Category Archives: Insects

There’s something bugging me

A tiny female Hawaiian Garden Spider with a much bigger one in the background

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Let’s Get Small.’ See more responses here.

Sorry to start off (above) with spiders, for those with aversions to them, but this one is very small. It’s a tiny female Hawaiian Garden Spider, probably no more than a quarter-inch across, though if it survives, it will grow to be as big as the other one in the photo.

In the gallery below, a Seven-spotted Ladybug putters about in some very green leaves. Another spider, this time a jumping spider no bigger than the little one at the top, has jumped a moth bigger than itself. Finally, what I think is a hover fly pretending to be a wasp with its black and yellow markings.

A jumping spider captures a moth in Hawaii

Finally, a Camponotus variegatus ant or carpenter ant. Next, a bee collecting pollen on an agave attenuata. Note the tiny aphids sharing the flower. And finally ants and aphids on the leaf of a Hawaiian Crown Flower. In this symbiotic relationship, the aphids produce sweet goodies for the ants to eat and the ants provide protection against the aphids’ predators.

Painted Lady Butterfly and Ma’o flower

A Painted Lady Butterfly on a milo flower in Hawaii

These photos were taken at Lapakahi State Historical Park. This year, North Kohala was awash with Painted Lady Butterflies and the park was no exception. The butterflies were all over the Ma’o flowers and pretty much anything else that came into bloom.

Painted Lady Butterflies on a milo flower in Hawaii

Passion Vine Butterfly on Blue Heliotrope

At Upolu Airport, there’s a mock orange hedge and through it grows a passion vine. The hedge used to be trimmed once in a while, but the flowers attracted to all kinds of insects and was teeming with life. Passion Vine Butterflies laid eggs there and their caterpillars ran amok munching on leaves.

These days the hedge is kept trimmed and is the poorer for it. It’s basically lifeless. I see the odd butterfly, an occasional caterpillar and that’s it. So Passion Vine Butterflies, which I used to see all the time, have thinned out considerably in that area. However, I did spot this one feeding on Blue Heliotrope flowers not too far away.

Upon reflection

I saw this praying mantis on a window reflecting the nearby hillside. That and the strong shadow of the mantis is what I like about this image.

It’s not blood, but it could be

A mud dauber wasps prepares a looper caterpillar before taking it to her nest to lay eggs on it

I saw this mud dauber wasp trussing up a looper caterpillar on a bright red fire bucket. The wasp doesn’t kill the caterpillar, but immobilizes it. It will then be stashed in the wasp’s nest and have the wasp’s eggs laid on it. What happens then is the stuff horror movies are made of!

Cow on the run

Heading down for my walk at Upolu, I saw this cow on the loose. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, but the main road is a mile up the hill and the escapees rarely get that far.

This one gave me a suspicious look as she passed. Perhaps she was trying to get rid of the ever-present cluster of flies on her back!

Black Witch Moth on a red door

This moth appeared on the back door of the house a few days ago. It remained there through the afternoon and evening, posing a bit of a problem when going in and out. We didn’t want it to fly into the house, but it appeared unconcerned at our coming and goings. Next morning, it was gone.

One of these is not a sparrow

Three House sparrows and a praying mantis on a rail

The praying mantis had been on the rail for some time when the sparrows arrived. I feared for its chances, but it remained very still and the sparrows never seemed to notice it, even though they hung around for a while.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii