I like to take pics of the crawling and flying critters in my back yard (or wherever). Figured I'd start a thread to throw up a few pics. Here are a few I took last weekend.

Macro options/lenses are really nice!

Great shots Mike! I really like the second one with the tiny gnat just behind the bee.
Once I get the hang of my extension tubes, I can hopefully add to this thread.
Not really insect, but there are some HUGE arachnids on the current job I'm working. I might get brave enough to try and shoot one of them up close.

Some more macro work from the back yard. These are all free handed; I need to stop being lazy and get my tripod out, so I can get even clearer shots.

Speaking of arachnids, so after I took a few shots of that spider, I was shooting the grasshopper, and caught movement out of the corner of my eye and here's what it was... the sneaky spider had snatch up a fly that landed in front of it!!

Fantastic pictures Crusty!! I especially like the ladybug but you lost me with the spider close ups.........

Hee Hee! I got a big, spiky butted garden spider near the hummer feeder - gonna get the camera working now!

Would be awesome to get a shot of it taking down a hummingbird! ;)

It is big, but not that big. The hummers have been eying suspiciously, though....

Here's one of the large Orb Spiders from my current project. I've gotten comfortable enough to work near them without disturbing them.
20140921_111418_Richtone(HDR) by ghostcreekmine, on Flickr

pretty... for a spider! lol

Now, that's a spider! Brown orb, or brown garden spider. I have walked through many a web of those, returning to camp from deep in the woods, hunting. I still get the willies thinking about it....

I've noticed that they are lightning fast and super agile on their web, but off their web they are slow and clumsy. They have an abdomen that has two horn-shaped protrusions on the other side and they range from blonde to gray in different coloration combinations. The patterns on their backs are really intricate.... like a herringbone or tweed suit. I have to get a pic of the flipside. The more I learn about this spider the more I like it. They wrap their prey prior to injecting venom. there is another type of orb spider at this job too. They are banana-shaped but make the same shape of classic web. They inject venom before wrapping their prey. For whatever reason they freak me out way more than the larger orb spiders.

I apologize for the low quality picture, but here is a big ol wolfie on my porch roof. Im guessing he's about an inch long. I'm too scared to get much closer!

That's a pretty one!

Wow, I enlarged that pic, that's huge for a wolfie! That is a very successful spider, gotta respect that.
Happy Halloween?

lol... I'll loan ya a zoom lens

Spiders? Yeah we got those.....

Here is a picture from 2 years ago, It was taken in December. Playing with these is about like juggling Cactus.

Lol@ Crusty.
Woody, you're a braver man than I lol!
Oof I have the heebie Jeebies.
We've had about three of those dominating the porch this year. I accidentally stepped on his brother about a month ago. It was a crunch I won't soon forget ..

I had a stare-down with this furry little fella while rockhounding for jasper in Farmington NM

EEEEEK!!!!

no, no, no, hell no!

I would like to share the reason my Wolfie is so big... these lil stinkers come out at night and COVER my porch. I call it the great centepede exodus.

yikes! lol

Yikes says the man fondeling the monster arachnid!

To think this thread started off with pretty butterflies and bees....... Almost hate looking in this one now since I am not a spider fan.

Gads Crusty!!! I almost expected to see it jump on your face when I looked at that pic. You all lost me on that one!

On one of my trips this past summer, I remember why I took a photo of this... I watched this ant struggle to carry a larva - for about 45 mins, before helping it. Click to view attachment

Since everyone seems to LOVE spiders, I took this pic a few days ago, me, personally... hate them, but this lil guy had the perfect web, so figured he should be famous Click to view attachment

IT'S SO FLUFFY! nice resolution man! Great pic!

Hey Fenixsmon, "I call it the great centepede exodus".

That picture reminds me of this one time when I was a kid. I was helping my dad cut down a large branch from the Weeping Willow in our back yard. The Branch was dead and needed to be removed, as one day it would probably fall unexpectedly anyway. The base of the branch was large, about the size of a truck tire and had a big section of bark starting to slough off a few feet above the start of it. As my dad was about to begin sawing on the branch he reached up and pulled that section of bark down. And with it came the largest, most disgusting pile of Earwigs I have ever seen. Unbeknowenced to us that branch was hollow and was packed full of Earwigs. The bark was acting like a lid and when he removed it they came right out that hollow branch and made a mound at least two feet high at the base of the tree. They would have completely filled a 5 gal bucket and then buried it underneath the pile. I have never seen such a sight nor have I heard of them gathering in such numbers again. I wish there would have been digital cameras in those days to capture this moment as it was very unique. We ended up putting gas on the pile and burning them and the log that continued to rain Earwigs for a long time. I still hate Earwigs to this day. They are one of the few creatures I will kill indiscriminately.......

Oh that reminds me of another Earwig story.... It happened sometime around the mid 80's, I was in Germany and it was late summer. I was up in a Plum Tree picking some ripe Plums. Man they tasted great, real sweet to. They were so ripe they would fall on the ground every time you moved the tree. Well I was up in the tops of the tree trying to reach the ones up way high. I had a hand full and put them in my bag. As I released the handful I saw a leaf stuck to my thumb. At the same time I became aware of a slight amount of well, not really pain, but an odd feeling none the less on my thumb. For a moment I just looked at my thumb and the leaf that seemed to cause such a weird feeling. Then as I turned my hand around to try to figure this out I seen an Earwig had stuck its pinchers though the leaf and then clamped down on the end of my thumb.

Ok, Ok, I'll stop with the stories. Goodnight, Woody.