Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

~Henry David Thoreau

The heat this past week has been pretty oppressive. So, I needed to remind myself that, even though there are not groups of Black Bears feeding in my woods like I saw last weekend down east, there are still reasons to brave the temperatures and get outside. Each day, I try to spend at least a little time wandering the yard, looking for the beauties that exist all around us. It never fails that I find something new and then spend time online or in the stacks of field guides that line the shelves, trying to learn more about the world around me. Small wonders and strange worlds exist just outside your door. Take a walk, have a look…

Bush Katydid nymph (Scudderia sp.) (click photos to enlarge)

Leafhopper, Graphocephala versuta

American Crow feather

Land snail

Flatid Planthopper nymph in circle of waxy filaments

Ailanthus Webworm Moth, Atteva aurea

Planthopper nymphs

Raindrop on iris leaf

Horace’s Duskywing, a common butterfly at my wildflowers right now

Early instar of a Red-spotted Purple Butterfly caterpillar. They drape over the edge of a twig when disturbed, possibly to mimic a bird dropping.

River Oats seed head after a rain

Syrphid Fly, a wasp mimic

Planthopper, Acanalonia conica

Unfurling tip of the frond of a Southern Shield Fern

Tobacco Hornworm close up. These are the common caterpillars found on your tomato plants. They are the larvae of the Carolina Sphinx Moth. The circles are spiracles, the openings to their respiratory system.

Leafhopper, Tylozygus geometricus.

Yellowjacket Hoverfly, Milesia virginiensis, a wasp mimic

Camera note – photos were taken with a Canon 7D Mark II camera using a Canon 100mm macro lens. Some of the images were taken with one or two extension tubes on the macro lens. Lighting provided by a Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX with diffusers.