Tiny Little Life

This hoverfly seemed more interested in licking my hand clean than doing any actual hovering. I found it while camping.
Looking like a yellowjacket, it must not have many natural enemies — either that, or it was desperately hungry — because I was able to pick it up by the wing from my friend’s leg […]

Something about this type of spider, with its long and thin legs, is a little creepy to me.
This one inhabited my bulkhead, which is slowly rusting.

This spider could reach across my palm and beyond if it stretched its legs out. Its jaws look mushy.

I’m not exactly sure what type of fly this is, but it met enough of criteria for a good photo subject:

I’ve never seen one before
it’s larger than “average”
it let me approach

This is a fairly beautiful insect, and underscores the fact that I need to start looking into cameras with better macro lenses.

I’m glad that humans are much larger than beetles.
This is a stag beetle, a proud member of the beetle family with the big (and usually very intricate) jaws.

This is how I found it… living with a new-in-box oil filter, in the basement. I took it outside to snap pictures.

It stood up and tried to […]