Very unusual mouthparts! My reference books don't show anything remotely like this, and I don't have a clue what it is. Sorry.

(Excellent picture, by the way!)

--Rik

However I don't think flies actually bite you, they in a way throw up on you producing enzymes that dissolve the skin or flesh so they can suck or lap it up with their tounge. Ken, I think Jody's got it right -- horseflies and deerflies (Diptera:Tabanidae) actually do bite. From the abstract of an ...

Tom, the image looks good! I think I understand about the diffuser close to the subject. I have gotten good results with a similar setup for studio lighting, using a diffuser close to subject, illuminated by a pair of frosted floods some distance away. But why two diffusers in your setup? Is the fla...

We also have an Outward Bound here too. I am not sure of what all the program offers but here I think it is mainly for kids with social issues, troublesome behavior and attitudes. That's a common impression, but it's not accurate from what I've seen. Outward Bound's literature specifically says tha...

... Take a picture and count how many mm wide. What's the number :?: --Rik Your calculation is nice but question is from which point of the camera "Super macro 2cm distance" specification is? Ad hoc on camera display my ruler says ~ 25mm wide. :lol: Excellent -- thanks for the measurement. Apparent...

It seems almost every year someone here in NC goes into these mountains and either gets lost or does not make it out alive. Yep. It's worse out here in Washington. According to an article in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine ( ref ): Wilderness Environ Med. 2005 Winter;16(4):192-7. Recreational...

...what's the field width? Anyone know how to calculate it? :-k Sure, assuming that I trust the camera manufacturer to tell everything important about how their lens works. They often don't, because it's complicated and nobody cares. For example, I've had some zoom lenses with close focusing capabi...

Again, wow! These pictures are like you're living on a different planet!

I have a gory detail technical question about that camera. At its most extreme macro setting, what's the field width?

--Rik

"But that was because the Army made me do it!" See, that's the funny thing -- people will happily do on their own initiative stuff that would seem completely out of line if somebody else asked or demanded it. I went back this last weekend. It was beautiful. Approaching one of the lakes, I saw two o...

A very beautiful place. It's odd that I live so close, but I have never gone to visit. Maybe next year...

Ken, rosy cheeks just come with the territory. Man, those snowmobiles look cold! It'd be so much more comfortable with some exercise to work the chill off...

--Rik

Awesome! And dirt cheap at the quoted price, even counting inflation. Coming back from my latest backpacking trip, I passed through some routine freeway expansion. $35 million, I think they said.

This is beautiful country, Ken. Thanks for the info!

--Rik

I understand that it's wax, extruded from a lot of little pores on the abdomen. They must just keep squirting this stuff out, sort of like really low quality spider silk!

--Rik

I found these while out backpacking last weekend. On alder, I think, right next to a creek. http://www.janrik.net/MiscSubj/WoolyAphids20060717/CRW_9524-9525_montage.jpg It was a bit tricky to get a decent picture of these things. For one, the critters who were neatly lined up were in the shade. It w...

Very nicely done! I bet this would look great as a big print to show off the detail. "A proper ident would be much appreciated." On first impression, this strikes me as a digger wasp, family Sphecidae, possibly genus Sphex . See for example http://bugguide.net/node/view/11085/bgimage . Unfortunately...

Sven, I asked my friend again. She replied: "The flowers might be very slightly larger--probably not detectable without measuring. But, in general, the plants grew for a longer time period and produced larger stems, taller plants, larger diameter plants overall." So in a much dryer year, the plant ...