Check out this terrible picture of Jamie Taylor double-fisting some aphids. What a badass.
I found this teeny mantis nymph in the field on Friday. I’ve named it Jamie Taylor and it likes to eat tiny spiders and ants and dance on my finger (hence the blurry-ness). I’m going to find it some aphids tomorrow. I can wait until it gets bigger so I can make a fun house!
<3 <3 <3 Jamie Taylor <3 <3 <3
markhortonphotography: Last May, I noticed a flurry of activity from the many red mason bees (Osmia rufa) The activity was focused around two old open drill holes, where a washing line had previously been fixed.
omg
Little leafhopper dude I found in the bee cup samples! #insect
Teeeeny tiny parasitoid wasp! The fly above it is about 1.5mm long to give you an idea of the size of this thing. Pencil to scale in the second photo (fly still above the wasp).
Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs directly into their hosts, which is often a caterpillar. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the host while it’s still alive. The larvae pupate, and end up killing the host when they emerge as adults.
These little guys are so efficient at finding their hosts that they’re often used as biological control agents in agricultural settings.
Hey look, everyone, I was on TV talking about bees in Connecticut!
(My boss, Kim, comes on around 2:05 and there’s me at 2:18 working in the field with my coworker Krystian! I even get to say a few derpy words at 2:43…)
Bee high five! Bombus impatiens queen on a sunflower last month in Connecticut.
