Turnip Reflex

@turnipreflex.bsky.social

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Photography, primarily nature & macrophotography. Plant native! All photos are mine. @zhimbo_photos on IG.

An ant coaxes a small drop of honeydew from a treehopper. This is a form of mutualism, with the ants protecting the treehoppers and their nymphs from predators while receiving honeydew, the sugary by-product of feeding on plant sap.
A jagged ambush bug hangs on to its prey, a bee about the same size as the ambush bug itself, or a little bigger.
A small juvenile crab spider crawling up the side of a jagged ambush bug, holding perfectly still and apparently ignoring the spider. I've seen ambush bugs eat all sorts of arachnids so that spider was playing with fire.
A bumblebee and a beetle (Macrosiagon limbata, a species of wedge-shaped beetle) share a cluster of mountain mint blossoms.
Hidden in white fuzz on a plant stem, a white planthopper nymph sits mostly hidden. One of its eyes and some of the body markings are visible through the fuzz. The fuzz is a waxy cotton-like material produced by the nymph.
A furry bumblebee in flight from one bee balm flower to the next.
Face-on view of Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (common name: Red Milkweed Beele), whose Genus and species name means "four-eyed four-eyes" more or less. It's antennae completely bifurcate the eyes into two parts each.
Close-up of a widow skimmer dragonfly perched on a chain-link fence.
A honeybee (Apis mellifera) caught in midflight while it chooses a spot to land among a cluster of milkweed blossoms.
Milkweed pollen is contained in waxy little packets called pollinia. They commonly get caught on the feet of bees and other insects that feed on milkweed nectar.
A zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus, top) holds onto and feasts on a much larger moth, on a rough vertical surface.
A mating pair of milkweed leaf beetles facing the camera.
Harvestman (member of order Opiliones), AKA Daddy Longlegs in some parts of the world, including mine while growing up.
Close-up of tendrils and small leaves of a squash plant
A spider in its web, its long front legs extended and held tightly together, and its shorter rear legs held against its abdomen. It's abdomen has two distinctive "knobs" or "horns", and it front legs have a feathery texture about two-thirds of the way down. Its tiny black eyes are just visible on its mostly hidden head.
A closeup of a jumping spider covering its eyes (in the process of grooming itself).
Ceratina calcarata, the spurred ceratina, is a species of small carpenter bee. It's foraging on small daisy-like flower of a Fleabane plant (Genus Erigeron)
A fly seen in profile rests on the tip of a leaf. The face has a gas-mask like appearance, with a nozzle shaped mouth area. The brown-and-white patterned wings give the fly its common name (Picture-winged fly)
A little green female ruby throated hummingbird sips from a feeder. The red cap of the feeder is just about 1.5 inches (38mm) across.
Close up of the face of a green lacewing
Two hoverflies float against a dark, speckled background. Seen from the side, the top male fly is holding onto the female while it mates, its wings a blur.
An ant perched on a slender sunflower stem.
Close-up black and white photo of of a Rudbeckia flower, petals radiating from a glossy dark center
A lady beetle on the empty shell of its pupal form.
A femaled red-winged blackbird perches on a vertical talk, looking over its shoulder
A goldfinch perches on a plant, holding a small bundle of seeds in its beak.
A very close up image of the tip of a cat's ear
A close up photo of small icecicles, with small bubble formations visible inside
A male and female jagged ambush bug face the camera.
A brightly colored spider resting in the center of its web
An adult red and black beetle on a milkweed leaf.
An orbweaver spider is busy at work rebuilding its web
A close up of an orbweaver spider hanging from its web.
A spider waits in the center of its web, silhouetted by a rising sun.
A small bug-eyed mantis-clawed insect rises up out of the center of a coneflower, the flower's petals forming a contrasting backdrop.
An ant opens it jaws and lunges towards a large mantis many times its sizes while the mantis is eating a bee.
Female ruby-throated hummingbird wings spread facing the camera, with flowers in the background