Butterflies with elegant projections extending from their hind wings are known as "swallowtails"; the swallowtails can be seen clearly below. However as a butterfly ages, the outer edges of its wings start to wear away. The thin, little swallowtails are usually the first to go. So you may find yourself looking at a swallowtail species without seeing any swallowtails at all. The "tiger" part of this butterfly's name comes from the four black stripes that start at the outer, front edge of its wings
It's Read more ➜ Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies and Black Butterflies of All Sorts
Butterflies with elegant projections extending from their hind wings are known as "swallowtails"; the swallowtails can be seen clearly below. However as a butterfly ages, the outer edges of its wings start to wear away. The thin, little swallowtails are usually the first to go. So you may find yourself looking at a swallowtail species without seeing any swallowtails at all. The "tiger" part of this butterfly's name comes from the four black stripes that start at the outer, front edge of its wings
It's Read more ➜ 
The video below shows a group of Whirligig Beetles that I filmed swimming on the water's surface at Hoover Mudflats. They are called "whirligig" beetles because of the way they whirl around in circles when disturbed as seen near the end of this short video.
Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/xk-B0_VyAX4
When I first saw these, I had no idea what I was looking at. Since then I've learned quite a bit about them, and they are fascinating little critters. Below is a photo one in profile 
Photo courtesy of tanakawho, license: CC BY 2.0
Mosquito
Outbreak of 2012
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as of August 21st, nearly 1118 people have become ill from the West Nile Virus this summer; 41 have died from the most severe form of this illness. This is biggest outbreak since 2004. Since the virus is transmitted by mosquito bites, the high incidence of the disease is attributed to an unusually large number of mosquitoes. More mosquitoes than usual survived over 
I really like how color-coordinated the insect and flower are in the photo below. Prior to taking that photograph I had never seen that particular insect. There's such an astounding number of insect species that I find it really difficult to identify new species. But then I discovered BugGuide.net.
BugGuide.net helps people identify bugs that occur in the United States or Canada. To use their online guide, click on the drawing of the insect that most looks like your insect. This will 
While we were hiking at Caesar Creek Gorge State Nature Preserve, I happened across this frothy, little mess.
I had previously encountered this bubbly stuff on grass.
It turns out that this is the work of a spittlebug, and you are looking at his spittle.
Okay, it's not exactly spittle. The spittlebug youngsters (called nymphs) tap into plants and suck their sap. According to this Wikipedia article, while consuming sap the nymphs use the "excess, filtered fluids" to produce 
Since my last post on an Ambush Predator in a Flower, I've started keeping an eye out for crab spiders when doing macro shots of wildflowers. Yesterday I not only photographed two more crab spiders, but I've captured the moment immediately after the spider has seized its prey.
The bottom photo is a little harder to make out, so let me describe what's going in that one. The crab spider is to the left of the flower's center. The small insect the spider is eating is identical to the one 
Yesterday I was exploring Knox Woods State Nature Preserve when I encountered the little creature pictured above. To be honest, I didn't even know I had encountered him at first. I was on my way out of the woods because the sun was setting. On a whim I casually took a quick photo of a trillium just because it was adjacent to the trail. I hadn't been looking at any of my shots after taking them since I was trying to conserve my battery power, but on another whim I looked at this one anyway.
As