Friday, July 20, 2007

Possible Sidewalk Tiger Beetle - Cicindela sp.

There are so many species of Tiger Beetle in the world. I hope to run across as many of them as I can. This was a new one for me, found along a dirt road in a partially roughed out section of a new subdivision by my sister- and brother-in-laws' place. I was very pleased to be able to photograph it.

Burrowing wasp - Tachysphex sp.

I love photos of invertebrates doing things. Several of these burrowing wasps were busily, ah, burrowing in the sandy gravel along a roughed-out road. They would quickly dig the burrow, then spend quite a bit more time getting it just right. These wasps will paralyze an insect and bring it back to the burrow, laying their egg or eggs on it so that when hatching occurs, the new larva or larvae have something to sustain them.