insects2020

[insects2020]

I’m well acquainted with the bugs that annoy, hurt, surprise, look scary, put on big displays, or make my house their own. But, as it turns out, these are the exceptions. A vast number of bugs operate, as best they can, independently of our structures, rules, customs and dismissive attitudes. Many are too small to seem to matter much. But, as I have discovered, they do matter and are everywhere - not unlike the pandemic virus which has limited this summer’s explorations to my immediate neighborhood; a close suburb of Chicago, on Lake Michigan which includes a large cemetery. 

Photography is a technology which encourages us to see what’s right there. For these pictures, I use a macro lens to peer into the cloud of fantastic and exotic life everywhere around us - the bugs.

William Harper - December 2020

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[insects2020]

Long Legged Fly

I see these in grasses, gardens and prairies all through the summer. They are tiny, shiny and move quickly. Occasionally they’ll sit still for a picture. 

William Harper - Evanston, June and July 2020

#long legged fly #Dolichopodidae #insects #William harper #macro photography

[insects2020]

Picture Wing Fly

This handsome dude shows up everywhere. Small enough that you wouldn’t notice. 

William Harper - Evanston, June and July 2020

#Delphinia picta #picture wing fly #William harper #macro photography

[insects2020]

This extraplanetary circus train is actually the larval caterpillar form of the dignified and discrete White-marked Tussock Moth . 

William Harper - Evanston, July 2020

#caterpillar #macro photography #William harper #white-marked tussock moth #orgyia leucostigma

[insects2020]

The mother White-marked Tussock Moth is wingless! Her little vestigial wings look like rabbit mouse ears. Here she is spreading a protective foam over her eggs which will become the crazy colored decorated furstrip caterpillars (above) of this family. 

William Harper - Evanston, September 2020 

#William harper #female moth #wingless moth #macro photography #white-marked tussock moth #orgyia leucostigma

[insects2020]

Leafhoppers come in many varieties of extraordinary colors. Farmers and gardeners don’t like them. There are more leafhopper species worldwide than all species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined! They’re touchy, run sideways, and are great jumpers so I’ve seen far more of these than I’ve been able to photograph. 

William Harper - Evanston, July and August 2020 

#leaf hoppers #William harper #macro photograpphy #Cicadellini

[insects2020]

This deco cloaked dandy is considered a micro moth - I want a silk scarf that looks like this. This was an exciting discovery for me - I couldn’t believe the beauty of this tiny thing and the patterns and the color seem so relevant to my human culture. Imagine my disappointment when I found its name: Ailanthus Webworm Moth.

William Harper - Evanston, August 2020

#ailanthus webworm moth #Atteva aurea #William harper #macro photography #insects

[insects2020]

This extraordinary moth is from the plume moth family - I’ve read that there are more than 140 species of plume moth which are barely distinguishable. This kind of species diversity is not uncommon in the insect world. 

William Harper - Lost Creek Farm, Wisconsin, June 2020

#bugs Grape plume moth macro moth Geina periscelidactyla #Geina periscelidactyla #plume moth #grape plume moth #William harper #macro phtography #insects

[insects2020]

Bugs in trouble. Spider webs are everywhere. 

William Harper - Evanston, June, July, August 2020 

#insects #bugs #macro photography #William harper

[insects2020]

Plant hoppers. Like cicadas, true bugs. If you want to know what distinguishes bugs from insects in general check this out:

https://www.thoughtco.com/is-it-a-bug-or-insect-3970968

William Harper - Evanston, July and August 2020

#plant hoppers #acanaloniidae #William harper #macro photography

[insects2020]

Five eyes and a noisy song from the tree tops this cicada, Linne's Annual Cicada. There is an approaching emergence of the 17 year Magicicada brood XIII due in Illinois in 2024.   

Cicada’s are among the true bugs. A bug is an insect, but not all insects are bugs; some non-insects that are called bugs are neither bugs nor are they insects. 

William Harper - Evanston, August 2020

#cicada #Neotibicen linnei #William harper #macro photography

[insects2020]

My cats stalk cicadas on the back porch. They live on the third floor of a three flat so they are high up in the trees where these cicadas like to traffic and sing. They bring them in, toy with them, eat them - leaving only the wings which trophies I collected over the summer and gave to my dear young friend, Janey, for her birthday. She was not altogether pleased with the gift. 

#Neotibicen linnei #cicada #wings #William harper

[insects2020]

This cute little red milkweed dweller thing, surprisingly called the Red Milkweed Bug, has a group of little yellow friends called Oleander Aphids. 

William Harper - Skokie Lagoons, 2020

#red wmilkweed bug #oleander aphid #Tetraopes tetrophthalmus #Aphis nerii #William harper #macro photography

[insects2020]

The Great Golden Digger Wasp is a large and scary thing but is not at all interested in stinging anyone. They are much more interested in sucking on the sweet milkweed flower and leading their solitary lives. 

William Harper, Evanston, August 2020

#Sphex ichneumoneus #Great Golden Digger Wasp #milkweed #William harper #macro photgra[hy

[insects2020]

This large milkweed bug is called the Large Milkweed Bug. Many of the bugs that frequent the milkweed are red or orange and black. This is a warning to predators that they have eaten the toxic and bitter sap of the milkweed and so are now toxic and bitter themselves. I guess you are what you eat. 

William Harper - Skokie Lagoons, August 2020

#Oncopeltus fasciatus #large milkweed bug #William harper #macro photography.

[insects2020]

Ants of all kinds are everywhere. When you are looking for bugs there are always ants. This one is a cute big eye cartoon.

William Harper - Evanston, June 2020

#ant #macro photograph #William harper

[insects2020]

A house fly. I’m particularly drawn to the hairs between the eyes which look like stitching. The extended mouth parts are alarming. 

William Harper - Evanston, June, July 2020

#musca domestica #house fly #macro phtorgaphy #William harper