Texas Hill Country Pictures (Bugs!)
All images Copyright © 1998-2011, Dick Locke. All Rights Reserved. Contact and Image Use Information You might prefer Texas Hill Country Birds here! See the Scenic Pictures here. Main Bugs Page here.

The latest: extreme close-up pictures of some Texas Hill Country Bugs, June 2011.

Common yellowjacket, Vespula vulgaris

Wimberley, TX, 2010. Per Gil: This is an introduced pest from Europe. The English call it the "common wasp" and sometimes "jasper". It is more aggressive than our native yellowjacket species and has displaced our own.

Cactus Bug on an Opuntia Cactus

Scroll down for a few more cactus bugs from Wimberly 2010. This looks a lot like a big-eyed bug, which was what the B&B owners ventured. (They call it a "spineless cactus.)" Thanks to Gil again for the authoritative answer... I just arbitrarily called it a cactus bug and that's what it was... Didn't even know there was such a thing ;-) Your ID is right on the money. This is a Cactus bug, Hesperolabops gelastops. It is one of the true bugs, with a piercing, sucking mouthpart. This species is found only on Opuntia cacti, in Texas and Mexico.

A Very Red Cactus Bug

Cactus Bug Party

Dragonfly Close-Up

It's a real close shot of the blue and yellow dragon fly. Check out the spiny legs! Photo Notes: It's hand-held, 1/45 second at f11 with the Nikon D100 and 105mm AF f2.8D macro lens. Scroll to the bottom for the robber fly.

XL Picture of Mating Dragonflies

See the more colorful version here.

Texas Hill Country Pictures Page 2 (Butterflies)

Different angle and the dragonfly See more robber flies on my bug picture page.	More Dragonflies here: Marshland Pictures
Dragonfly and Damselfly Pictures	2006: Texas Hill Country Birds
From the top you wouldn't know the robber fly is dining.	Titmouse! Gil advises: "It is (definitely) an immature Black-crested titmouse, as Dwanna surmised it might be. It is not a Plain titmouse." Per Dwanna: "It looks like a "plain titmouse" but it could be a young "black crested" titmouse, which are more common around here. The male and female look pretty much the same, but their young have a gray crest at first."

Don't miss:
West Texas Astrophotography by Dick Locke

Robber Fly, with Prey - Yum Yum!

Robber Flies are voracious predators. They slam into their prey with force, then suck the nummy juices out of their prey.
"Order Diptera, family Asiladae, many species. ...They suck their prey dry with hypodermic-like mouthparts. .... Help to control troublesome insects, especially files ... and mosquitoes. ... The common name of this ferocious insect comes from its habit of pouncing on prey." (Texas Bug Book, by Beck and Garret)

West Texas Scenic Photography: Images by Dick Locke

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Texas Hill Country Pictures (Bugs!)All images Copyright © 1998-2011, Dick Locke. All Rights Reserved. Contact and Image Use Information You might prefer Texas Hill Country Birds here! See the Scenic Pictures here. Main Bugs Page here.