Catching a Wasp

As I was getting into my car on Friday, I noticed an unusual bug on the roof of my car.

 Of course, I was fascinated by this as it was a pretty cool looking insect.

 I didn't think it was a bee, even though it kind of looked a bee.  Fortunately, it wasn't terribly active.

As it turns out that it was a wasp.

A Giant Swallowtail

I had to get my license renewed at the Secretary of State's office and since I normally take the days around my birthday off, I decided it was a good day to take off.  Because I made an appointment, it didn't take me too long to get it renewed and that was good thing because I had a chance to catch the Escanaba as she passed Detroit.

 As I was waiting for my ships, I saw this butterfly landing near a thistle. I thought it was a pretty cool looking butterfly, so I took some pictures.

I didn't know it what it was, so I put "yellow and black butterfly" in google and I found out that it is a swallowtail of some sort.

 I think it is a giant swallowtail.  I also think it may be a male one but I'm not sure.

 At any rate, I was able to get some decent pictures of it, despite the wind.

 It landed in a different spots and I was able to get some clearer background pictures.  It was still pretty windy, so it wasn't easy getting this pictures.

I would have to say that this one is my favorite of the bunch.

A Praying Mantis

As I was heading into work this morning, I looked to the side of the door and saw something unusual.

 As I looked closer, I noticed that it was a praying mantis.  I don't ever remember seeing one of these in person before, so I dropped of my stuff at my desk and grabbed my camera to get some pictures.

 He wasn't in the easiest position to get some pictures, but I managed.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the angle looking at the front.

But I came pretty close with this shot.

A Moth of Some Sort

As I was leaving work on Wednesday night (last Wednesday btw), I looked near the entrance and saw this moth.

My friend said that his mom called these Miller's Moth.  Trying to look it up, I think it is a pebble moth but I'm not sure since they are so close.

The Michigan Menace

As I was wandering about, I saw one of these.

I believe this guy is called a fish fly and when they are in season, they are everywhere.  Some places get enough that it becomes slippery.

A Moth At Work

Since I was planning on going to the Arboretum after work on Friday, I decided to take my camera into work with me.  It was a good thing I did because I was entering the building, I saw a fairly unique looking insect.

 So I was swiping my card to enter the building when I noticed this guy sitting just below the card reader.  I thought he was a pretty cool looking moth, so I put my stuff away and then came back out and took pictures of him.  I had no idea what he was and someone put a piece of paper on the door that told what he wasn't (the colors didn't match).

 Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful thing and I typed "green moth" into yahoo and looked at the pictures and found the one that matched this guy.

 Turns out that he is a luna moth.  Also turns out that this was a pretty good catch on my end.  A little later I was going to grab my Godzilla to have Godzilla vs. Mothra but the moth decided to leave.

And at some point, the flowers outside the entrance decided to bloom and then disappear.  So here is one of them.