A couple of weeks ago I went down to Southern California to see my family. The trip was less restful than I would have liked; I was still ratcheted up from fall semester's two jobs, my grandmother is doing poorly, and any time you have more than one strong-willed and opinionated woman in the room, you're bound to have personality clashes. (Strong-willed and opinionated women abound in my family, I don't think we have any other kind).
One of the highlights of my visit was driving to Apple Valley to see family there. I had a chance to sit down and look at some of my cousin Michelle's photographs.
The previous post helps contextualize this conversation:
Miri: "These are hundreds of times better than most photographs in field guides. These are amazing. You are incredibly talented."
Michi: "Do you mean it?"
Miri: "Cousin, you know me. Do I give false compliments?"
Michi: "I know, I know. You speak the truth."
Miri: "That is correct. Now get off your azz, fill your Etsy shop, and start selling these!"
(Ahem, strong willed and opinionated, perhaps just a tiny bit).
Truly my cousin Michi of Little M photos has an incredible talent. She is a wild thing in her own right, wandering around with a regular pocket camera set to macro, an insatiable curiosity, and a desire to record the world's intricacies.
No matter how good of a writer one is (and whether that applies here is yet to be determined), a blog without photos is just kind of boring. So I'm excited that Michi has agreed to collaborate with me. We'll be posting her photos, hopefully at least weekly, maybe more often.
Without further ado, here is a beautiful velvet ant. A different pic can be seen and purchased at: http://www.viewbug.com/photo-store/photo/742900.
The velvet ant (genus Dasymutilla) is not actually an ant, but a wasp. Males have wings, but the females are wingless. They are also called "cow killers" because their painful sting is said to be strong enough to fell a cow. (I used to pet them before I knew this). Only the females can sting. Velvet ants occur worldwide, and are a diverse assemblage of about 5000 species. They mostly feed on the larvae of other insects.
Seen any cool bugs lately?
5 comments:
OMG This is a fantastic blog! Let me start by saying that my cousin Mir is a fantastic writer, passionate about all things in nature and generous with her talent and time.
Yes, weekly indeed. Even bi-weekly if you dare.
For the library of Little m Photo has much to offer in the way of the wild things!
all my love and respect-
your cuz-
Michi
Yay! Cuz, send as often as you like and I will post! Be sure to attach the original from the email and then send the link to buy. Readers (all 5 of you, LOL), you will be amazed at how Michelle views the world and captures snippets of it through the lens.
Wow, that is quite a photo! More, please!
yes, yes, more please! beautiful!
the bug i've seen most recently is ladybug girl (i.e. my almost-four-year-old in her red dress with black polkadots).
and if you need any help setting up that Etsy shop, i've been on etsy since 2006 :-)
looking forward to more from the little m library!
Thank you so much! You are so generous, I actually peeked in at your shop and LOVE it!
I think your ladybug girl four year old must be sweeter looking than any bug photo I have taken!
Perhaps we should do ladybugs in honor of that special red dress with black polkadots!
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