Nature

[sunshine51]

Some kinda lizard thing

some kinda lizard in BKK by mrhitchens, on Flickr

Ahhhhh...The Southeast Asian Water Monitor...Varanus salvator...just as at home

in the water as it is on land. Have heaps around our place in Ranong. A couple of

em even have namesas they're kinda friendly...in a big lizard sort of way...

These big critters are endemic out here David.

They sure are big mean looking dinosaurs to be roaming around the the public parks, though no more harmful than a so dog I would guess

Much less harmful than a soi dog David. The monitors will just scurry away pretty quickly and

they can move very fast if they have to. One note of caution...Never get one backed into a

corner with its only way out being through you. It's not the bite, which can be nasty as they

like to eat carrian as well as their favourite thing eggs and can have nasty bacteria in the mouth,

it's their claws and tail that will do most of the damage. The claws are attached to feet attached

to very powerful legs and the claws are razor sharp. Your arms or legs will be shredded in very

short order. They can use their tail as a whip which can lay a leg or arm open to the bone.

Even the juveniles around 10-12 inches long can cause a person some nasty grief.

They don't attack as some soi dogs will do...they prefer defensive retreat!

Mind you...not all soi dogs are vicious ya know, many are down right friendly & just want a

forever home, we have 4 ex-soi dogs in our tribe of 6.

[Robby nz]

thanks Moushound just googled it ..heaps of varieties..and some great pics on bing images...I love butterflys..

Don't know what link mousehound gave you Bundycat but this is a site I use a lot for ID of butterflies : https://www.flickr.com/groups/1682186@N25/

[Robby nz]

Straight Snow flat.

[sometime]

[shaggy1969]

King Cobra (Please correct me if I am wrong)

Was sat out front one evening when the Missus said "Shaggy,the snake medicine man is here,do you want to look"?

Didn't have to ask me that one twice,so I grabbed my camera and headed off to the top of our soi to see the snake man.

As I arrived he was just getting the Cobra out of it's box,I quickly got the camera fired up but unfortunately in my panic/excitement

I got the settings wrong but was in awe to be face to face with such an awesome creature.Madness took over me and I got down on

to my knees to try and get to his level,damn those things can move fast,but I learned I got do the reverse knee shuffle rather quickly.

Hopefully next time I will be more composed and will be able to get a better shot with the right settings.

[Robby nz]

Dark Straight Swift.

[Goompa]

Basil Spider

[Robby nz]

Found something in nature to take a picture of that don't run or fly away.

Fungus on a log.

[Dancealot]

@Robby, you're getting better and better.

@Goompa, keep on doing what you're doing; I love it! Your basil spider is he best spider photo I've ever seen.

[Goompa]

Thanks Dal , Cheers

Here is the same at a different angle

[Robby nz]

Watsons Wight.

[Mousehound]

Watsons Wight.

B F watson's wight.JPG

have you got the Latin name for this? can't find it in my records.

Thanks

[Goompa]

Lazy Dragonfly

Olympus 60 mm Macro @f4

[Robby nz]

Common Imperial.

[Robby nz]

Watsons Wight.

B F watson's wight.JPG

have you got the Latin name for this? can't find it in my records.

Thanks

According to the little book I have it is ; Iton watsonii

Also on page 7 as per https://www.flickr.com/groups/1682186@N25/pool/page7

About halfway down the page on the left, no Latin name given.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Robby nz

[Lazy Sod]

Khao Keaw Open Zoo

[Goshawk]

^ nice place that . . . what an aviary!

[shaggy1969]

Common Rose (Thanks Mousehound)

Also good to see Goomp's macro back on the thread!

[Robby nz]

Some serious flutterby competition here, good one Shaggy.

Another one of the Rose. Andersons Rose

[Goompa]

The back end of a bee

[Rob8891]

The back end of a bee

The Master is back. Oh yes!

[Mousehound]

The back end of a bee

Nice. I don't know which bee this is. But it is a blue banded sp. Some of these are leafcutters and neatly slice semi circles from fresh leaves and chew up the leaf, then mix it with wax. The bee is usually solitary and lives in a small hole in wood or brick (some bees live in holes in the ground.) The bee lays an egg which is fertilised and then the hole is plugged up with the leaf impregnated wax. Most bees are actually solitary not hive dwelling. I have one living in the rubber handle bars of my scooter. The little hole at the end is perfect for it. It comes shopping with me.

[Goompa]

Thanks Mousehound , maybe you can identify this one

I thought it was a juvenile Assassin bug , but it has wings , so no idea , Cheers

[Lazy Sod]

^ nice place that . . . what an aviary!

Agreed, the aviary at Khao Keow is very impressive.

[Goshawk]

Mother Nature at her finest in the North . . . and the best place to see River Chat & Plumbeous Water Redstart, both together...imo

Wachirathan Waterfall

the bigger view: https://www.flickr.com/photos/moonboots69/16602122959/in/photostream/lightbox/

[Mousehound]

Thanks Mousehound , maybe you can identify this one

I thought it was a juvenile Assassin bug , but it has wings , so no idea , Cheers

Hemipterans are an interesting group in that they are generally good friends of the gardener clearing out lots of pests. They have a three segmented probe and are able to give you an impressive stab wound with it if handled poorly. Some sp have poisons and sticky hairs on their front legs to help defeat their prey. The nymph starts off wingless but during the five instar stages develops wings. So adults do have wings. I am pretty sure that this is an adult form but I don't know the precise sp. Typically they have a tapered section behind the eyes that resembles a neck. Most of the other hemiptera that are also predatory are aquatic.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Mousehound

[Goompa]

Thank you for that information Mousehound

Best I keep my sticky fingers off then and keep to the photos ....

[Goompa]

Shot at f4 with a 60mm Olympus EM10 , I can never figure this camera out

I think we need a MACRO thread tbh , before I end up smothering this thread , sorry guys .

[Rob8891]

Good idea, Goomps. Go start one....and teach us!

[jack2964]

Lost its way and tried very hard to scare me.

Forest scorpion I reckon from googling.