View allAll Photos Tagged NatureMacro
Clinging to life, this majestic lizard becomes one with its surroundings — a perfect blend of resilience and grace. Dewdrops glisten like jewels on its textured scales, a reminder of nature’s quiet splendor and the intricate beauty found in even the smallest moments.
Friday's fly is one within genus Calliphora, commonly known as blow or bottle flies. I learned that we have the highest diversity within this genus, here in Australia.
I think this might be Calliphora stygia, but will do more research to confirm.
Adults of Calliphora have a grey or black thorax.
Around 10 mm body length.
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Beneath the quiet hush of the forest floor, where the light barely filters through the canopy, a moment of life unfolds in secret. With wings like velvet painted in iridescent blue, the Archduke butterfly descends—not to bask in sunlight, but to feast on decay.
A forgotten fruit, shriveled and blackened, becomes a treasure trove of nutrients. The butterfly unrolls its slender proboscis and drinks deeply, drawing sustenance from what the forest leaves behind. There is elegance in this moment—where beauty meets the cycle of life and death, where even rot plays a vital role.
Here, in the silence, the Archduke reigns—not by grandeur or glory, but by the quiet persistence of life in the shadows.
There are obvious large, black circles surrounding this little jumping spider's eyes, making them seem much larger.
The circular spots make each eye stand out and become more prominent - not just the two large forward facing ones, which are a feature of jumping spiders.
The binomial of this species is Opisthoncus polyphemus and is derived from Polyphemus of Greek mythology who was one of the cylopse described in Homer's epic poem, Odyssey.
Female, dorsal view 10 mm body length.
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🇭🇷 Nevidljivi istraživači jutra
Dok se dan tek razvlači preko travnatih polja, dok rosa još šuti na vrhovima vlati, pojavljuju se oni koje većina nikada ne vidi.
Mali putnici, tihi istraživači, hodaju svijetom koji je za njih džungla, a za nas samo livada.
Njegovo putovanje možda traje nekoliko centimetara, ali nosi istu upornost i svrhu kao i naše – možda čak i više tišine i mudrosti.
U tom tihom trenutku, kroz objektiv, imao sam sreću uhvatiti jedno od tih malih bića.
Ne kao objekt. Nego kao priču.
🌱 Mali svijet, velika priča.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
🇬🇧 Invisible explorers of the morning
As the day begins to stretch across grassy fields, while the dew still lingers silently on the blades, the ones most never see begin their journey.
Small travellers, silent explorers, walking through a world that is a jungle to them — and just a meadow to us.
Their path may span only a few centimeters, but carries the same determination and purpose as ours — perhaps even more quiet wisdom.
In that silent moment, through the lens, I was lucky to witness one of these tiny beings.
Not as an object. But as a story.
🌱 Small world, big story.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
🇩🇪 Unsichtbare Entdecker des Morgens
Während sich der Tag langsam über die Gräser legt und der Tau noch leise auf den Halmen ruht, treten sie in Erscheinung – die, die fast niemand je bemerkt.
Kleine Reisende, stille Entdecker, unterwegs in einer Welt, die für sie ein Dschungel ist – für uns nur eine Wiese.
Ihr Weg mag nur wenige Zentimeter lang sein, doch er trägt dieselbe Entschlossenheit und Bedeutung wie unsere – vielleicht sogar mehr stille Weisheit.
In diesem ruhigen Moment hatte ich durch das Objektiv das Glück, eines dieser kleinen Wesen zu entdecken.
Nicht als Objekt. Sondern als Geschichte.
🌱 Kleine Welt, große Geschichte.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
🇫🇷 Explorateurs invisibles du matin
Alors que le jour s’étire doucement sur les champs d’herbe, que la rosée murmure encore sur les brins, apparaissent ceux que l’on ne voit presque jamais.
Petits voyageurs, explorateurs silencieux, avançant dans un monde qui est pour eux une jungle – pour nous, juste une prairie.
Leur trajet ne mesure que quelques centimètres, mais porte la même volonté et la même signification que les nôtres – avec peut-être encore plus de sagesse silencieuse.
Dans cet instant de calme, à travers l’objectif, j’ai eu la chance de croiser l’un de ces êtres minuscules.
Non pas comme un objet. Mais comme une histoire.
🌱 Petit monde, grande histoire.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
🇪🇸 Exploradores invisibles de la mañana
Mientras el día se desliza por los campos de hierba y el rocío aún calla sobre las hojas, aparecen los que casi nadie ve.
Pequeños viajeros, exploradores silenciosos, caminando por un mundo que para ellos es una jungla — para nosotros, solo un prado.
Su recorrido tal vez solo mida unos centímetros, pero encierra la misma determinación y propósito que el nuestro — quizás con más sabiduría silenciosa.
En ese instante callado, a través del objetivo, tuve la suerte de encontrar a uno de estos pequeños seres.
No como un objeto. Sino como una historia.
🌱 Pequeño mundo, gran historia.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
🇮🇹 Esploratori invisibili del mattino
Mentre il giorno si stende lentamente sui campi erbosi e la rugiada tace ancora sulle foglie, compaiono quelli che quasi nessuno nota.
Piccoli viaggiatori, esploratori silenziosi, che attraversano un mondo che per loro è una giungla — per noi, solo un prato.
Il loro cammino misura forse solo pochi centimetri, ma racchiude la stessa determinazione e senso del nostro — forse con ancora più saggezza silenziosa.
In quel momento di quiete, attraverso l’obiettivo, ho avuto la fortuna di incontrarne uno.
Non come un oggetto. Ma come una storia.
🌱 Piccolo mondo, grande storia.
📍 maliOli PHOTO art
I am delighted to see so much damsel and dragonfly activity right now.
These wandering ringtail damselflies like to be around slow moving or still water and are endemic to the east of our country.
Here is one taking a rest from its frenetic activity.
Male, 40 mm body length.
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I love these little flowers that pop up on my lawn during the spring and summer months. I always find myself photographing them occasionally. This time I used my new-to-me Nikon D750 and a 50 1.8G plus a vintage close up filter and it produced an excellent result. Sometimes you don't always need a macro lens...
NB: not captive, seen on the garden patio tiles.
When I came upon this spider, it was weak but still defensive, raising his front legs to make himself appear bigger and threatening....and at that moment I could see the double spurs on his first two legs. These, together with the large pedipalps, general body form and size, indicated this was a male.
I gently took him to some sheltered undergrowth in the garden.
I understand that at the time of year that I saw him (January, summer here in Australia) and particularly during periods of high humidity - the male trapdoors are out and about looking for females.
They are eaten by the female, or naturally die after mating. Perhaps that was what was happening here.
Commonly known as the brown trapdoor spider. Male, 15 mm body length.
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NB: not captive. Seen on the side of a garden plant pot.
Native here in Australia, Opisthoncus quadratarius is a large and robust jumping spider species.
Here we have a dorsal view of a female, around 10 mm body length.
Link to facial/lateral view: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/50542049778/in/photol...
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A mating pair of transverse ladybird beetles showing sexual dimorphism in size and colour variation within the species.
Native range for Coccinella transversalis is India, across south-east Asia and down to here in Australia.
Around 5 mm body length.
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I really struggle finding subjects for macro photography and I'm not sure if this genre of photography something I truly enjoy or not but it does get me to think different sometimes. It's challenging because we don't see things this close normally so you have to think outside the box.
At around 3 to 4 mm in length, one of the smallest insects I've come cross.
I believe this is Taylorilygus apicalis, commonly known as the broken-backed bug. I gather this is because the wing tips appear bent down at 45° to the body.
They are true bugs, with piercing and sucking mouthparts.
Mainly feeding on plants within Asteraceae as seen here.
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Family Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of wasps that includes sand wasps, mud daubers and other thread-waisted wasps.
Possibly a mud dauber Sceliphron formosum. These wasps paralyse prey and place them within the cell for the larva to eat as it develops.
20 mm body length.
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NB: not captive.
I came upon a St. Andrew's cross spider under some bushes and struggling over a small sandstone rock. I only ever see these pretty female orb weavers hanging vertically in the middle of their webs - and wondered what she was doing down there close to the ground.
So I put her back in to the nearby foliage where she quickly retreated between the leaves. I hope she recovered.
15 mm body length.
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I believe this jumping spider with lovely markings is within genus Holoplatys, perhaps species semiplanata.
Holoplatys species have a long, flat, oval cephalothorax and a long, flat, oval abdomen. I have found them under tree bark and around the home, in external cracks and crevices
Female 10 mm body length.
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At just 3 to 4 mm in length as an adult, this is the tiniest ladybird I have ever come across...Apolinus lividigaster, commonly known as the yellow-shouldered ladybird, native here in Australia.
And this is a female, going by the full black front of the head. There are fine hairs covering the elytra.
A darling little thing, it would fit right in on Jonathan Swift's island of Lilliput.
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The subject of mimicry in evolutionary biology is one that absolutely fascinates me. It is a complex and highly intriguing topic.
I was thrilled therefore, to come upon a wasp-mimicking robber fly recently, Neosaropogon princeps.
It is mimicking the large spider wasps that paralyze and prey on spiders. I noted that in flight, it even produced a significant buzz to accompany the already convincing physical appearance. A special moment for me.
Around 25mm body length.
Link to lateral image: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/52903205897/in/datepo...
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I happened to catch this little sawfly just before it took off.
This is specifically the bottlebrush sawfly, Pterygophorus cinctus.
Despite the common name, sawflies are not flies. They sit within order Hymenoptera, but within a separate suborder to wasps/ants/bees, namely Symphyta.
Sawflies do not possess the distinctive thin waist of the other hymenopterans, nor do they possess a sting. The common name comes from the female's saw-like egg-laying tube, which she uses to make a slit in a plant leaf or stem, into which she lays her eggs.
Our Australian sawfly larvae feed mainly on native trees and shrubs, such as eucalypts, paperbarks and bottlebrushes (although a small number of species are parasitic).
15 mm body length.
Link to image of the larval stage: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/51113646235/in/photol...
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Actinodium is a genus of only two species, both occurring naturally here in Australia, but only in areas near Albany in the west of the country.
Both species have similar flowers which are superficially similar to daisies. However, the genus is not a daisy and it is within the myrtle family Myrtaceae.
A small shrub to about 0.5 m with tiny leaves around 5 mm long. The flower heads occur mainly in spring and are about 40 mm diameter. The flower heads consist of clusters of small, pink, fertile flowers in the centre - surrounded by white, strap-like and sterile flowers around the circumference.
Actinodium cunninghamii, family Myrtaceae.
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With their endearing habit of continuously waving their wings when at rest, Parapalaeosepsis plebeia flies have a natural distribution mainly in the south-east of our country.
These very small flies are ant-like and black in colour. Their wings are clear and have a small dark spot near the apex.
Perhaps genus Parapalaeosepsis.
Body length 4 mm.
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Found across eastern Australia, this dainty and pretty little insect is a wandering ringtail damselfly, Austrolestes leda.
Often seen around, or close to slow running waters.
She was one of so many out and about enjoying the blue skies after the horrific week of heavy rain and flooding we struggled with at that time.
Mature female, 35 mm body length.
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A native of South Africa, Delosperma cooperi is known commonly as trailing ice plant.
The common name of ice plant is given because the bladder-like hairs on the leaf surface reflect and refract light in a way that make it appear to sparkle like ice crystals.
The flowers are the most brilliant aspect of this succulent plant, a great quantity of magenta/hot pink flowers are produced that often cover the entire site.
Each individual flower is just 3 to 4cm in diameter.
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I'll go out every now and then and practice a little bit of macro photography and a lot of times I come back with nothing great but sometimes there's one shot out of many that you're like..."wow I captured that?" Is this shot perfect? Nope but each time I try, the better I'll get. I just gotta tell my self to get out and shoot no matter what.