Love Bugs Up Close

These are the same lovebugs, up close.

Love Bug

In spring, love bugs are everywhere. They don't sting or bite; they just fly around. I love love bugs.

Earth-Boring Dung Beetle

My friend, Abby, found this dung beetle digging away in a pile of weeds. When I picked it up, she thought it would bite.

Wolf Spider

This is a giant wolf spider. The top two pictures are of a female, and the bottom three are of a male. When I captured the female, she attempted to bite me but just scraped my fingernail instead. That was a close one, mate! Later, when I caught the male, he bit me on my finger. That was too close, mate! (Please do not try this at home!)

House Pseudoscorpion (False Scorpion)

I found this eating a butterfly at a park. This pseudoscorpion is only about 8 mm and the butterfly it was eating was about 3 in.

Mr. Alfred Snaily Snail

This is my new pet, Mr. Alfred Snaily Snail. He is a Manatee Tree Snail. I found him on a nature trail near a creek. At first, I thought it was just a cool shell, but the next morning, he was crawling around on the back porch. We made a home for him in a terrarium where he now sits on our homeschool table.

Brown Snake

Taking a nap one day, I awoke to this crawling across my face. Just Kidding! Actually, I was riding my bike when I heard the call of "Snake!" I dove off my bike and, half limping, half running ran to the place from whence the screams came. My mom was weeding and came across this little beasty -beauty. I LOVE SNAKES.

Clouded Sulfer Butterfly

I found this yellow beauty taking a sip from our salvia plant. I summoned my brother to get my net for me, and I caught it and moved it to a container on our back porch. Then my mom took these photos while it was in our back porch.

Greenhouse Millipede

I found this millipede curled up under a stone. At first, I thought it was dead, but then I realized it was just defending itself. The scientific name for this guy is Oxidus gracilis.

Aphids

These aphids were on a plant in our yard. In large numbers, they damage plants, but ladybugs prey on them.

Green Lacewing

I found this lacewing on my back porch. A few days later, we saw three of them. There are two other species of lacewings: brown lacewing and giant spotted lacewing.

Mason Wasp

This wasp flew into our porch while we were taking photos of a green lacewing. At first, I thought it was a cicada killer, but further study revealed that it was a mason wasp. Details matter! A few days later, I saw this same wasp carrying a caterpillar. I followed it and it landed on our back porch. It carried the caterpillar into a hole in the wood. I suspect there are baby wasps in the hole.

Flatworm

I found this flatworm coiled up under a stone in my backyard. At first I thought it was a snake, then I realized it was a flatworm. I quickly caught it and my mom took a few pictures. (Photographer's note - "I almost quit. Yuuuccckkkk!!")

Caterpillar

While looking for frogs, I found this in our yard waste can. My photographer put it on this maypop leaf to take some photos. It seemed a more natural habitat than my nose.