Category Archives: Insects

The Numbers Game #47

A smokey sky colors the waters of Kawaihae small boat harbor
Late afternoon sun over Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor with smoke in the air.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 168. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A hibiscus tiliaceus at the Golden Ponds of Keawaiki on The Big Island of Hawaii
Hibiscus tiliaceus flowers.
Palm trees at the beach.
Two sheep after a brush fire
After the fire along Old Saddle Road.
A cat rests in the dirt
Cat at rest.
Wasps building a nest
Wasps at work.
An outrigger canoe changing paddlers in Hawaii
Changing crew in an outrigger.

The Numbers Game #46

A curtained bed at Kohanaiki Beach Club, Hawaii
One of the amenities at Kohanaiki Beach Club.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 167. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

The front of Chaba's Joy Cafe in Kapaau, Hawaii
Chaba’s Joy Cafe in Kapaau,
A Carolina green anole shedding in Hawaii
A green anole having a little trouble shedding.
A close up of taillight of a Honda Metropolitanscooter
The back end of a Metropolitan scooter.
Skydivers over Upolu, Hawaii
Tandem skydivers earthbound.
A bee scrambles over a clover flower
A bee on clover flowers.
Hawaiian stilts at Kohanaiki Beach Park in Hawaii
A pair of Hawaiian Stilts, the one on the left sitting on a nest.

Cornered

A small Black Witch Moth rests in Hawaii

This Black Witch Moth showed up on the back lanai recently and was noteworthy for its size. The moths I notice have a wingspan of 6 inches or more. This one was an inch or so across, and presumably a juvenile. It looked a bit beaten up, as moths often do, so I don’t know whether it will go on to attain its full size. Here, it’s having a rest, tucked into the corner, out of the wind.

The Numbers Game #45

A boy hangs off a yellow raft off the coast of Hawaii
A yellow raft on blue water.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 166. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Monarch butterflies mating on a kiawe tree
Monarchs mating.
An I'iwi calls in a forest off Saddle Road, Hawaii
An I’iwi calls.
A Roseate Skimmer Dragonfly perched on a twig
A Roseatte Skimmer dragonfly.
Rust forms on a water tank
A rusty water tank.
The wall of the Ackerman Gallery Building in Kapaau, Hawaii
Art gallery wall.
Maiapilo flowers in Hawaii
Maiapilo flowers.

The Numbers Game #44

Billowy clouds over the Alenuihāhā Channel between Maui and the Big Island, Hawaii
Clouds pile up over the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 165. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A rainy day at Upolu Airport, Hawaii
A plane parked at Upolu under ominous skies.
A giant trevally in the waters off Hawaii
A Giant Trevally.
A broken window in Hawaii
Broken glass in a nearby house.
A black saddlebags dragonfly
A Black Saddlebags Dragonfly.
The remains of a building at Kiholo, Hawaii
An old building at Kiholo.
A green turtle swims in Kiholo Bay, Hawaii
A Green Turtle swims in Kiholo Lagoon.

Stick Insect

A Stick insect clings to a window screen in Hawaii

When I saw this Stick Insect, clinging to one of the window screens, I realized that it had been a long time since I last saw one, at least a couple of years. Not sure why that is, but they blend in so well I could easily have looked at one without realizing it.

Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp

A Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp in Hawaii
A Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp in Hawaii

I see these wasps quite often, flitting about, with the little black abdominal part on the stalk vibrating noticeably. However, it wasn’t until recently that I identified them.

This is a Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp (Evania appendigaster) and it’s considered a beneficial insect because it’s a parasitoid, which lays it’s eggs in the eggs of cockroaches. The wasp’s offspring feed off the cockroach eggs, which results in a few less cockroaches in the neighborhood.

Alas, we do not appear to be running out of cockroaches, or seem likely to do so in the immediate future.