OniOniOniArt

I have had the worst luck with getting sick this year. For the last 3 days I've had a very bad stomach virus and have either been miserable in bed or vomiting in the bathroom. I just got over a cold a couple days prior to getting this illness and I had another cold in December. I hope I'm done for a while. At any rate! Rather than add more horrid roach drawings (which I've been doing if I miss a day) I've decided to just lump the missed days here, and present this syrphid fly sketched with the brush pen. Simple. Done. Caught up! Is it cheating? Perhaps... [February 13, 2020]

My hubs was very sweet and bought tickets for me to see Jurassic World Live. Once there, we realized that the vast majority of adults were accompanied by children for a reason. It was a good diversion, but definitely geared for kids and not quite what we were expecting ( Poor S! He apologized profusely. Your heart was in the right place!) .  At any rate, in the spirit of Jurassic Park, one of my favorite movies, I've sketched a fossilized mosquito with the brush pen on a background of brown and gold ink splatter - a good substitute for stone I think. Side Bar: I want one of those raptor costumes for Halloween! [January 20, 2020]

This sketch is a species of syrphid (flower of hover fly) which more resembles a bee fly (Bombyliidae) than other syrphids. [January 18, 2020]

A mydas fly clings to an iris leaf in the rain. [March 13, 2016]

Really, all she wants to do is grow up and suck your blood, what is all the fuss about? Ridges on the eyes (which I may have exaggerated a bit) make this pupa look comically angry. [February 24, 2016] Update: The pupa plans have come to fruition! More to come.

I've drawn another pupa to continue practicing symmetry (and perhaps also to continue the "mummified alien princess" series). [February 23, 2016] Update: The pupa plans have come to fruition! More to come.

This has been a much busier than anticipated year for me so far and keeping up with the Bug-A-Day challenge has been difficult. I called in some help in the form of Noah Scalin's book Unstuck for some creative ideas. The idea here was to create an acronym out of an ordinary word.  [February 13, 2016]

Wasn't sure what to do for today. I looked at my messy desk and my eyes fell upon an origami crane.  So here is a crane fly.  Adults look like giant mosquitoes, but they only sip nectar if they eat at all. *** I used a textured overlay to help hide the fact that I drew it too close to the others: What can I say, I'm tired ;) [January 25, 2016]

Small-footed fly (Micropezidae) These flies are completely harmless. You'll know them by their contrasting black and white feet and fastidious cleaning habits. They also perform a little tap dance. Medium: colored drawing ink, brown India ink, acrylic pigment ink [January 17, 2016]

Day 24 Break a Rule. This broke two rules: 1. Color inside the lines. 2. I hate yellow. This watercolor painting is based on a bee fly photo I took in AZ. I don't know what species the flower is - it kinda looks like a tassel flower. I have to admit, the first few brush strokes made me very nervous, but then it was quite liberating putting paint where I normally would not. My strokes were freer, less confined, less controlled. Fun!

Lake Bartlett Yesterday I visited two unlikely desert locations, a lake and a river. The water was very low in Lake Bartlett and there were many small flowering plants along the sandy beach which attracted a multitude of insects. I was only able to get decent photos of a few: A fuzzy bee fly I was struck by the bright red of the net-winged beetles.  Every other net-wing I have ever seen was orange. Snout butterfly Ladybug Rio Verde A Syrphid flower fly Blister beetles Mating leaf beetles Snout butterfly The cholla seemed very happy growing on the huge boulder next to the river. They looked as though cultivated - Fields of Cholla. Only the field is a big rock.

Net-winged Beetle These insects were from my Dad's yard (10/12/15). Rhopalidae - appears to be a red-shouldered bug A bee fly - after looking at some photos, I think it is in the subfamily Phthiriinae. The pool drain proved most profitable. I will be checking it daily. Top row, left to right: a scorpion, a centipede, two mantids, two water striders. Bottom row: a honey bee, predacious diving beetle (above), either a darkling beetle or iron clad beetle (below), and another possible darkling beetle I will have to dig into my entomology books at home a little more for the last two. ...And though it did not move for a good fifteen minutes,  this one... ...was still alive!

Mantispid or mantisfly, Mantispidae Today I explored Lake Mills Park and came across the above mantispid (among many other insects) which made my morning! So far I've only seen one other mantispid in my life, a green one. This one seems decidedly rotund in the abdomen, I wonder if it is a gravid female (or, hope not, possibly it has internal parasites)? Mantispids are in the order Neuroptera and not related to mantids, though they hunt in a similar fashion; ambushing prey by grabbing them in their raptorial forelimbs. Air potato leaf beetle - Lilioceris cheni Florida is overrun with invasive air potato vine which chokes out native vegetation. This beetle was introduced as a biological control a few years ago since it was found to feed exclusively on the air potato...and I'm happy to report it's kicking ass. Invasive air potato vine The "potato" Ebony jewelwing damselfly, Calopteryx maculata - male Restless b...