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If you zoom into the pollen on the leg you can see some great surface detail. This bee was covered in pollen from the Desert spoon or Dasylirion wheeleri flower spike that was about 15 feet long
This is my first attempt at a stereo view. Cross your eyes until the image comes into focus in the middle or use stereo glasses to view. It was very dirty from rolling around in a giant plant pollen spike.
f10, 1:75X, 1/4 sec, 100 ISO, 27 steps at 0.985mm/step
Red-shouldered stink bug or Thyanta custator
f2.8, 4.5X, 200 ISO, 1/40sec, 158 steps at 20 microns/step
f5.6, 2X, 100 ISO, 1/25sec, 53 steps at 155 microns/step
Red-shouldered stink bug or Thyanta custator
f2.8, 4.5X, 200 ISO, 1/40 sec, 158 steps at 20um
F4, 3.5X, ISO100, .20sec, 45um, 187 steps
f5.6, 2X, ISO100, 1/25, 53 steps at 155microns/step
Crane Fly or Tipula paludosa
f4, 3.5X, 100ISO, 0.4 sec,.064um,176 steps,EA f18
This fly was collect by Jonathan and Andrew my grandsons. Thus missing a few legs and an antennae
Crane Fly or Tipula paludosa
f5.6, 2.5X, 100ISO, .4 sec, 136um, 50 steps, EA f19.6
This clearly shows the halteres that look like small clubs. These oscillate rapidly opposite of the wings and operate like vibrating structure gyroscopes to counterbalance the wings.
This fly was collect by Jonathan and Andrew my grandsons. Thus missing a few legs and an antennae
Western Yellowjacket or Vespula pensylvanica
f5.6, 1/20s, ISO100, 271µm, at 17 steps
Western Yellowjacket or Vespula pensylvanica
f5.6, 1/20s, ISO100, 271µm, at 17 steps
Ventral side showing the mouth parts, genital slit, anus and spiracle plates. f5.6, 24 steps at 58µm, 100 ISO 1.6 sec
Soft Tick lateral side showing sutural line.
f5.6, 4X, 54 steps at 58µm, 100 ISO, .6 sec
In nature, a sutural line, or simply a suture, is a fairly rigid joint between two or more hard elements of an organism, with or without significant overlap of the elements1. Sutures are found in the skeletons or exoskeletons of a wide range of animals, in both invertebrates and vertebrates1. Here are some examples:
Vertebrate Skeletons: The skeletons of vertebrate animals are made of bone, in which the main rigid ingredient is calcium phosphate. The skulls of most vertebrates consist of sets of bony plates held together by cranial sutures1.
Invertebrate Exoskeletons: In cephalopod mollusks which have external shells (e.g., Nautilus, ammonites), the shell is divided into compartments by septa (partitions). The septa are joined to the external shell by sutures formed by repeated invagination. The sutures are visible from the outside and often form complex and elaborate patterns1.
Gastropod Shells: Nearly all snail shells can be visualized as a tube of increasing diameter, closed at the small end, and spirally wrapped around a central axis. Where the whorls overlap, there is usually a clear indentation. This indentation forms a visible line, which is continuous and reaches from the apex of the shell to the aperture; this line is the suture1.
In summary, sutural lines are found in various forms in nature, particularly in the anatomy of various animals, and they play crucial roles in the structure and function of these organisms.
Using a hibiscus flower I had in the back yard that had red petals and bright yellow stamen, I positioned the ant on the yellow stamen and started to shoot.
What I like about this shot is the yellow reflection of the yellow stamen on the legs and the contrasting red petals against the head of the ant. I used two flash's set at different intensities and a continuous light from below. I used my Laowa 25mm F2.8 2.5-5.0X macro lens and shot at 3x with 26 shots stacked using Zerene Stacker.
I had minimal post editing of cleaning up a few dirt spots using GIMP and I also decreased the red intensity of the background a bit to help differentiate it from the ant.
Gray Jumping Spider or Possibly Menemerus sp.120 shots at 5X
Arizona Bark Scorpion or Centruoides sculpturatus 306 shots at 2X magnification. Name Centruroides, using the Greek noun κεντρον, cen-tron = “a sharp point.”
Found in our house. Nasty little guys particularly for small children and seniors because they are the most venomous scorpion in North America but usually not lethal.
The ventral side highlights the Book lungs (round areas with slots on the bottom) where they breath and the Pectins (feather like) that are sensory organs thought to sense surfaces, vibrations and possibly chemoreceptors like pheromones'.
If you ever see half circles cut out of your rose bush, this is the guy that did it.
Green Tree Hopper
Target like mask on upper part of the face. This specimen is over 10 years old. 98 shots
This specimen is over 10 years old. 158 shots
Long Legged Green Fly or Condylostylus longicornis.
This is a beneficial fly that preys upon aphids and mites that feed upon our garden plants. You will note that on the lower thorax near the hind leg you can see the tan colored ovoid fan-like structure call the halteres, which oscillate during flight and act as a "stabilizer or gyroscope". Flies, all 200,000 species, are the only animals with halteres, which evolved from their hindwings.
Aphid cornicles are abdominal appendages that secrete an array of volatile and nonvolatile compounds with diverse ecological functions. The emission of alarm pheromones yields altruistic benefits for clone-mates in the aphid colony, which is essentially a superorganism with a collective fate. Secreted droplets also contain unsaturated triglycerides, fast-drying adhesives that can be lethal when smeared on natural enemies but more often impede their foraging efficiency. The longest cornicles have evolved in aphids that feed in exposed locations and are likely used to scent-mark colony intruders.
Apiomerus flavivenris
Bee Assassin
The background was created by a layer of objects. First, I used several citrus leaves and small pine branches from our Christmas tree (don't tell my wife, best seen in the lower left area) in front of a backdrop of a silver sparkle paper, when turned at just the right angle the paper reflects a rainbow of colors. I used a small DIY soft box, made using tracing paper and lit the backdrop with a LED light. It created a swirl effect that draws the eyes right to the wasp.
I took 97 shots using a manual focus rail at a focus step of 0.1mm and used Zerene Stacker.
My daughter Kelli called me one morning and actually caught this in a cup on the side of her family room wall. When I got it, it was all bright green. As time progressed the color changed to a yellow. I am finding that many grasshoppers, crickets just don't pin out well if you wait too long. After a few days the legs start to rot and get mushy
373 shots, he was a big boy
Unknown species spider web
in the Warwick, UK winter
This is one of the first macro shots I took and learned a lot from the process. I was disappointed with the grey abdomen color because it actually was a light blue color. I discovered that the lights I bought were yellow colored. I did some research about color temperatures and Kelvins and switched to white lights afterwards.
I should have toned down the background a bit as the sparkles tend to make the image too busy and distract from the wings.
Manduca quinquemaculata
Tomato Horn Worm
One of my first shots on a complete white background. Its not that easy to get pure white.
Collected in the tall grasses in a citrus grove. Because of the eye arraignment, it may be a crab spider the genus Thomisidae
43 stacked images
Lowa lens at 5X magnification
Using light box with four lights.
I like the water sparkles on the hair
72 shots
190 shots
Sitting on a Lantana camara plant. Adults feed on the juices of soft plant tissues. Sometimes they form large groups on parts of plants. From the Order Hemiptera or True Bugs.
Sitting on a Lantana camara plant. Adults feed on the juices of soft plant tissues. Sometimes they form large groups on parts of plants. From the Order Hemiptera or True Bugs.
181 shots 5X f2.8 on Ficus leaf, lateral view
Top view. Note White Fly stuck on egg clutch.
Used Tomlov digital microscope
Stuck on a leaf from an Ficus tree. Single shot, 1.5X, f6.3
The most widely used building material is mud made of a mixture of soil and regurgitated water, but many species use chewed plant material, instead.
The name "potter wasp" derives from the shape of the mud nests built by species of Eumenes and similar genera. It is believed that Native Americans based their pottery designs upon the form of local potter wasp nests.[2]
When a cell is completed, the adult wasp usually collects beetle larvae, spiders, or caterpillars and, paralyzing them, places them in the cell to serve as food for a single wasp larva.
As a normal rule, the adult wasp lays a single egg in the empty cell before provisioning it. Some species lay the egg in the opening of the cell, suspended from a thread of dried fluid. When the wasp larva hatches, it drops and starts to feed upon the supplied prey for a few weeks before pupating. The complete lifecycle may last from a few weeks to more than a year from the egg until the adult emerges. Adults are black or brown, and usually marked with contrasting patterns of yellow, white, orange, red or combinations of colors. Adult potter wasps feed on floral nectar.
Potters Wasp nest f8 1_8 sec 1_4X ISO100 330u at 28 steps Eumenes is the type genus of the subfamily Eumeninae of Vespidae
Stuck on a leaf from an Ficus tree.
The most widely used building material is mud made of a mixture of soil and regurgitated water, but many species use chewed plant material, instead.
The name "potter wasp" derives from the shape of the mud nests built by species of Eumenes and similar genera. It is believed that Native Americans based their pottery designs upon the form of local potter wasp nests.[2]
When a cell is completed, the adult wasp usually collects beetle larvae, spiders, or caterpillars and, paralyzing them, places them in the cell to serve as food for a single wasp larva.
As a normal rule, the adult wasp lays a single egg in the empty cell before provisioning it. Some species lay the egg in the opening of the cell, suspended from a thread of dried fluid. When the wasp larva hatches, it drops and starts to feed upon the supplied prey for a few weeks before pupating. The complete lifecycle may last from a few weeks to more than a year from the egg until the adult emerges. Adults are black or brown, and usually marked with contrasting patterns of yellow, white, orange, red or combinations of colors. Adult potter wasps feed on floral nectar.
Citrus Mealybug
or Planococcus citri
f16, 100 ISO, 5 sec, 5X
2 Citrus Mealybugs
or Planococcus citri
f8, 1 sec., 100 ISO, 5X, 84 µm step, 22 shots
Found on the same tree as the Potter Wasp nest. P. citri is a major pest for citrus trees and has developed resistance to some insecticides. Natural control of P. citri is usually dependent on natural enemies whose numbers are affected by the same insecticides used on P. citri.
Predator's include a number of parasitoid wasps that attack the nymphs, including Leptomastidea abnormis, Leptomastix dactylopii, Chrysoplatycerus splendens, and Anagyrus pseudococci. Predators include the brown lacewing Sympherobius barberi, the green lacewing Chrysopa lateralis, hoverfly larvae, and the scale-feeding snout-moth larva.[1] The mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri), a ladybird beetle, readily attacks the citrus mealybug.[2]
Citrus Thrip or Scirtothrips citri
f2.8, 4X, 100 ISO, 0.24 sec, 30um at 27 steps
This is a very small insect that measures about 0.6mm long
Found on our front door
f11, 1/10 sec, 2.5x, ISO 100, 521 micron for 11 images
Note the acoustic tympanum, a groove or flat patch on each front leg that works similar to human ear drums. This enables them to hear sounds .
f5.6, 1/20s, Eff. App. 16.8, ISO 100, 2x, 115microns at 115 step
f4.0, 4x, 1/8s, ISO100, 54 steps at 54µ/step
This was taken early morning and was sheltered deep behind the long sharp spines of the Argentine Saguaro cactus in our front yard.