Starry Eyed

My Dad found this little jumping spider in the vase full of flowers on our dining room table. His actual size is only about 4mm long, so focusing on his little face was a little bit challenging. Its starting to be evident that I REALLY need a macro lens. I just can't get close enough with my 18-55mm. Nonetheless this turned out to be a pretty cool shot, who said spiders weren't cute?

Dragonfly

This dude was warming up in the flower pot my mom has in the front yard, so I seized the opportunity for a wicked picture and close up look at one of the coolest arthropods in the air today. If you can find of these warming up in the morning hours they are pretty easy to coax onto your finger to get a good look at those compound eyes. I wonder what a kaleidoscope looks like through these eyes?

Cicada

My Dad tracked this huge unsightly winged creature down on a fishing trip Canada Day weekend. They are the bugs that make that high pitched ringing sound that I always associate with those scorching, sunny, summer days. Easily one of my favorite Insects of all time, this is a Cicada of the Okanagana spp. These things are seriously nuts, their larva live underground for 13-17 YEARS. So while my friends and I were growing up happily above ground, this guy was 3 feet underground drinking the juices out of a tree root.