Insects Archives - Page 8 of 10 - Craig Rogers Photography

Morning Dog Walk: A Fake Was Amongst Us

25th May 201826th May 2018Craig Rogers

I take a camera (although just my mobile today) along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.

Walking alongside the river bank this morning and we spotted a very large Bee/Wasp looking creature, was it a Hornet?

No, it was a Mimic Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria). They can grown up to almost 16mm long (this was certainly around that size!) and although it looks like it’ll give you trouble, it’s completely harmless with no sting or bite.

Morning Dog Walk: Dragonflies, Butterflies and Moths

20th May 201821st May 2018Craig Rogers

I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.

The spring rains brought us many flowers, which in turn brought us many flying insects so this morning I pointed the camera at a few.

Around water you can usually find many Dragonflies, here is a male Violet Dropwing Dragonfly, found in Africa, Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Southern Europe this is a medium-sized Dragonfly, sex identification is simple as the female is green and brown. The name is taken from the way it lowers its wings when perched.

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Morning Dog Walk: Exotics, Swarms and That Duck!

22nd April 20186th May 2018Craig Rogers

As I was heading down past “A Rocha” this morning, I heard a flock of Common Waxbills. As soon as they saw an energetic Dog running towards them, they took cover but I did manage to snap these two in our Pear Trees.

Barbary Nut Iris and The Bees

2nd April 20183rd April 2018Craig Rogers

All around the hills in the Algarve the Barbary Nut Iris has started to flower. I’m certainly no flower expert but it’s a great sight to see the purple flowers covering the landscape.

The odd thing about the Barbary Nut Iris is that the flower has a very short life, just half a day! It opens around Noon, closes at dusk and doesn’t open again. So it’s crucial the Bees do their job of pollination.

I set the camera up and focused on one flower, I used the 500mm lens and f/4 to create a very small depth of field and waited and waited and waited…….. The Bees were landing on all the other flowers except this one, typical. Then after about 30 minutes one finally came along and even stayed in the very small focus plane.

The Warm Weather Has Awoken The Carpenter Bees

20th February 201828th February 2018Craig Rogers

The giant of the Bee world, the Violet Carpenter Bee (Abelha carpinteira in Portuguese and Xylocopa violacea in Latin) can grow to over 25mm long. They appear black as they fly around making a deep noise like a WWII fighter plane, but have a violet tinge, hence the name.

Like all Bees, only the female has a sting but they are very comfortable around humans and rarely sting unless threatened. The are solitary Bees and nest in dead wood which is where the name Carpenter Bee is derived. This recent warm weather has brought them out of hibernation.

We have a Mimosa Tree in the garden and as it flowers this time of year it is full of all types of Bees, mainly Honey Bees from a neighboring farm.

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Conehead Mantis at Night

14th July 20179th October 2017Craig Rogers

I was in the garden tonight and spotted something in the corner of my eye on one of our up-lit Palm Trees.

It was a female Conehead Mantis (Empusa pennata) busy catching all the pesky mosquitoes that we currently have.

I loved the way she would look at me when I approached her and also the way the LED light was lighting her. So a quick run for the camera, 50mm and a tripod and took the shot below.

The Conehead Mantis grows to around 10cm long (the male slightly smaller), this one was around 7cm. This is easily recognised as a female due to the male having feathered antennae.

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Conehead Mantis - D810, AF 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm, f/8, ISO400, 1.3sec - {Flickr Link}

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