# Minnesota River Valley



## advan (Jun 10, 2014)

I have been long time due to start a thread here. Here are some things from around my area. Feel free to help with ID's or mislabels. 







_Camponotus pennsylvanicus_ ?
























_Camponotus novaeboracensis_ ?


















Ephemeroptera sp. (mayfly)






_Philodromus_ sp. 






2mm _Philodromus_ sp. spiderling






Calliphoridae sp.






Male _Phidippus audax_
























Female _Sitticus fasciger_
























Male _Eris militaris_
























Female _Eris militaris_

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## advan (Jun 11, 2014)

A few more.....

_Thamnophis sirtalis_






Caterpillars












Moths












Ant mimic assassin






Damselflies
























Weevils in a dandelion

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## paassatt (Jun 12, 2014)

Amazing pictures, Chad. :worship:

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## Austin S. (Jun 12, 2014)

Absolutely amazing. Such clarity and detail. really enjoyed looking at these as well as all your photos. Have any more?!  

Austin

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## papilio (Jun 13, 2014)

As I said Chad, magnificent work here!!  


I found another _Sitticus fasciger_ on my windowsill today.  Wish I could get a 10X stack of it (right, fat chance lol).  Also this evening found a very tiny red mite, curious to see how it looks.

Thanks for letting me know about this thread!

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## samatwwe (Jul 2, 2014)

These are some amazing pictures! What kind of lenses do you use for the really close macro shots? I have a Canon T4i but I can never find what a good lens would be to start good macro photography of insects/reptiles

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## advan (Jul 3, 2014)

samatwwe said:


> These are some amazing pictures! What kind of lenses do you use for the really close macro shots? I have a Canon T4i but I can never find what a good lens would be to start good macro photography of insects/reptiles


There are many different options out there. I use a Tokina 100mm f2.8. Most of these shots have a Raynox 250 attached to the lens for more magnification. Check into Canon's dedicated macro lenses or if you're on a budget, check out Tokina, Tamron or Sigma equivalents.

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## samatwwe (Jul 3, 2014)

advan said:


> There are many different options out there. I use a Tokina 100mm f2.8. Most of these shots have a Raynox 250 attached to the lens for more magnification. Check into Canon's dedicated macro lenses or if you're on a budget, check out Tokina, Tamron or Sigma equivalents.


That's exactly the type of information I needed! Now I have a starting point on what to look for. Thank you very much!


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## Philth (Jul 3, 2014)

This thread doesn't suck.

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## advan (Aug 8, 2014)

Philth said:


> This thread doesn't suck.


Well, I guess it's time to start sucking up the thread then. 

_Anas platyrhynchos_












Female _Carpodacus mexicanus_ 






_Spermophilus tridecemlineatus_






Male _Tabanidae_ sp. eye crop






_Euxesta_ sp.






_Popillia japonica_












Unknown beetle

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## Shrike (Aug 8, 2014)

Great pictures!  You're doing some amazing stuff with that macro lens.

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## advan (Aug 12, 2014)

Shrike said:


> Great pictures!  You're doing some amazing stuff with that macro lens.


Thanks Matt! 

Anisoptera sp.

















































Zygoptera sp.




































.....and a beetle for good measure.

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## papilio (Aug 12, 2014)

Beautiful work Chad!  

That eye crop in the previous post is really incredible!!

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## Nosiris (Aug 12, 2014)

The Minnesota river valley didn't look all full of life like this when I was hiking around it a few years ago. In January!!

[Me to Minnesota ranger station guy: "Hey there aren't any bears round here are there?"
Minnesota ranger station guy pauses and thinks, then "No no, not this far south....", ... thinks a bit more and looks doubtfully at his calendar, then with slightly less certainty: "Not at this time of the year anyway..."]

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## advan (Oct 13, 2014)

Few images from a walk we did back in August at the Louisville Swamp. 

























Bob was trying for this dragonfly but sometimes they have other ideas.






Same dragonfly


















Getting close to these with a macro lens seems harder than chasing winged insects.

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## papilio (Oct 13, 2014)

Haha! _ FINALLY!! _

Fantastic work Chad!   Wow, I didn't remember that you had gotten so close to that Monarch, sweet!

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## advan (Oct 26, 2014)

papilio said:


> Haha! _ FINALLY!! _
> 
> Fantastic work Chad!   Wow, I didn't remember that you had gotten so close to that Monarch, sweet!


Thanks Michael! I've been slacking in uploading photos! The shot close to the butterfly was not a monarch unfortunately. 

Here's some jumpers found outside my house. 

4mm Adult male _Pelegrina proterva_






B&W












1/4" _Phidippus audax_ with breakfast. 


















Another juvenile _Phidippus audax_ I found the morning of our big Minnverts meet. A few other photographers were coming, so he was brought in for photos. 


















My favorite from the session

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## papilio (Oct 26, 2014)

Wow, amazing and beautiful shots Chad!!

Yesterday I found a new jumper in my apt, first non-_Sitticus fasciger_ I've seen in here.  Same body size and look exactly, but very different markings.  Even Silverback hasn't ever seen anything like it.  Check out the other forum.  Not very good shots but it was even more skittish than _fasciger_.

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## pocock1899 (Oct 26, 2014)

Awesome Chad, ...as always. Always setting the bar high for the rest of us!

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## AndrewBiddar (Dec 31, 2014)

any chance u got threse in HD?

id love a closeup pic of Phidippus audax as my background wallpaper looks so pretty


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## advan (Jan 3, 2015)

AndrewBiddar said:


> any chance u got threse in HD?
> 
> id love a closeup pic of Phidippus audax as my background wallpaper looks so pretty


Not sure which one you are referring to but they all can be found here>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/76845739@N03/


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## problemchildx (Jan 3, 2015)

Advan - Nice pictures as always.

Sorry if it has been brought up but what camera are you using to get those amazing macro shots? Thanks


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## advan (Jan 5, 2015)

problemchildx said:


> Advan - Nice pictures as always.
> 
> Sorry if it has been brought up but what camera are you using to get those amazing macro shots? Thanks


Thank you, it has been asked a few times  >>> http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...s-pic-thread&p=2333139&viewfull=1#post2333139

Not much with bugs during the winter but I have done a few hikes along the Minnesota River. 

American Tree Sparrow (_Spizella arborea_)












American Bald Eagle (_Haliaeetus leucocephalus_)

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## papilio (Jan 5, 2015)

advan said:


> Thank you, it has been asked a few times


Haha!  Yeah, once or twice.  


Really magnificent work Chad!!    The last especially.

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## Shrike (Jan 23, 2015)

I'm loving this thread Chad.  Those eagle pics are amazing.


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## advan (Jan 26, 2015)

papilio said:


> Haha!  Yeah, once or twice.
> 
> 
> Really magnificent work Chad!!    The last especially.


Thanks Michael! I just going to say Iphone when asked from now on. 



Shrike said:


> I'm loving this thread Chad.  Those eagle pics are amazing.


Thanks Matt! I have a few more eagle shots from this weekend. I will get out there when it isn't overcast one of these days. 
































A Red-tailed hawk I just missed fly by






Immature Red-tailed

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## papilio (Jan 26, 2015)

advan said:


> Thanks Michael! I just going to say Iphone when asked from now on.



hehe

I noticed!  :clap:


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## advan (May 13, 2015)

Been awhile. It is finally warm enough that the bugs and spiders are coming out. Last Saturday Michael(papilio) and I went out to Fort Snelling State Park to find jumpers and other things to photgraph. 

Male _Eris militaris_























































3mm _Hentzia_ cf. _mitrata_ 
(Michael's finger nail for size reference)






























5mm female(same species)

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## papilio (May 14, 2015)

Great images Chad!  

Amazing how much better they look here than on fb!  Kinda discouraging ...

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## dactylus (May 24, 2015)

Beautiful shots Chad.  From eagles ---> weevils and everything in between!  I'm particularly fond of the spectacular damselfly / dragonfly shots.  Thanks for sharing!!

David


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## advan (Sep 7, 2015)

papilio said:


> Great images Chad!
> 
> Amazing how much better they look here than on fb!  Kinda discouraging ...


Thanks Michael! FB does destroy images. 



dactylus said:


> Beautiful shots Chad.  From eagles ---> weevils and everything in between!  I'm particularly fond of the spectacular damselfly / dragonfly shots.  Thanks for sharing!!
> 
> David


Thanks David! 

Adult male _Habronattus decorus_

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## Storm76 (Sep 12, 2015)

Beautiful shots and cute jumper

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## le-thomas (Sep 13, 2015)

As an up-and-coming entomology student from Minnesota (aka the best state), this thread is so inspiring to me. I get so caught up in all these exotic bugs and reptiles that I sometimes forget to appreciate what's right under my nose. Thanks for sharing.

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## Chris LXXIX (Sep 18, 2015)

advan said:


> Thanks Michael! I just going to say Iphone when asked from now on.
> 
> Thanks Matt! I have a few more eagle shots from this weekend. I will get out there when it isn't overcast one of these days.
> 
> ...


The second picture is something incredible and i think should be used with the Stars And Stripes flag in an official way, seriously.
Bravo.

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## advan (Jul 18, 2016)

Adult male _Maevia inclemens_

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