are Joan. Brings those creepy crawleys bigger than life!
Excellant images.
B.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Becky. It helps having a good camera and a steady hand. :)

Firefly the Travel Guy said...

You will need a really super fast camera to get a better shot of a hovering bee like that. Great shot. I also love seeing the antlion.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

It could have been better Jonker if I had taken the time to set my ISO faster, but there opportunities happen so fast there is no time for that. :)

Rambling Woods said...

Joan..I am so sorry you can't get to the blog. After you said that I removed a lot of widgets and went to a simpler format...still no luck. That happened with me and one blog and I had to reset my modem as it was blocking that particular server. Can you see it in a reader? I know you have lots of blogs to visit because your readership is so high, so don't worry about it.....hugs.. Michelle.. PS..I always check that I want to see follow-up comments so I do see what you say....Michelle

Unknown said...

The Antlion larvae caught my attention! Really weird! :-) Love the wasp!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

It is actually worse now Michelle. Earlier I could still see the comments and what was written, now there is only the header and the heading of your paragraph. The reast of the page is blank.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

And dangerous looking too Jose. :) That wasp had me crawling under a huge log in order to get a picture. :)

Rambling Woods said...

I am sorry Joan..I have tried different themes in the last couple of days and dumped widgets...and I don't know. I wrote Wordpress and they suggested an ISP problem. I don't have time to do anymore today, I have to work outside...I am sorry about this. But I appreciate the effort....Michelle

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Sorry you are having these problems Michelle. You can just let me know when you are up and runnung again. Hugs.

Craig Glenn said...

Love the bee shot J.

The bug lady is awesome...

Craig

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks my friend. :)

Mary said...

Some interesting critters...and a little scary looking :-)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Mary. They are so small thought. :)