Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Flies, Frogs, and Flowers

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A collection of "F's" for your enjoyment.
Click on the photographs for details.


Fruit Fly (Delphina picta)
Picture-winged Fly

Closely resembles the Picture-winged Fly (Tritoxa sp.) posted by Marvin(click here) a while back.
The Delphina is recognized by the 2 white triangles on the leading edge of the mostly black wing as opposed to the white stripes for Tritoxa.

These is a great group of flies - the Fruit Fly family (Tephritidae)

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Tachnid Fly
Trichopoda sp.

The larvae of the Tachnid are parasitic on other insects and caterpillars.

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Mallophora sp. (probably orcina)
Robber fly (Southern Bee Killer)


This robber fly feeds almost exclusively on bees and wasps.

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Frog
Come on in, the slime is fine.
Free beauty treatment mud pack.


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Flowers make a fine "F"

Partridge Pea ( Cassia fasciculata)
Notice the very cool stigma

This is an interesting 5 petal flower. The upper 3 petals are red-spotted at the base. the lower 2 petals are cupped. The flowers are borne on a short cluster, but only one opens at the time. Notice yesterday's flower above is closed. The leaves are divided into 8-15 opposite pair leaflets. The foliage is partially sensitive and partially closes when stroked.

Notice the small orange gland at the base of the leaf. This produces nectar which the ants use as a food source. Notice the small ant on the way up to collect dinner (or a snack).


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Fireweed
Near the Arctic circle


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Foxglove
Photographed on the side of a cliff,
overlooking the Pacific Ocean


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Click on the photographs for details.


I hope you enjoyed the "F" post today.
Leave a comment.
Vote for your favorite so that we will know what you like to see.

Troy and Martha

ABC Wednesday Round 3 is here.
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51 comments:

Liz Hinds said...

The fireweed is most amazing! Glorious!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

woooooooow!!! TROY and Martha!
Fantastic I love each one of them, they are all so clear! The fruit fly and the frog, the goup of fleis!!! I am really mooved by such wonderfull goof photography! Thanks and Happy ABC,

I am showing different all "face's" for ABC-wednesday, and I hope you like them, visit: www.joannwalraven.blogspot.com

Greetings from JoAnn's-D-Eyes

Rune Eide said...

I enjoyed it indeed - very informative! Imagine me "eating" foxglove for three years!

I don't miss it.

Tess Kincaid said...

Fabulous, fancy fotos! My favorite is the fine foxgloves.

Granny Smith said...

I loved all of them = the Flies, the Fireweed and the Foxgloves. Your Fotography is always Fantastic.

Thank you for answering my question last week on how you achieve such beautifully focussed photos. It has inspired me to study more closely the manual that came with my new camera in order to learn more of its focus capabilities.

MumbaiiteAnu said...

Wow, I've never seen such a variety of flies and frogs. In flowers, I like the foxgloves.

Check out my 'F' for FLYOVER here
Happy ABC Wednesday.

Dina said...

What a variety of Fs. I've never seen a foxglove--it's so unusual. Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

What a collection of F's. I love the flowers the best of course and I'm glad you ended with them.

Ivar Østtun said...

Wonderful F. Beautiful pictures and informative

Reader Wil said...

I certainly enjoyed seeing your F words. Very clever to know the names of the various flies and flowers!

Kathie Brown said...

First of all, I love foxglove. Thanks for the photo of it. Second, that first fruit fly looks like it has designer wings! Third, thanks for always stopping by to say hi to me and thanks for this lovey and informative blog!

Leslie: said...

Fantastic Fotography! I love the fireweed - have never seen it in such a glorious array before, though.

me ann my camera said...

There is no competition here, the Fireweed landscape is absolutely breath taking!!! What a beautiful landscape that must have been to gaze at!

ann at
Gallimaufry Gleanings

kjpweb said...

Only 7 "F"'s? Ts. You're slacking! ;)
Seriously you could have saved them for ABC 3- ABC 10!!!
Each one of them a valid and outstanding "F"!
Bravo!
Cheers, Klaus

Maria's Space said...

Wow, you put so much thought into your post.Loved it.

Shelley said...

Seeing the field of fireweed was very refreshing & beautiful!

Michele said...

Beautiful fireweed..... and the foxglove is pretty as well... very nice.

Kim from Hiraeth said...

I enjoyed this post! I almost missed the frog, though. I had to look twice!

Louise said...

I've GOT to get to Alaska to see some fireweed.

But overall, how could one pick from that wealth of fabulous pictures and excellent information.

D Herrod said...

The fireweed is my fav. Oh, be sure to stop by and see a glimpse of my hometown.

HFD60 said...

They are all great however the fire weed is my favorite.....

Bear Naked said...

Your Foxglove photo is Fantastic.
The robber fly looks similar to a bee.

Bear((( )))

CaBaCuRl said...

Wow, those flies are so fascinating..amazing colours & markings.

Shimmy Mom said...

Gorgeous shots. Each one made me think, "I'm going to comment that this one was my favorite." And then I'd see the next one and go, "OOH, but I like this one."
Amazing shots!
*hugs*

naturglede/Randi Lind said...

I realy enjoyed your post today. I like the photo Fireweed and the mudfrog best. Have a nice day!

Tash said...

I can't believe it - I was just thinking to myself I wonder if someone can make a fruitfly look good (as I was swatting them off of my nectarine) & you've done it! you've made it beautiful.
I love the field of flowers & the delicacy of the last photo.

Lynette said...

I have to say that I like the flowers the best of all. Thanks for so many lovely photos today.

magiceye said...

Fantastic set of Fs!

Anonymous said...

Marvellous selection. Photographing a Foxglove is easier here - we have some in the garden.

Unknown said...

As usual a great set of photo's and informative narrative. Not a favourite subject of mine flies, but your pics make them look beautiful. I love the fireweed photo - like our heather on the moors but a lot brighter.

Great post.
Gary
Bodge's Bulletin

mrsnesbitt said...

The firewood and the foxglove are my favourites.
Wonderful!

Tom said...

I thought all your choices were very good, the frog was well hidden..:O)

AphotoAday said...

Great selection of flies...
Strange little creatures, aren't they?

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Troy: You outdid yourself today, loved the flies, loved the flowers, but that frog in the mud pack was outstanding .

Pappy said...

Fantastic Fotos. Fireweed is Fabulous. Pappy

Michael Palmer said...

F never looked so good = )

Daryl said...

The foxglove is FABULOUS ... but then so are the (to me) less appealing bugs ... tho that bee looks like he's napping

:-Daryl

Anonymous said...

love this post. the fireweed is my favorite

Powell River Books said...

So many wonderful shots to enjoy. I love fireweed. It has such a splash of colour on the landscape. We have both fireweed and foxglove in the bush near our cabin. My contribution is about a special farm that used to located near my town in Coastal BC. I invite you to come see. -- Margy

Michelle said...

I love all the pictures but my favorite is the fireweed. What a stunning shade of purple. I wish my yard was that beautiful.

Neva said...

wow...some very interesting "F"s!! the flowers are lovely...the flies...well....they look nice in a photo~!

Dirkjogt said...

A lot of F's! Enjoyed the nice pictures.
Dirkjogt, Belgium

Unknown said...

What a great compilation for the letter F.

storyteller said...

Ah … I enjoyed ALL your ‘F’ photos today … especially the Fireweed and Foxglove. I’m not doing the Alphabet Challenge, but I’m almost Wordless at Sacred Ruminations today ... playing with 'filters' in Photoshop and adding a little Haiku for explanation even though it's not Friday. I'm 'whimsical' at Small Reflections today as I intend to do what I can to catch up from the last few days.
Hugs and blessings,

Stevyn Colgan said...

Some amazing photos guys

becky aka theRAV said...

I loved the fireweed. Loved the color of it.

Travis said...

Great photos all around. The firewood is amazing.

Doug Taron said...

Very nice fruit fly photos. I'm not very knowledgeable regarding the Diptera, but I do enjoy the picture-winged flies.

Mary said...

Wonderful flies....I've never seen any like that before! Great shots!

myonlyphoto said...

Troy and Martha, these are amazing close ups, I have to say wow. Anna :)

Dewdrop said...

... and to think I thought the Partridge Peas were weeds. A green thumb, I am not. Thanks for the explanation, love the stigma on the pea flower.