**Welcome to the April 2014 Photography Forum Challenge**

** **As our seasons change around the world, 
there are plenty of insects busy getting ready
for their life changes and metamorphosis.

** How many creepy-crawliess can you find!**

**Please remember:
**Two images per member per week.
Image size: No larger than:
800 pixels X 600 pixels
and 200KB

Okay, now THIS is a challenge!!  I'm so pleased to see you used one of my butterfly shots for your intro montage ... it's one of a very, very, very small handful I've ever done in that category.  If they hadn't been swarming, I never would have got 'em!  LOL!  I'll give it a go, but my best is usually something really far away and blurry.  I saw two really big, fluffy bees today.  They blew by me at about 20 or 30 miles an hour.  That's my normal insect encounter!  :P  Still ... I'll look forward to seeing what everybody gets.  If you don't see any pics from me in this challenge, you'll know why!  :)

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."  ...  Robert Capa

You are sure to get a lot of pics for this one Clive.

Two uploads for the new insects challenge.

My first a stink bug and a moth on the same branch of a small tree.

God bless.

My second a jumping spider on a rose tree branch.

God bless.

You even have a ladybird on the first pic Christo but not sure if a spider is an insect !! Both super shots though.

You are correct Jeff,

Spiders is not insects.

I trust one of the admins can delete the spider picture and post.

Here is my second.

A black bug on Cape Hemp flower at jan Cilliers park.

God bless.

Now this is a beauty Christo.

Thank you Jeff.

God bless.

Hi Christo, thanks for your eager shots!

I have removed the image of the spider as requested..!

 

Meet the resident grasshopper in my garden.  This morning he posed for me, perfect for the challenge!

(Acanthacris ruficornis)

 

A perfect pose Clive.

@ Christo, Your photo's are great, and I love the flower very much too! :)

@ Clive, Oh, I think you've asked this grasshopper to pose for you, because the chalenge, Clive. And you have made a beautiful picture of it.

It's a great topic for this month, Clive. I've seen several kinds of butterflies in our garden. Everything is much earlier this year because the temperatures are abnormally high.

@ Tara, you have to go hunting for insects, my friend. You know, in the vicinity of horses, are many fly :D

@ Jacomina:  LOL!  I will watch out for insects, especially if I see any horses!  :)

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."  ...  Robert Capa

Thank you for removing the spider picture and post.

Love the grasshopper capture Clive.

Thank you for everyones kind comments.

Now i am eagerly waiting to see more insect captures.

God bless.

A comma butterfly on verbena, taken last August.

Another set of pics taken in August last.

 

A Brimstone, Clouded Yellow and Silver Washed Fritillary.

All of them are beauties Jeff.

Thank you for sharing.

I just returned from Pretoria city to where i live.

I felt like taking my camera to the inner city and to take some pictures.

God bless.

All of them are beauties Jeff.

Thank you for sharing.

I just returned from Pretoria city to where i live.

I felt like taking my camera to the inner city and to take some pictures.

God bless.

Here is a blood-sucking tick that I found on Brady this morning.

It is about 4mm long (0.15748 Inch). I put it in a plastic container in order to take this shot.

 

Great flutterbies, Jeff!

 

Jikes Clive.

Not so good to have those thicks around.

God bless.

A handsome little bugger Clive.

@ Jeff, what a feast for the eye are your lovely butterfies photo's!

@ Clive, what a little creepy one. The color is splendid, but I hope it didn't bite Brady.

fantastic macro's from these critters

minder is meer

while reading this topic a housefly landed on my old CRT display such a coincidense lol

minder is meer

Lol @ Prutzwork.

Superb upload for the Insect challenge.

God bless.

Lol @ Prutzwork.

Superb upload for the Insect challenge.

God bless.

thanks Christo

minder is meer

The original fly on the wall Martin. Lol.

 

Very well trained, Martin!

 

That's cute, Martin. Lucky you with this suprising fly! :)

Here my first entree, a Beefly (Bombylius major) on Pulmonaria (Lungwort). Taken in our garden.

Nr two: A **Small White** (*Pieris rapae*) butterfly on a Forget Me Not, also in our garden.

Wonderful uploads Mies.

God bless.

Thank you, Christo.

God bless, and wishing you a good Sunday, my friend.

God se seën, en ek wens u 'n hele fyn Sondag, my vriend. :)

My two for the challenge for the new week.

Two butterfly captures captured yesterday walking around the dam at my work.

My first a colorful butterfly.

God bless.

My second a Monarch butterfly.

God bless.

Pleasure Mies.

God bless.

What beauties this are, Christo!
I love the heart shape that you've caught on the first butterfly, as well as the form of the dried grass, on both sides at the bottom of the butterfly can be seen.

The Monarde butterfly is a gem, and a great one with this backlight.
Bravo, Christo.

God bless.

Thank you Mies.

God bless.

Jacomina abd Christo, all your pictures are brilliant.

Thank you Jeff.

God bless.

Thank you Jeff :)

Well done, Jacomina & Christo!

 

I have always wondered what was eating the leaves of the Morning Glory growing outside the front door.

On Saturday I turned over a leaf and was amazed to find this!  A bit of reseach revealed that it is a Aspidomorpha tecta (Fool’s Gold Beetle).

I have never seen one before so this was a wonderful find for me! ☺ As my son says it looks like a contact lens with a 'flying squirrel' on its back!

PS: click the image to see a larger 800 x 600 in a new window.

 

Your son's description is spot on as is this shot Clive.

Amazing find and capture Clive.

God bless.

 

Here is a shot of a larva stage of the Fool's Gold Beetle (Aspidomorpha tecta) that I posted yesterday.

Fool’s Gold beetle larvae do not discard the shed skins from moults but instead pile them up into a tail on the tip of the abdomen together with some of their excreta. Larvae wave this tail around when disturbed so possibly it is used for warding off predators and parasitoids.

Wow! What an education!

PS: click the image to see a larger 800 x 600 in a new window.

 

 

Thank you for sharing Clive.

God bless.

Looks like that beetle has even grown a nail Clive !! Lol.

Nice shot.

xlt macro shots

minder is meer

food chain

minder is meer

Superb upload Prutzwork.

God bless.

Macabre but natural.

Attached Link: Butterflies in the garden 2013.

Butterflies in the garden 2013.

Attached Link: Butterflies in the garden 2013.

More butterflies in the garden 2013.

Amazing uploads Jeff.

God bless.

a great butterfly collection Jeff

minder is meer

took this recently

That is quite a 'gathering' Richard, Well spotted (excuse the pun) !!

Amazing upload Richard.

God bless.

Amazing upload Richard.

God bless.

A new week and two new uploads from me for the week.

My first a fly.

Both these uploads is captures that i captured on camera this afternoon using my Fujifilm super zoom digital camera and using aperture and macro settinfg as well as pop up flash.My second the grasshopper that Clive uploaded also. I found a empty skin and investigated further and found this big brown grasshopper. I do not know if it is this fellows skin. God bless.

Two great posts Christo, a fly on stilts and a grasshopper about to eat its skin !!

Attached Link: Bee on dandelion

This was taken today April 14th.

Hey people :)

I've been absent because I've been very busy.  But here's an insect:

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. - Aristotle
-= Glass Eye Photography =- -= My Rendo Gallery =-

And what an insect - superb 3D.

Hello friends! superb pictures from Christo and Jeff and i do like the very clear grasshopper!

I will try to catch some insects, its not easy for me with the 18-200 lens and i dont like to take my old camera..:-) 

my first is from yesterday a bumblebee 

OMG 3DGuy, thats a monster Insect!!! cool done and cool girl without fear!

Scary one 3 dguy. i have shivers where i sit here looking at that picture.

Wonderful upload Jeff.

Wonderful upload as well Priska.

God bless.

Scary one 3 dguy. i have shivers where i sit here looking at that picture.

Wonderful upload Jeff.

Wonderful upload as well Priska.

God bless.

This is one beautiful picture Priska, well done.

... ladybird and magnolia

... ladybird and magnolia

Perfect Priska.

Outstanding upload.

God bless.

Another very nice shot from you Priska.

Sorry, I'm late this week, friends.

What an interesting insects, creepy, and very happy ones I just admired.
Amazingly, some diversity, even an empty grasshopper, a whole 'gang' of Ladybirds; and incredibly, what a dirty contribution, Martin has found.
I'm more a fan from the beautiful butterflies then, Martin. Hahaha!
:sneaky:

See you!

Here a Heteroptera, it wears a striped pajamas. We call it a 'wants'. And it was in our garden.

Sure, these two Dragonflies are in love, I think because of the hot spring here.

Wishig you all a very happy Easter.

so wonderful and perfect captured Mies! both pictures not to see every day!

These are both fabulous images Jacomina espesially the damsel flies.

unconscious i found a gnat in the dark! was behind our home for experimental pictures in the dark and have done about 10 pictures, and what a I catched? an insect - just perfect for this month :-) had great problems to find some insects last days beacause we have pretty cold, even snow yesterday... but now i have the third picture!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Amazing uploads Jacomina.

Amazing upload Priska.

Have a wonderful easter everyone.

God bless.

I like your picture Priska, it looks very delicate.

WOW, is this a fantastic night shot, Prisca, so special! You are lucky in the night, my friend ;-)

Thank you, Prisca, Jeff, and Christo, so nice to see you here :).

Attached Link: Red Admiral

A Red Admiral on a Hebe flower back in October.

A feast for the eye, Jeff. The colors of the Hebe, and the Admiral are fantastic together.
Great to this Easter-day.

A new week and two new uploads from me for this months insect challenge.

My first a lot of big ants on seeds of a type of weed that i found outside the Complex grounds where i reside.

God bless.

My second two red bugs on a type of weed just outside a noighbours yard next to the complex where i reside.

God bless.

Two super pics Christo and I particularly like the red bugs.

Thank you Jeff.

God bless.

I really enjoy all that I am seeing here!

This one I did not enjoy - finding a female tick on one of the dogs at the farm...

I put it on a table to take the shot before it was 'disposed of'...

 

Clive.

I do not see any picture.

God bless.

I bet you got a ticking off Clive !! Nice capture and I bet no-one else will have a shot like this !!

Now i see it.

Superb upload Clive.

God bless.

@ Christo, what a lot of ants you've captured, and the red bugs lseem to be buzy too(two) ;-). Superb captures!

@ Clive, what a beautiful color has such a nasty female tick. Yuck, so creepy with his scissor legs. It's a lovely photo.

Here come my two contributions!

#1

Keep cool and fight for the right of others
to have a different opinion than you have!

;- ) Bernie

... and #2.

Keep cool and fight for the right of others
to have a different opinion than you have!

;- ) Bernie

Two great pics Bernie and I like your words.

Attached Link: Speckled Wood.

A Speckled Wood seen earlier this week.

Hi Bernie and Jeff, what beautiful uploads you both did, special that dragonfly and butterfly!
Perfect, all three of them.
It's good I became an e-bot, because I couldn't find the challenge; was searching for it yesterday with no result.

An Icarus butterfly, taken in the field nearby our house.

A scorpion fly, taken last week in the backyard.

You can see one of my scorpion fly in collagen which Clive made for this challenge.
Very often I see this kind of flies in our garden.

Superb uploads everyone.

God bless.

Two more perfect beauties Jacomina.

 

I also find it difficult to find the Challenge again so what I do is leave at least one reply in my emails and access it that way.

Thank you, Christo and Jeff.
It's a good idea, what you wrote to me about finding the challenge, Jeff.

Normally I can find it by going to the photoforum, and I can click on the link,
but this time, the link gives something else (an old challenge). :blink:

 

Here is a Stinkbug I found 'standing' outside my front door...

 Apologies about the link to the Forum Challenge - believe me we are still trying to sort it out...

 

Great find and captures Clive.

God bless.

Handy having one of these around the home - you always have somryhing to blame !!! Lol.

spottet this fellow this afternoon in my garden

minder is meer

Superb capture and upload prutzwork.

God bless.

A clear and perfect capture Martin.

And here's another butterfly :)

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. - Aristotle
-= Glass Eye Photography =- -= My Rendo Gallery =-

A perfect beauty 3D.

A grasshopper on the railing of my balcony! :-)

A little snail found in cauliflower!  ;-)

A good week to everyone! :-) 

I saw all the photos that you have posted... they are very beautiful!

Congratulations to all!  

Have a good time! :-)

Amazing uploads everyone.

God bless.

Fantastic uploads, and such funny too.
What a funny pose the stinkbugs have, Clive.
A supern sharp flyphoto, Martin.
Awonderful colored butterfly 3Dguy
Grasshopper, and snail are very surprising, Maria!
And what a fantastic cauliflower, too.
Colorflower would be a good name for this kind.

Best wishes to all,
Jacomina.

My first for this week, a moth.

I've been looking for this forum challenge..lol.. I forgot how to get here.  I had the time tonight to click around.

Anyway,  while at the San Diego Safari Park, they had The Butterfly Jungle.  A special yearly event.  I was able to spend about 5 minutes in there, I ran out of day :(  Such a fun event too. I didn't really get any very impressive photos, this one was the best of the few I was able to snap.

If you are interested, the butterfly is called, POSTMAN (Heliconius Melpomene).

Superb capture Mies.

Superb capture Melinda.

The last stretch of this month and the last week to upload insect captures for the insect challenge.

Here is my last two for the new week and last week of this month.

My first a capture of a Hover fly captured today in the gardens of where my mother in law resides.

God bless.

My second a capture of a butterfly captured in the gardens of my mother in law's Simplex.

A capture captured today.

God bless.

Superb photo's, with such lovely colors on, MBZ, and Christo.

My second of this week: a macro-bee.

Wonderfdul upload as well Mies.

God bless.

Wonderfdul upload as well Mies.

God bless.

Thank you very much, Christo.

God bless.

Thank you all for your insects, this was a fun and learning challenge.

For May we can sort of put our DSLRs away and use your mobile phone - or your webacam!

Or even take a shot of yourself in a reflective surface....