There is a little frowner peepin' at me, see if you can spot him.

Some nice fungi.

TURDLE BUTT

This guy could use a shave.

I believe this is a Juvenile Bush Cricket - but I prefer my own name of Eastern Taco-Salad Cricket.

A Sacken's Bee Hunter - a bigass bumble bee mimic that likes to run into me and make me do David Byrne dances.

An Augochloa Green Metallic Bee.

I just wanna snorgle the disease right out of these little guys.

Hey guys: I guess my photos are loading in slowly - so I'll have to re-host them somewhere else.
Also, remember that these pictures are high resolution, and you can see the full res by clicking on the pictures.
HUZZAH!

Mushrooms.

Look at this little grump! I found him wandering the streets of Cedarville National Forest and with my foot, gently suggested he hurry off the road before someone hits him. He was less than appreciative of my suggestion and responded with a series of turtle frowns and snaps.

A Banded Net-Wing - out of focus, as usual.

BLUUUUUEEEBEEEEELLLYYYYY

HEY THIS AIN'T NO CRITTER!


I know, it was just kinda pretty.

A group of "Heteroptera nymphs" as informed by a helpful forum member. protecting the VIP in the center. No idea what these fuckin' guys were up to.

A Rabid Wolf Spider who was just absolutely intent on being stepped on. I damn near toppled over a few times trying miss him.

These were the two smartest bugs I've ever found. I lifted up a piece of bark and caught these two turdburglers in the act of being gross - but instead of trying to hide immediately, which would have been useless since I already possessed the strength to breach their fortified perimeter - they just decided to look really busy so that I would know that it would be terribly inconvenient for them if I decided to eat them. It worked.

One of the little insanely iridescent Black Winged Damselflies that flitter about like they own the damn place.

Here's how big the Click Beetles are out here. If you're from California, this shit will blow your mind. These things click like firecrackers.

This is a Giant Ichneumon Wasp - and it's body was about 3 inches long, and it's ovipositor was about 5 inches long - with a total length of about 8 inches.

Little red Toad humpin' on some moss.

Mantis. Feel it.

A Harvestman basking in joy of knowing that no one knows what to call it.

This Patent Leather Beetle was acting weird, and making squeaking noises that sounded a bit like an 8bit digital puppy whimpering. It also appeared to have a really bad mite problem, as you can see where one had drilled through its right elytron.

I'm beginning to think this is a giant Fishing Spider - something I had never come across in California - this yuckmaster was about 4 inches in diameter.

A Black Widow in the wild, which in Maryland apparently isn't rare - but in California they typically only set up camp in your eaves, underwear drawers, toothbrushes, or suntan lotion.

A Gold Backed Snipe Fly taking a well-earned break from flying into my goddamned face at full speed every 15 minutes.

One of the local Bluebelly/Fence Swift Varieties - lookin' handsome.

This Six Spotted Tiger Beetle had no qualms with me getting MACRO NASTY all up in there.

I found this guy flattened out on a log on the hottest day of the year so far - he didn't seem too worried by my presence though, perhaps he thought whatever I was going to do to him couldn't be worse than the heat and humidity.

Here's a gross little Purseweb Spider hurriedly crawling off to some corner of the forest where he had an appointment to gross someone the fuck out.

This Eastern Eyed Click Beetle has an interesting co-pilot; a Pseudoscorpion.
The Pseudoscorpion rides along and eats mites off the beetle, in a symbiotic barf inducing relationship.

Assassin Bug.

Widdle Fwog.

Gulf Fritillary macking on some milkweed.


nom nom nom

This Assassin Bug was tripping the light fantastic.

I caught this little gruffmuffin clumsily tumbling off the path, so I nabbed him and gently plopped him back down into the middle of the trail so I could get a few pictures of him. He obviously wasn't too happy about it, but was a champ nonetheless.

Just another Dragonfly unconcerned by my presence.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of spider this is, but it was absolutely massive and I did an involuntary Scooby Doo impression when I realized it was sitting on the log next to me.

I have no idea why this Leopard Frog let me get as close to it as I did.

This baby toad was giving me some lip, making fun of my short socks, so I had to get all up in his grill and remind him how the world works.

This little Red Toad was giving a clinic on how to CHILL HARD.

If you imagine the white frontal area of this Dragonfly as being pursed lips, this picture is suddenly hilarious.

A Mantis baffled by the hulking, clumsy, hairy beast looming over it.

Why, it's a Leopard Frog enjoying a summer afternoon in what is most definitely diarrhea.

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