Location: Alameda County, California
Size: 65 in. (165 cm)
Sex: Female

Soon after my husband and I got a digital camera, in February 2009, the macro bug and the bug bug bit me. I'm amazed at the variety of tiny creatures that conduct their lives, mostly unnoticed until now, in our urban yard.

All photos show creatures in (or from) that yard unless the description says otherwise.


First BugGuide photos for these taxa:

Subspecies Hippodamia quinquesignata ambigua (lady beetle)


Family Oribatidae (soil mites)


Species Brevicoryne brassicae (aphid)



First BugGuide photos from California:

Species Xanthorhoe defensaria
(geometrid moth)


Species Cladius difformis (sawfly)


Genus Triphleba (scuttle fly)


Species Holcostethus limbolarius (stinkbug)


Species Euleia fratria (fruit fly)


Genus Phytomyza (leaf-miner fly)



Life-cycle series:

Moth, probably Pyramidobela angelarum
. . .

Lady beetle, Cycloneda polita
. . .


Other series:

Juvenile cross orb weaver, Araneus diadematus, molting


Lady beetle, Psyllobora vigintimaculata, emerging from pupation


Spider, interrupted


Buzz off, buddy
(gender IDs requested)