outdoorswithcamera

Taking pictures of bugs I can hardly see without my Canon’s lens, and of others that may be a bit “sexier” (dragonflies and particularly butterflies), then scouring the web to identify them, only to discover that there’s some nuance— for example, the subtleties of distinguishing moths from butterflies— well, it’s quite an ongoing learning experience. Examining lepidoptera photos on my laptop and discovering “clubs” on the antennae of butterflies but not moths (see this Wikipedia article) such as the “veined moth” vs. the Common Buckeye butterfly in the photos below— that has been a delight.

Interested in seeing any of the insect photographs described below on my SmugMug page? Just click, and you’ll be automagically transported there!

Dragonfly perching on spent mullen stalk; taken from the sides of the Rio de Flag, Flagstaff

Dragonfly photographed at Page Springs Fish Hatchery, Cornville, Arizona

Dragonfly perching on plant, beside the Rio de Flag, Flagstaff Arizona, June 23, 2015

Blue damselfly, taken at the Flagstaff Arboretum, June 21, 2015

Ctenucha venosa (Veined Ctenucha moth) at work as a pollinator in its natural habitat (along the Rio de Flag, Flagstaff, Arizona, July 14, 2015

Veined moths (and specifically Ctenucha venosa), common in mid-July 2015 in the Cheshire neighborhood of Flagstaff, Arizona (taken on July 13).

I took this photo of a Veined Ctenucha Moth (Ctenucha venosa) in our front yard (Cheshire neighborhood, Flagstaff Arizona) on July 10, 2015. Note the hairiness of its antennae and lack of “clubs” at their ends— a key to distinguishing moths from butterflies.

I shot this photo of a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus) perchd on a coreopsis flower in Flagstaff Arizona on the Fourth of July 2015—beautiful, eh?