Readers’ wildlife photos by whyevolutionistrue

It's been a while since we had some photos from Mike McDowell, but here are some of his speciality subjects: tiger beetles. His IDs and captions are indented.

We've had some serious flooding along the Wisconsin River this summer, so some sandbar tiger beetle species (C. macra and C. hirticollis) have been hard to find. Thus, I don't have as many species to share with you and your readers this time around. However, a young entomologist friend of mine found dozens of Ghost Tiger Beetles (E. lepida) at Sauk Prairie Recreational Area a few weeks ago and I went there to score some portraits. Also included in this beetle-batch are a few species from Spring Green Preserve, which is also where I photographed Sand Milkwort and the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus. As per usual, my first tiger beetle of the year was the Six-spotted (C. sexguttata), a species commonly seen on forest paths and sidewalks beginning in late April and early May.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata):