Every spring we get Sawfly larvae on an ornamental Scotch pine that I usually spray, but this year we were gone all April and when we returned the pine looked like it had been shaved. In mid-September I noticed some flies buzzing around the pine and caught a couple to check under the microscope and ...

This is truly sad news!

Indeed! An excellent series. Although highly visual predators, their various colors seem to be there for dragonfly-on-dragonfly interactions as they constantly move about and compete for territories, perching spots, and of course for mates. Some years ago, I was following a male dragonfly (I don't ...

Thank you!

Something that keeps me shooting odonate portraits and reshooting some species is the realization that the eyes change colors almost daily in some species. And the patterns of pseudo-pupils and dark and light spots and streaks changes with age, but with the viewing angles also. Cordulia-shurtleffii-...

Beautiful shots, well done!

Steve

In these anterior views we can clearly see the metallic patch on the frons and vertex. I know I'm judging based on human vision but it is difficult to imagine something that bright not functioning as a visual display which would mean it is selected for. I cannot help but wonder how it appears to oth...

Thanks for your kind words Guys!

American Emerald is a good common (English) name for this species that is found across North America in alpine lakes and northern states as well as Canada. It is the only species of genus Cordulia that occurs in North America and along with Somatochlora are grouped into Emeralds because of their ama...

The sapphire blue of the dorsal eyes of E. canis is striking. Something I noticed often is surface damage to the eyes near the antennae. It is more obvious on older specimens. I suspect it may be caused by the antennae striking the eye, caused by air turbulence during flight. 19Epitheca-canis-male-d...

E. spinigera closely resembles E. canis in color patterns and hairyness. Note that all members of the sub-family Corduliidae have the posterior lobe of the eye that has ommatidia the are aimed directly behind, so the do have eyes on the back of their heads. 13Epitheca-spinigera-female-lat6-1024.jpg...

Thanks for you kind words Guys! A lateral view displays just how hairy they are. 7Epitheca-canis-female-lat-1024.jpg 8Epitheca-canis-male-obl1-1024.jpg Minute changes in viewing angle can have fairly significant changes in eye color. 9Epitheca-canis-male-obl4-1024.jpg 10Epitheca-canis-male-obl5-1024...

I have been working on a project since I put together my own personal image stacking system in 2017, following retirement. After more than 15 years as an insect imaging specialist shooting mostly wood boring insects for the Oregon Deptaertment of Agriculture (ODA) I could finally concentrate on my f...

StartAllBack is the easiest fix for all the UI changes in Windows 11. You can always add Winaero Tweaker if you need even more advanced features. I tried both of these and Winaero Tweaker took care of all my complaints with Windows Explorer except one. Any clicking with the mouse or my Wacom pen be...