Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Insects at Tohono Chul Park

On Friday, we were on the west side of town, so we decided to have lunch at the Tohono Chul Tea Room and then walk through Tohono Chul Park. Tohono Chul is famous for its wildflowers. Since there hasn't been enough rain to bring out the wildflowers in the desert, we're relying on places like Tohono Chul and the Tucson Botanical Garden, where the flower beds are watered, for this season's wildflower displays.

This was my first attempt at photographing insects. I didn't know what any of them were.

I thought this was a bee on the brittle-bush, but remembered that I'd seen a post on Firefly Forest that identified it as an Eristalis Fly.


I think this one is a bee - among Mexican Gold Poppies, Lupine and Owl Clover:



Is this a Damsel Fly? If so, what kind?


Thanks to excellent posts in Firefly Forest and Sonoran Desert Almanac, I was able to identify this Carpenter Bee.


Please leave me a comment if I've misidentified any of these insects or flowers or you'd like to add information. I'll correct the post. Thanks ... Pam

13 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

The photos here are brilliant in every sense of the word - and for some reason I found myself smiling as I looked at them.

Anonymous said...

A whole string of bright images strung together like big, chunky, shiny beads on a necklace. They made me smile, too.

Endment said...

I love the shimmer on the Eristalis Fly's wings and thebeautiful combination of the fly with the gold of the flowers.

These photos are lovely... I agree with chiefbiscuit and laura
they reach inside and bring out a smile

Cyn Bagley said...

Yes, I felt spring in the air and a smile on my face. Thank you for these jewels.

robin andrea said...

The whole wild world is so alive with color and activity. These photos convey the world so perfectly.

Anonymous said...

Your photos are getting great - good job!
I think the big yellow-flowered tree might be Parkinsonia aculeata - Mexican palo verde. Does it have long shoestring like leaves with little leaflets along each one (or they could be leafless still). They have lovely big yellow flowers.

T. Beth said...

Your insect identifications all appear to be correct. :-)

I find damselflies (and dragonflies) very difficult to identify because some identifications require examination of wing venation, which is difficult from photographs.

Pam in Tucson said...

all - Thanks for all the smiles. I enjoyed photographing these insects and intend to try some more. They do alight in lovely, bright places.

roseann - Thanks so much for the tree ID. I'll check next time I'm up at Tohono Chul.

t.beth - Thanks very much for the insect ID confirmation :) I think I'll pass on trying to identify the wing venaton of the damselfly - but that is a fascinating distinction. What I was finding on the Internet was "blue," "green," etc. I couldn't find any grey ones, though. This was my favourite photo, because the camera allowed me to see minute detail I couldn't otherwise see. I love using the camera as a discovery tool.

harmonyinline said...

I love the damselfly photo.

JLLove said...

What a lovely series!
Great skill in shooting images.

Pam in Tucson said...

harmonyinline - I can see why you like the damselfly - your own paintings have that elegance.

jllove - Thank you! I'm still working on technique - many, many get deleted, but it's always delightful to see what works.

Jean said...

Que la nature est belle , variƩe !

Pam in Tucson said...

D'accord, jean!