Who needs Chihuli?

(we all do :)

It's been a while since my last post. With a small business like mine, tax time means a lot of work, and then I had two workshops to prepare and present, one at Butterfly Wonderworld in Scottsdale and one at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Both went over well, I think. I definitely enjoyed both locations for their spectacular beauty and the great groups they had attracted. While both events were a pleasure for me, the preparations too a lot of time. And on Saturday I'm off to a Mexico Expedition!
So here are just a few photos that I took during the Insect Photography Workshop that I taught in Phoenix.

 
Some of our group at work and a Chihuli glass sculpture. I had geared the class towards beginners with point-and-shoot cameras. Those were quite under-represented. But we did find that there is use for everything, even a smart phone.

Following is a series of highlights from the Gardens by the participants of the workshop and myself. (photos without attribution)

Beefly by Pete Moulton

Difficult Light and tiny Crab Spider, Mecaphesa sp.

Intimate moment in the live of bees. Calliopsis sp.

Green Lacewing Eggs

Convergent Lady Beetle Larva

Ashy Lady Beetle

Reminiscent of expressionist Emil Nolde. Pteleon brevicornis

The elusive Chrysobothris high up in a tree, but we got to watch some interesting behavior

Who turned the Cottonwood Leaves into lace?

More Chihuli

Oncopeltus sanguineolentus (Blood-colored Milkweed Bug)

This is a bug I really wanted to see: Apparently the host plant is Rush or Desert Milkweed - Asclepias subulata which is restricted to w. AZ, se. CA, and s. NV. in the U.S. In our area the Desert botanical Garden is the only place where this bug occurs. There were many of these and few Large and Small Milkweed Bugs. Were they out-competed?

Augochlorella sp.

My students wanted me to crop this more tightly, but  I like the complete version, which is unusual for me.

Disclaimer: The title of this blog is of course tongue in cheek. We all loved Chihuli's work and it greatly enhanced our visit. I was also told that it looks even better in the dark when it's illuminated. But I think the natural beauty of the Gardens is just very hard to beat.

Many thanks to the great people in the Garden's Adult Education Program who made this event possible and kept it running smoothly.The computer room in the Archer building is awesome for photography classes.