After engaging in a very successful pollen-gathering session, a bee cautiously emerges from the bright flower of a Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia sp.) in the Sonoran Desert, Santa Rita Experimental Range, Arizona. As I sat there with the camera, it really did appear to be watching me, gauging the level of risk that I might pose. Once I was deemed suitably harmless, or maybe it got desperate?, it was off to another destination.

Thanks for your visits and comments, and happy belated Earth Day!

Tags:   Arizona Opuntia Santa Rita Experimental Range Sonoran Desert bee bokeh cactus desert flower insect pollinator spring

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A solitary Desert Wash Weevil (Apleurus albovestitus) makes its way to points unknown within the superimposed waves of the Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California. For a sense of scale, the weevil is about 20mm (¾ inch) long.

The weevil's tracks were fun to watch as they appeared in its wake, and these tracks were far from the only ones to be found. There were also peculiar 'S'-shaped tracks that were fairly instantly recognizable, and likely from a Sidewinder Rattlesnake. Given that I was blundering around in the dark in the dunes with my headlamp off not too many hours prior to this, I suppose I'm lucky I didn't cross paths with one of the more venomous denizens.

Thanks for visiting!

Tags:   California Death Valley Death Valley National Park Mesquite Dunes National Park U.S. National Park beetle desert dunes insect sand sand dunes tracks Stovepipe Wells United States US weevil Desert Wash Weevil

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The title is not the name of the plant, though I half wish it were: these are Yellow Coralroot orchids (Corallorhiza trifida), growing in the montane-zone foothills of the Colorado Rockies at about 7500 ft. As I was hiking by, the complete lack of chlorophyll, indicating a parasitic lifestyle, really jumped out of the surrounding browns and greens. This particular group of orchid species actually parasitizes specific types of fungi that live in the soil and themselves get their carbon via mutualistic relationships with other plants (mycorrhizal fungi). It's a fascinating world underground!

Tags:   orchid coralroot orchid Colorado Boulder County Boulder Open Space yellow flowers parasites flowers blooming flowers macro bokeh parasite

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A violet colored Penstemon (Penstemon virens) flashes signals to the local pollinator community that it is ready for an intimate visit, Boulder County Open Space, Colorado.

We descended the west ridge of Bear Peak through the scars and skeletons of a relatively recent wildfire before entering the forest at the uppermost extent of the Bear Creek watershed. In the meadows and clearings amongst the trees the wildflowers abounded and insects rejoiced.

Tags:   Colorado Front Range beardtongue Penstemon Penstemon virens bokeh close-up flower flowers macro wildflower wildflowers

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Tentacle-like stigma of the Tufted Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) grope for pollen in the late afternoon shade of a small creek near Ruby Mountain, Colorado.

Tags:   macro flower pistil anthers stigma bokeh Colorado primrose Tufted Evening Primrose Oenothera caespitosa

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