Texas (Our Part of the world) #3

My World Tuesday Part#3
Texas, Based in Ft. Worth, Texas

Today's Topic:
End of the Season for Insects
Butterflies, Skippers, Dragonflies, Damselflies

(Click on the photos for full page views)

It's just about the end of the season for insects here in Ft. Worth, Texas, USA. We will be having a hard freeze soon. Outside of town there have already been a couple of light frosts. The good news is that we can hook up the camper and go down to the Rio Grand Valley in extreme southern Texas during the winter. It almost never freezes down there and there are always a few hardy butterflies flying on warm days. It's also good birding in the Valley in the winter.

For your viewing pleasure
Here are some Fall insects from both here and the Valley.
I hope you enjoy them.
Photographs by Troy and Martha

Guava Skipper


American Rubyspot

Blue-ringed Dancer


Crimson Patch


Eastern Amberwing

Eastern Ringtail


Gulf Fritillary


Long-tailed Skipper

Lyside Sulphur


Phaon Crescent


Neon Skimmer

Sleepy Orange


Red-bordered Pixie


White-striped Longtail




We hope you have enjoyed a few of the insects from our small part of the world, and we look forward to your return. We sincerely hope you will bookmark us and return often.

What is your favorite Insect photo?
Leave a comment. Thanks.

Photography by
Troy and Martha

Please visit "That's my World" for other great places of the Earth.





.

An ode to "D"

.

Driving in the Dirt,
Deadhorse bound,
on the Dalton Haul Road, while
Displaying a license tag containing a D.

a perfect Day
24 hours of Daylight,
North of the Arctic Circle

Stopped in order for Martha to view wildlife in the
Distance.



Another D photographed in the Alpine regions of the mountains......

Dwarf fireweed
(Be sure to click on the photos for a Dazzling view)


a Different type of landscape,
a few thousand miles to the South
Desolate - Death Valley

Update: I had better add a Dragonfly.

Blue Dasher (Pachydiplas longipennis)

Troy and Martha

ABC Wednesday Round 3 is here.

Amberwings

A study of the
Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera)

A small, stocky, golden dragonfly of the Central, Southern and Eastern U.S.. One of the smallest in North America.

The male usually has entirely amber wings with reddish stigma (the small colored area near the tip of the leading edge of the wing). The full and correct name for the stigma is Pterostigma. The female stigma is usually dark with some reddish coloration. In the female the body has similar coloration and the wings lack much amber coloration. The wings in the female will have variable amounts of dark patches. In Southern populations, both sexes often have more spotting.

They usually perch horizontally on the tips of emergent plants usually along the shoreline. Both sexes are considered wasp mimics. When perched, they often move the wings and abdomen up and down in a wasplike manner.

Click on the photos for better looks at their variability.

Female
Note the excessive dark patches and brown stigma.


Female
Dark patches replaced with small amber patches on the hind wing.
Note the two-toned eye.


Male
Fully amber wings and red stigma


Male
Note the chevron markings on the abdomen.


Female
Beautiful example of average coloration.

The old style ABC wednesday is here.
Thanks Denise.

Troy and Martha
Texas Travelers

Alaska Sunday XIII

Crossing into Alaska

June 20:
We spent the night at Johnson Crossing in the Yukon, Canada. We were about a week behind schedule (that is if you want to say that we had a schedule). The Johnson Crossing Lodge (historic Milepost 836) is one of the original lodges on the Alaska Highway and this business has been advertising in "The Milepost" every year since the first edition in 1949. The area is known for its wildlife - muskrat, porcupine, moose,eagles, wolves - also bugs and lots of rain.

Original Lodge

Camping spot
We heard a Boreal Owl,
in the tree next to our camper
during the night.
po-po-po-po-po-po-po

Mile Marker 836

I bought my first Milepost in about 1952. It was then that I decided that I wanted to drive the "Alcan Highway" some day. It only took me 54 years before I realized my dream. It was well worth the wait. Little did I realize back in 1952 that I would be on the road 16 weeks roundtrip. Also little did I realize back then that I would be married and have 3 nice Nikon digital cameras instead of my little Kodak Brownie box camera. I am still going through the 18.000 photos that we kept and burned onto DVD's. I now use 2 "1 Terrabyte" cross-referenced external hard drives for photo storage. It's just about time to buy another.

Four things ahead
(Muddy road, Mountains, Border crossing, and Alaska)

Fast forward to
June 22:
We had been driving hard all day and we were heading for Tok, Alaska and our campsite for the night. We had heard that they had been closing the Border Crossing station at night. We finally crossed at 4:30 PM Alaska time and after another 30 minutes found a nice turnout to rest a little before the last leg of the day. The first Tundra Swan of the day was only a couple of miles after we crossed into Alaska. Whoo-hooo. Also just after crossing into Alaska our Navagation system changed screens. For the 5 weeks we were in Alaska, all it showed was the Latitude/Longitude and direction. That was OK, I had a box full of maps.

Alaska Crossing
(only 4 degrees below Arctic circle)

Variable Darner
(A new Dragonfly for our Life List)
(Our first Dragonfly in Alaska)

Tune in next week for further adventures.

Troy and Martha

Widow Skimmer

CC

The widow skimmer is a beautiful black and steely grey dragonfly with boldly marked wings. The females and young males do not have the white spots on the mid-wing. They are present across most of the US, except at higher altitudes in the Rockies. They may be seen in fields and meadows well away from water.

Widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)

Patience pays off.

I chased this male for about a half-hour with no luck. We were at the Ft. Worth Nature Refuge photographing “stuff” when I saw this nice photo op. He would not let me get closer than about 20’.
We birded the area for about an hour, then started to the car, when he flew up in front of me and landed on the nice grass stem about 3’ away and patiently waited for me to finish photographing him. Not only that, but he posed against a distant out-of-focus background.

Camera Critters is here. Come along; you’ll see some unusual stuff.
Join in; we would like to see your critters. Click here to join.

Troy and Martha

The Eyes Have It

Camera Critter Tip of the Day

When photographing willing subjects and you have the time, always focus on the eye. This is especially true when doing Macro (micro) photography.

The heart and soul lives in the eyes. Click on the link in the discussion to learn more about compound eyes.

Click on the photos to have a better look at the eye.

Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa)
Dragonfly

Kiowa Dancer (Argia immunda)
Damselfly
female

The Damselfly (Suborder Zygoptera) is an insect in the Order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along the body when at rest. Furthermore, the hindwing of the damselfly is essentially similar to the forewing, while the hindwing of the dragonfly broadens near the base, caudal to the connecting point at the body. Damselflies are also usually smaller, weaker fliers than dragonflies, and their eyes are separated.

Damselflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with an aquatic nymphal stage. The female lays eggs in water, sometimes in underwater vegetation, or high in trees in bromeliads and other water-filled cavities. Nymphs are carnivorous, feeding on daphnia, mosquito larvae, and various other small aquatic organisms. The gills of damselfly nymphs are large and external, resembling three fins at the end of the abdomen. After moulting several times, the winged adult emerges and eats flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects. Some of the larger tropical species are known to feed on spiders, hovering near the web and simply plucking the spider from its perch.

A Dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, and an elongated body.

Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges (no-see-ums), and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are therefore valued as predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects. Dragonflies are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. Dragonflies do not bite or sting humans.

Male Dragonflies are capable of hovering followed by rapid acceleration. Some nymphs even hunt on land, an aptitude which could easily have been more common in ancient times when terrestrial predators were clumsier. Giant dragonflies can glide for 20 meters at 10 degrees and a speed of 74 cm per second which is similar to some birds. They capture their prey by clasping them in legs studded with spikes. Prey cannot escape by diving away because dragonflies always attack from below.

Camera Critters is here. Come along; you’ll see some unusual stuff.
Join in; we would like to see your critters. Click here to join.

Scroll down 1 post to see the "Columbia River in the Rain" and
scroll down 2 posts to see some "Photographs of Texas".

Troy and Martha