depscribe's photos with the keyword: 105mm f2.8 AI-s Micro-Nikkor

The little wasp is the constant. I think it is waiting to parasitize the larvae when they hatch.

It's looking a bit as if the eggs that have gone dark have done so in the metaphorical sense as well. Meanwhile, the ones that started two days ago developing red spots at the top are developing; in the one at bottom it looks as if we might be seeing red eyes. I hope these guys don't do their hatching at night. And I wonder if one or more of the parasitic winged creatures we've seen, such as the one above, may be waiting to infect the larvae that come from the eggs, rather than the eggs themselves. Perhaps we shall see.

It's fascinating to me how the crab spider holds its two pairs of elongated legs together in the fashion of the pinchers of a crab, while locomotion comes from the other two pair. Will have to watch to see if it actually uses them in that fashion.

Just starting its web. This one was about a quarter-inch long. They get bigger. If it were red, it would have looked like the arachnos on Doctor Who.

. . . sooner or later you'll find one of these.

But if you look closely, you'll find at least two other minuscule guys living on this flower.

Not so little, actually -- this one was about an inch-and-a-quarter long.

A very small crab spider.

The variation among these stuns me. Their camouflage is nearly perfect -- this is the one place where almost no depth of field works to my advantage. I may try to collect the entire set.

This guy is really tiny -- the flower is less than an inch across -- but he presented the opportunity to show the strange construction of weevil antennae. Sometimes the antennae are seen extended near the base of the snout but sometimes they are far longer and extend from the tip of the snout. What's going on here? As you can see, their antennae have a kind of elbow. Added to that is the fact that their legs are uniquely attached, by a screw fitting rather than the ball-and-socket of other creatures. You can look it up.

This one has caught and mostly devoured one of those tiny, shiny clover beetles.

This may be the biggest weevil I've seen. It's close to 3/4-inch long. While photographing this one I came to the conclusion that the best macro setup for hand-held, hand-focused, available-light photography outdoors during the day is the 105mm f2.8 AI-s Micro-Nikkor, with the TC-14A teleconverter added to take it to almost 150mm. The TC-201 (2x) converter is a bit much for hand-held work, while the lens alone isn't quite enough.

Many of the spiky caterpillars hereabouts will give you a little sting and itch if you touch them. I do not know if this half-inch monster is among them -- could be it merely mimics the stinging ones.

Saw this character in the grass while I was coming in from tilling the garden, at dusk. It made me realize that I know next to nothing about spider identification. I'm fairly sure, though, that it is a spider. Was maybe an inch and a quarter from legtip to opposite legtip. Could move pretty quickly, but then would get totally still. Tried to shoot it face-on, but it would have none of it.