Spined Micrathena – iNaturalist Their webs are tightly woven with a diameter up to about eight inches This spooky spider is called a spined micrathena. Although it produces venom, this venom is harmless to humans. These spiders are in the orb-weaver family of spiders (Araneidae). Wild Boyz Photography has featured a variety of orb weaver spiders over the years. Below […]
Green Sweat Bee – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data Green sweat bees will lick the sweat from human skin Check out this metallic green pollinator. As the name suggests, this green colored bee is attracted to human sweat, primarily for its salt content. Male and female green sweat bees will lick the sweat from human skin. These bees are […]
Speckle-Winged Rangeland Grasshopper – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data If you look closely, even their eyes are speckled! This interesting looking grasshopper is called a speckle-winged rangeland grasshopper. Its name is a mouthful so for the remainder of this article we will refer to it as the SWRG. This grasshopper is relatively small. The one in this photo is […]
Cabbage White Butterfly – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data There were lots of pollinators amongst the thick vegetation. The last few years I’ve made a concerted effort to visit the few states I have not seen. This summer I made it to Nebraska for the first time. Just south of Omaha is an awesome riverside park called […]
Black Shouldered Drone Fly – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data Black shouldered drone flies are a species of hoverfly This month Wild Boyz Photography is highlighting the beauty of Midwest nature. Ben currently lives in the Midwest. Before living in New Hampshire and Florida, I also spent ten years in Indiana. Both Ben and I have shot many […]
Laughing Gull – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern One flew by that had obviously caught something Every October, Wild Boyz Photography celebrates the weird and wild side of nature. This is a series of photographs of a laughing gull capturing and eating a starfish. I had walked out on the rocks at a jetty near where I […]
Barred Hamlet – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern Barred hamlets have a continuous dorsal fin that has ten spines This beautiful tropical fish is called a barred hamlet. There are several other species of hamlet in the waters of the tropical western Atlantic, including the indigo hamlet, butter hamlet, shy hamlet, golden hamlet, yellowbelly hamlet, yellowtail […]
Striated Frogfish – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern The striated frogfish then closes its esophagus trapping the prey This strange looking creature is called a striated frogfish. These fish are masters of camouflage. They only grow to about seven inches long. Striated frogfish do not swim around much. Rather, they rest on the seafloor and remain motionless. All of these […]
Bison – IUCN Conservation Status: Near Threatened Visitors to Yellowstone are almost certainly going to see a bison Hours before I took this photograph it was snowing. It was one of those spring days with dramatic temperature swings. By afternoon, it was sunny and in the 50’s Fahrenheit. The bison were enjoying the warmth. Pronghorn Yellowstone This photograph […]
Moose – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern The males are called bulls and they can weigh more than 1,000 pounds This is a young moose that I came across in Grand Teton National Park. If you are lucky enough to see a moose, it is generally somewhere around water, such as a marsh, lake shore, or […]