Just a rock

Went for a morning walk with Winnie and we saw an eagle swimming

A Sagebrush Sheep Moth (Hemileuca hera) on Mount Kobau in the Okanagan. What a great place to be for bugs! #Lepidoptera #Moth #iNaturalist

Some sleeping bees on a foggy morning at the beach. Coelioxys up top and Ammophila below them. #Hymenoptera #Macrophotography #Macro

A couple of cute little Neon pixii. Male and female. #Neon #Salticidae #Jumpingspider

Two more Phidippus comatus shots. This guy was much more cooperative for photos than I am used to for male salticids. Lots of pausing between movements allowing for quick focus stacks. #Salticidae #Jumpingspider #Phidippus

A male Phidippus comatus!! I put in some serious hours to find this guy. I had found a handful of females before, but finally found a subadult male earlier this month. He just emerged as an adult and is absolutely incredible! #Salticidae #JumpingSpider #Phidippus

A male Castianeira walsinghami #spider #Arachnid

A Schizocosa sp. Wolf spider I found a few days ago. I was excited to find him because there aren’t any official records of this genus where I live. I figure it is probably Schizocosa mccooki based on habitus. #Lycosidae #WolfSpider #macrophotography

A female Synageles venator. Introduced, but still love to see them. Mimicry is one of my favourite things. I didn’t get any good photos of it, but they hold out their second pair of legs like antennae while moving around. #Salticidae #JumpingSpider #Synageles

A couple of recent Habronattus oregonenesis males. The second guy was wandering around in a semi-display pose. I’m guessing there was a female around that I spooked and he was trying to refind her. Or maybe it was a competing male. #Habronattus #Salticidae #Jumpingspider

A tiny Polyxenus millipede on the underside of some dry Douglas fir bark. #Millipede #iNaturalist #macro

Zora hespera on arbutus bark. I found this guy in some arbutus leaf litter today.

A Cuckoo Bee (Epeolus olympiellus) photographed last summer. One that I forgot about and just stumbled across on my phone this evening! #CuckooBee #Bee #Hymenoptera

Sleeping Coelioxys bees. I was first introduced to these bees and their sleeping behaviour by @ibycter.bsky.social at a local beach here on Vancouver Island #bee #Hymenoptera #macrophotography

An alien-like Western Tiger Beetle larva (Cicindela oregona) waiting at the entrance of its burrow for prey. One of my favourite photos I have taken! #iNaturalist #Coleoptera #TigerBeetle #macrophotography

I was pretty blown away by the size of this Square-legged Camel Cricket (Tropidischia xanthostoma). Must be up there for the largest insects we get on Vancouver Island. It seemed to be living in the space between large boulders beside a river. #iNaturalist #Orthoptera

A couple of Ceratinops inflatus males. I found them by sifting moss in a mature Douglas fir forest. #Linyphiidae #spider #iNaturalist

A Pompilid wasp dragging a juvenile Habronattus ophrys that it paralyzed back to its burrow. #Pompilidae #wasp #salticidae #Habronattus

Bathyphantes brevipes I caught this male out of the air while it was ballooning a few days ago. #Linyphiidae #Spider

Laphria sp. Robberfly hanging out on a manzanita leaf on a summer evening. Not often I get to photograph these as they are quite flighty! #flyfriday #Asilidae #Diptera #Robberfly

Cybaeopsis wabritaska I found a population of these spiders on a seep overhanging the ocean #spider #Amaurobiidae

Ghost Spider (Anyphaena sp.) and the Small-headed Fly (Acrocera sp.) that emerged from it. In the second photo you can see it beginning to split open the spider’s abdomen. #spider #diptera #parasitoid #macrophotography

A couple of photetic mites sitting on a Snail-eating Beetle’s head (Scaphinotus angusticollis) #Coleoptera #Beetle #macrophotography

Just some nice Habronattus males. I fell very fortunate to be able to find these fancy guys in BC. #Habronattus #Salticidae #jumpingspider

Omus audouini with a decapitated ant head latched on to its antenna. This beetle is quite rare and extremely range-restricted in BC. I was thrilled at the opportunity to find and photograph some last summer. #Coleoptera #Beetle #macrophotography

A feast about to happen: the very rare and critically endangered Kangaroo Island Assassin Spider showing off her impressive mouthparts, whilst carrying around her 8-legged prey 🕷️🧪 #invertebrate #conservation #biodiversity #spider #australia

A Banded Alder Borer (Rosalia funebris) with the sun setting in the background. Always a treat to see one of these big beetles! #Coleoptera #LonghornBeetle #Beetle

Following up the Hexura piecea photos with Vancouver Island’s only other mygalomorph - Antrodiaetus pacificus These spiders live in a silken retreat with a turret-like entrance. #Mygalomorph #iNaturalist #Spider

Hexura picea from the SW coast of Vancouver Island #Mygalomorph #macrophotography #iNaturalist

A male Pocadicnemis pumilis marching across a leaf. These guys have some mild head weirdness going on. #Linyphiidae #Spider #iNaturalist

A tiny Trogloneta walking across a leaf. These little ones are ~1mm long. In BC we have Trogloneta paradoxa. Apparently just south in Washington there are a few undescribed species, so it is possible they range up here too. #Trogloneta #spider #iNaturalist

Scironis sima. The smallest mature Linyphiid I have encountered so far (~1mm long). Also probably the only live photos of this species. #Linyphiidae #spider #iNaturalist

A Thread-waisted Wasp (Prionyx canadensis) sleeping on Wild Garlic as the moon rises in the background. #Prionyx #Sphecidae #Hymenoptera

A male Attulus floricola. This is a species I do not understand. I would love to be able to go looking for these guys, but I’m limited to chance encounters. I think I have seen 2 males and 3 females. Maybe this year I’ll learn how to look for them! #Attulus #Salticidae #jumpingspider

Habronattus oregonensis with some large prey. #Habronattus #Salticidae #JumpingSpider

A Yellow-spotted Millipede (Harpaphe haydeniana) likely infected with an iridovirus. I believe this is the first record of an iridovirus in a millipede and is probably undescribed. The virus turns the host blue (normally black with yellow spots) and shortens the lifespan.

A neat little millipede. I know nothing about this millipede. #iNaturalist #millipede #myriapoda

This is what can happen when metamorphosis goes terribly, horribly wrong! Female Cofaqui Giant-Skipper that never shed her larval head... 😳

An interesting looking Buprestid beetle in the genus Dicerca. This one was found on a Douglas fir. #Coleoptera #Buprestidae #iNaturalist

A cool Lacebug (Tingidae) photographed this summer while searching a hillside for jumping spiders. I love their doily-like exoskeleton.

Walckenaeria occidentalis I’m beginning to really like Linyphiids with their weird heads #Linyphiidae

An incredible female Phidippus comatus. A new record for BC and Canada. So far I have found a couple in Scotch broom, and one under a rock guarding her eggs. I have not seen a male yet.

A Cyanide Millipede fluorescing under UV light. Cool to see the moss change colour too!

A beautiful Western Sheep Moth (Hemileuca eglanterina) in a Garry Oak meadow as the sun sets.