THE CIGAR BOX

Walking-stick - a phasmid insect (Diapheromera femorata) common in parts of the U.S. We don't usually see them except when they are mating. The male is the smaller of the two and in this photograph his back legs grasp the surface, his middle legs grasp the sides of the female, and his front legs are extended straight forward parallel to his antennae. The two rear pairs form a sort of 'X'. Just as I snapped the shutter, a mosquito flew onto the back of the male between the back two legs. The mosquito is a little hard to see, but its back legs are black with little white bands. It flew away immediately, but I had the shot; a rare one I think. We were standing in the drive-way by the car when I noticed this unusual spider in the tree. I ran for my camera and held the web still to get two shots. I have seen this type of spider before, but I don't know what kind it is. A grasshopper or locust. This was made long ago. I probably used close-up extension rings. Grasshoppers are easy to catch. I was trimming some limbs in the back yard this spring and found this cicada first and then its dried larval husk of a shell. I think that it had just emerged because it didn't try to fly away. They were called 'dry flies' because of the shells which were pretty common in the country. The males make an unusual, but pleasant, sound that reminds me of my childhood in the country. I took this butterfly photo long ago. The next two photos were taken this spring in Arkansas. Several of the other butterfly photos were on this bush. This was a large fly; probably what we would call a horse fly. This photo shows it a little larger than life size. This is another of the photos from the same bush. I think I can see a very tiny flying insect toward the right of the photograph. It is just above the edge of the leaf and the butterfly seems to be looking at it. I haven't noticed it before. Leaves from our hedge. Of course this is just a strip of the original photo. I think it might make a good banner background with white letters over it. PAGE 1 - High School girlfriend photos, butterflies, flowers, tiny spider, tree frog on rose. PAGE 2 - Crystal egg and Wooden Dove from Moscow, Tiny Harmonica, Crop Dusting Bi-plane, Pokeberries, 'White Water' and a Deformed Wild Daisy PAGE 3 - Bugs: A Rare Combination - Mosquito on mating 'Walking Sticks,' Cicada, Grasshopper, Red Spider, Butterfly, and Green Leaves. PAGE 4 - My fiancee in 1962 on the University of Arkansas campus. Fields of cows and wild flowers. A mole cricket. B&W photos of leaves, berries, and a dead tree in a pond. PAGE 5 - Flowers, spider, bees, aphids, tree frog, cicada - Nature photos from the spring of 2002 and an old photo of posts on the beach at Galveston. SITE INDEX VIEW OR SIGN MY GUESTBOOK Guestbook