The “furry butterfly” is a bee fly.
They are rather pretty as they look like tiny hummingbirds.
The mouse was a “fuck and I’ve got the wrong lense on” moment. 60mm macro….
Ice Swimmersays
The “buzzers” behind the front wings should have made it clear to me that it’s no butterfly, but that was the closest guess I was able to make.
I think the mouse photo turned out more fun with the wrong lens, a clear focus on the mouse would have made discovering the critter less of a surprise.
Caine, your clearwing moth is limited to North America, but we have something similar,
the hummingbird hawk moth
, but they are a lot bigger. The bee flies are about the size of a bee while the hummingbird hawk moth is the size of a big bumblebee.
And yes, I’ve been lucky in the animal photography department lately.
rqsays
The “buzzers” behind the front wings
They’re called halteres and they’re the main identifying feature for dipterans (“two wings”), because insects are defined as those arthropods that have two pairs of wings (among other things, of course), and the halteres are the second, evolved, set of fly wings -- apparently useful for maneuvering while in flight.
Great shots, Giliell! I like the last strawberry best. (No strawberries here yet.)
What a furry butterfly! And a mouse outside their burrow. Nice catches.
The “furry butterfly” is a bee fly.
They are rather pretty as they look like tiny hummingbirds.
The mouse was a “fuck and I’ve got the wrong lense on” moment. 60mm macro….
The “buzzers” behind the front wings should have made it clear to me that it’s no butterfly, but that was the closest guess I was able to make.
I think the mouse photo turned out more fun with the wrong lens, a clear focus on the mouse would have made discovering the critter less of a surprise.
I thought it was a Clearwing Moth. I love them, only have managed photos a couple of times.
Caine, your clearwing moth is limited to North America, but we have something similar,
, but they are a lot bigger. The bee flies are about the size of a bee while the hummingbird hawk moth is the size of a big bumblebee.
And yes, I’ve been lucky in the animal photography department lately.
They’re called halteres and they’re the main identifying feature for dipterans (“two wings”), because insects are defined as those arthropods that have two pairs of wings (among other things, of course), and the halteres are the second, evolved, set of fly wings -- apparently useful for maneuvering while in flight.
Great shots, Giliell! I like the last strawberry best. (No strawberries here yet.)