Now I'm not sure but I think this is Palomena prasina(The Green Shieldbug) changing colour, I seem to remember reading that the adults turn reddish/brown(bronze) in the Winter before they hibernate, you can still see traces of green on the pronotum area of this bug, some nice eye details as well to be seen :)

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A lovely vivid Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata, the f. reticulata refers to the orange tiger stripes on the upper part of the abdomen, I've not seen one quite as distinct as this one before. There was a large number of Sminthurinus aureus types all on the same leaf and all slightly different variations, so I'm not sure if I can describe them all under the same name tag. Three of the extra images were juveniles, one could be mistaken as Sminthurinus reticulatus, but as all the adults were Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata, then I guess that would be a better fit. The other juvenile was very mottled, so I guess in a pre-moult stage.

Taken with the MP-E on 36mm of extension tubes and a 1,4x teleconverter, these guys varied from 0.4mm for juveniles to 0.8mm for the adults :o)

I hope everyone is having a great weekend :o)

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Had a great day today. Not only did I manage to dedicate a full day to macro photography, I also got to meet up with some flickr friends and collembola experts.

I was on the hunt for exotic collembola under the guidance of Eddie The Bugman , andybadger and Paul Ardron. Paul wrote a very interesting article about the invasive species to be found at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, which first attracted Eddie. He's subsequently managed to build up quite a collection of what are thought to be non-native species and was kind enough to show us where they can be found.

These are just one of the species of exotic Katiannidae that can be found here. I was pleased to find another species to add to my own collection, but more importantly I enjoyed finally getting to meet up with my internet friends and discuss all things collembola. Thanks chaps; I look forward to our next get together!

So I was wondering what Sminthurides aquaticus does when their home is frozen over, simple they get their skates on, LOL. It seemed that these guys are reasonably happy when their pond is frozen over and I found numerous individuals on the ice today. Yes on such a cold day I decided to spend some time dangling my camera over ice and I had to take my gloves off to do this, Brrrrrrr LOL :o)

This was a lone female on the ice, they do get a lot bigger than the males and this one was 1.5mm at a guess. I must admit though that the numbers are a lot lower on the pond than earlier on in the year, so I imagine they are happier in a slightly warmer environment, I didn't notice any frozen individuals, so I imagine they are quite resistant to the cold :o)

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Here's one I didn't get around to uploading from last year, this is a female Sphaeridia pumilis I found on a walk near Melton Mowbray. These are fairly small as Collembola go, an adult female can reach around 0.5mm in length and the male 0.25mm. Sphaeridia pumilis is a very common species and can be found in topsoil samples, I frequently find them on grassland and on moss, this one was found on a stick on grazing pasture near Melton Mowbray.

This one is a lovely reddish colour, but I have found yellow versions before, the ones I find at Wilford are always yellow, I have no idea why this is, see comments for a comparison :o)

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I think she took quite a shine to me on my walk today, a female Common Darter hugging my finger. There were plenty of Dragonflies about today, mainly Darters and Hawkers, but the Darters are my favourites.

This was a natural light focus stack of 9 images using an F/7.1 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/100 shutter speed. I was happy with the way this one came out and it was a pleasant afternoon with my Dragonfly buddies LOL ;o)

So I thought I might as well throw this one in with the head on stack of the Haematopota pluvialis (♀) I found today, this a full body view of this Horsefly. The adult females of this species grow to about 12mm in length, The large compound eyes are brightly coloured. The thorax is grey, with black longitudinal stripes. The abdomen has clearer bands at the end of each black segment. Also the wings have a distinctive pattern, being dark mottled by several clear spots. Legs are black, with yellowish-brown rings.

Cunning, Ruthless, and Deadly, so said Inspector Bugman on the resent spate of brutal murders. Bugman, a former Chrysalis, continued, these killings happen in broad daylight, no one is safe, and should always be on there guard.

Sorry couldn't help it with the title, thought these made an interesting subject, but soon realised that they are a nightmare to photograph , metallic sheen and DOF issues a plenty, this was one of the better shots :)

This is Gastrophysa viridula common on Dock leaves at this time of year, their favourite food :)

I'm not a 100% on ID with these, most likely to be Protaphorura armata, I have photographed Protaphorura armata before and these are similar. I quite like these blind white Springtails, you always tend to find them in groups and I rather enjoy watching them amble about on the bits of damp bark I find them on, there were about 8 in this group.

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Well this was a turn up for the books, I went back to see if I could capture more Sminthurides aquaticus egg laying behaviour. Guess what, Sminthurides nr. penicillifer were on the Duckweed instead, so I sat and watched and sure enough I witnessed and photographed one individual in the process of egg laying.

It seems that Sminthurides nr. penicillifer has a very similar egg laying strategy to Sminthurides aquaticus:-

images (1)-(2) :- Excavation, Sminthurides nr. penicillifer also excavates a hole to deposit her egg into.

image (3) :- She lays a single egg into the hole.

image (4) :- She will then cover up the egg with faeces and dirt.

Really pleased to see this mini miracle and especially in such a rare Collembola :o)

For these I used my MP-E on a 1.4x teleconverter, this species is about 1mm in length :o)

Images in first of comments :o)

Well I tried it on Pink, so then I decided to try him on white foam, I tried for a bit of High Key treatment, really shows off those colours, I love these beetles, so next time you pass Dead Nettles have a look for Chrysolina fastuosa :)

I took a trip to Sheffield in search of rare and exotic Collembola and I was not disappointed. I had been reading an article about exotic introduced species of Collembola, see here pages 10-23 :-

www.ukeconet.co.uk/images/stories/aliens_proceedings.pdf

Anyway, I found quite a few different looking and very colourful Collembola, here is a first example. The above image is a focus stack of 4 images. I'm not sure if this is Genus nov.2 sp, nov or something else, there seemed to be quite a bit of variety in colour with these guys.These were associated with Erica (Heath or Heather), basically I was finding them on fallen decaying leaves lodged in the Heather. Anyway a couple of new species for the list and a great day out, despite the intense cold :o)

Taken with the MP-E and 36mm of extension tubes, these guys were no bigger than 1mm long :o)

I will do another post of these in a while, but I'm so tired tonight, I will leave you with this appetiser :o)

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I seem to inadvertently created a Damselfly National Flag LOL, this Damselfly was found on this grass stem this morning and I thought I'd try some two tone effects.

Sad thing is I'm actually thinking of designing a flag now, right that's it, I'm going out to find some other subjects to shoot :)

This could be a Jawa pet or the latest Bantha substitute for a Tusken Raider, no of course not, it's a lonely Dicyrtomina saundersi on a bit of wood, just looked a bit like a scene from Star Wars episode IV, note I'm not using The Phantom Menace eventhough it was also partly filmed on Tatooine LOL. I'm not a big fan of "The Phantom Menace", but that's just me.

Anyway, a 13 image head on focus stack at F/5.6, I'm hoping to get out sometime soon in 2013 for some more macro work :o)

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A rather attractive Deuterosminthurus pallipes, this is another new one for the Collembola list, I found loads of these at the Sensory Garden at Wollaton Hall, they come in two main colour forms and this is the rather attractive purple/red version, the other form is yellow in colour. These guys do a rather cute courtship dance, I still have to witness this, so planning a trip back to Wollaton soon.

You would not believe how fast these guys are, they were running all over the shop and this colour form seemed to be in the majority, so I'm guessing that it must be a female. I like these very much, a most attractive Springtail. I met a very nice couple also doing photography and they were fascinated when I told them about these guys and spent a fair old time talking about macro photography and watching these running about on the leaves :o)

Taken at x5 mag and cropped, these were about 1mm in length at a guess :o)

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I do like these large red Dicyrtoma fusca's, I think they hav e quite mean looking faces, they remind me of little Devils, of course nothing could be further from the truth, they can be found on rotting wood and leaf litter feeding on fungi and other stuff. These are one of the hardiest Winter Active Collembola I find, I have found these guys still moving about on the coldest of days. This is a 6 image head on, handheld focus stack at F/5.6, unfortunately it started moving before I could finish the stack and get the other antennae in focus :o)

NEED TO VIEW ON BLACK

Happy New Year everybody, I went out to do my first macro of 2012, I managed about 40mins before the heavens opened and have now got all my gear out to dry LOL, but never mind, let's hope 2012 brings us all plenty of great photographic opportunities and everything else we want :0)

Dicyrtomina saundersi walking on water :0)

Class: Entognatha

Subclass: Collembola

Order: Symphypleona

Family: Dicyrtomidae

Genus: Dicyrtomina

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I do so like these tiny little pink Brachystomellidae, they are really cute little critters, always enjoy watching them amble around their environment. I found this one on the underside of a large fallen branch. These guys are ever so tiny and this one was about 0.6mm at a guess. I tried using my MP-E at x5 with my 1.4x teleconverter and a 36mm extension tube, I used an F/5.6 aperture for these, if I use a smaller aperture then things start getting a tad soft.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend, the first of 2013 (Happy New Year), I hope the weather is like it was today, it was great to see the sun and blue skies for a change, most pleasing :o)

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I found another interesting Spider, this little chap was under a bit of loose bark, I have really struggled to put an ID to this one, but as far as I have worked out it is from the family Linyphiidae, which does not narrow things down too much, as Linyphiidae is the largest family of Northern European Spiders, so any further ID help appreciated.

I tried a bit of a focus stack on this one, the prominent pedipalps would not be in focus if I focused on the eyes alone, so I tried using x3 magnification with an aperture of F/14 and a two image stack, I think it has worked quite well, both eyes and pedipalps now in focus.

ID Neriene montana by jel 1969, thanks Jason :o)

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The River Trent at rush hour today, the river is the highest I've seen for a long time, in this shot the river is over the top steps of the embankment, I decided to use a shallow DOF and try and put the focus on the immediate foreground with the water lapping over the pavement, it also throws the background into wonderful bokeh lights.

Last time I saw the Trent over the steps was in November 2000, it actually made it up to the wall under the bridge where the record flood levels of previous years are carved.

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A rather unique POV for a Common Darter, I don't think I've ever managed this angle before, admittedly this is a bit of an extreme crop, but I think it makes for an interesting image, hope you like it :)

This individual I think was as curious about me as I was about him, he kept coming back and landing infront of me, here he was positioned slightly over the edge of the fence :)

This is the underneath of a Dragonflies head, showing his jaws and bottom of his eye :)

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One of my favourite species of Symphypleona (Globular Springtail), this is Genus nov.2 sp. nov. or Katianna sp.3, this is an example of a mature individual, the colours on them are quite distinct and very striking. This individual was on a fallen leaf.

For this one I managed a 4 image focus stack, some nice details to be seen here. This is a rotated crop of the image before this :o)

Watching "Guardians Of The Galaxy" for the 12th time LOL ;O)

Final upload for tonight, just tried a five image stack of a Damselfly I found at Wollaton today, worked fairly well, I think i will get the hang of CombineZP eventually, I hope you all like this, I should have been in bed by now, back at work tomorrow and a really early rise (4:30am), will try and catch up tomorrow :)

Dicyrtomina saundersi in the big wide yonder, when you are a mere 3mm long a fence post must feel like a vast expanse of empty space, I always wonder what the world must look like from the eyes of these mini beasts, it would be quite an eye opener to be shrunk down to this size, we can only get a slight idea using macro photography. I quite liked this head on angle here :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, hope the weather is good tomorrow :)

I'm not 100% on ID, but I think these are Schaefferia emucronata (3-4 ocelli on each eye patch and prominent anal spines) and a new find for me, so quite pleased. I was checking out a new site at Mapperley Tunnel, these guys were found on bits of wood in pitch black conditions, Mapperley tunnel(Gedling Pit) is a disused railway tunnel and it was a very spooky place indeed, but great fun, I will return there and venture further into the abyss. My intention was to try and find some troglobite Collembola, I did get a fleeting glimpse of a Neelus murinus, but it got away. Most of the individuals in the montage are juveniles I think, not easy to focus on due to poor lighting near the tunnel entrance, I will have to work on a lighting set up and try and work further down the tunnel :o)

I did a montage as I need to find a way of presenting a load of images together as I'm worried that Flickr will remove the ability to share images in the comments.

VIEW LARGE and EXTRAS IN COMMENTS WITH SURPRISE IMAGE :O)

I found this guy yesterday still holding on to its exuviae, so I managed an opportunistic focus stack of 7 images. I really love the eye details on these newly emerged Common Darters, you really need to view this full size if you can. I wish I could of managed a better angle, but this guy was just above the water surface on the side of the fountain wall. I had to use my small diffuser, next time I will use the bigger diffuser to get better diffusion. I was also surprised at how small the Common Darters exuviae were.

Anyway, looks like the good weather is over again, raining here already. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend :o)

I have included a crop in the comments :o)

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I'm pretty sure that this is a juvenile Dicyrtoma fusca, I've not seen one of these for months, I think they prefer cooler weather and are starting to appear now it's starting to get cooler outside. It seems that as the seasons change, so do the Collembola, of course there are some species that can be found all year round, but there are other species that are seasonal. I expect to start to see more Dicyrtominae when the leaves really do start falling and we start getting colder temperatures.

Taken with the MP-E at x5 on 72mm of extension tubes.

I hope everyone has a great week :o)

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A damselfy resting in the sun, on a rock near the Saint-Laurent river, in Parc-nature de la Visitation in Montréal, Québec, Canada. (The red bokeh is a leaf on the ground.)

I'm thinking this is a female of either Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis) or Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta) species? Any thoughts on ID would be welcomed. Side-shot is right here.

Tamron Adaptall SP 90mm F/2.5 Macro (52BB), Tamron Adaptall SP 2X tele-converter (01F), Raynox DCR-250 and off-camera diffused Yongnuo YN-560 III flash. Pretty much at MFD, plus a slight crop from the stacking. Four-shot handheld focus stack.

p.s.: Thanks to Eddie The Bugman, whose fantastic stream has encouraged me to try deeper handheld focus stacks.

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(IMGP8065-68_ZSPMax_CrEtc3_2)

Mortician- Commissioner, I have some unsettling news, during the Signal Man attack, a body was stolen from the morgue.

Gordon- Which one?

Mortitian- Uh, the file says... Ted Carson? Does that ring a bell?

Gordon- Do you want my honest answer? No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. I’ll get someone to look into it.

———————

Carson- You Moth-Eaten Piece of Shit this wasn’t part of the deal- argh! No!

Mr. Moth- Relieving past traumas?

Carson- What’s it to you, Walker? What’s with the suit? Very suave.

Mr. Moth- Oh ho, you think I’m Drury? No, but I am... a close relative

Carson- Would killing you upset him?

Mr. Moth- I doubt it. He never cared for me. And I never cared for him. See, I’ve got quite the scheme in mind Mr Carson and I need someone to execute it. I need... The Cockroach!

Carson- Yeah. I’m not calling myself that. I’m either Firefly or sir to you. Sometimes Charaxes. And Jackanapes.

Mr. Moth- But it’s fitting, isn’t it? Cockroaches are so very hard to kill, like you no? Not to mention they’re disgusting vermin. Heh.

Carson- Ay, watch it Bugman! I’m not going to be bossed around, least of all by a Walker!

Mr. Moth- Don’t worry, I have every intention of allowing you that chance at revenge you so desire. Just put on the suit and use the name. There’s no point in having two Fireflies. Especially since you don’t use fire. Or fly.

Carson- I did. In a different continuity. Where I was competent.

Mr. Moth- What are you- ? That Moth God really got in your head didn’t he?

Carson- Yeah. Listen, I’ll put this suit on but I’m still not sure on the name. How about Bug Spray? Or Bug Repellent?

Mr. Moth- Or how about shutting the fuck up, eh? (Actually those names were cool. I’m not telling HIM that though)

Carson- Maybe the Exterminator?

Mr. Moth- It’s taken. You’ll use the name I fucking chose for you and you’ll like it!

Carson- Cockroach it is then. Do you have a curtain or something where I can change?

Mr. Moth- Out in the open is fine

Carson- Yay. (Will I ever find a partner who isn’t some sort of pervert?)

———————————

Drury- You’ve got to evict him. He’s going to gamble away our son!

Miranda- Me? Why?

Drury- Because the last time I tried evicting someone we ended up having to fight a literal Moth God. Also because he scares me. He really scares me.

Miranda- Oh no. You want rid of him, you’ll have to do it yourself!

Drury- Dammit Woman! Fine!

—————————————

Tiger Shark- Read ‘em and weep boys! Tiger Shark finally wins! I’ll get back my empire in no time!

Penguin- Actually, sir. I win. I suppose I’ll be taking the baby?

Cammy- Wah!

Drury- No you most certainly will not!

Penguin- Rules are rules m'boy.

Drury- Who would even write those rules?

...

Tiger Shark- Ah god. I really shouldn’t have offered up my grandson in a poker game.

Thorne- No. Walker’s idiocy is really rubbing off on you.

Drury- Really now.

Tiger Shark- You don’t know the half of what I put up with “Quickly to the Bat-Pole!” “Up, up and away!”

Drury- Sure. Tell everyone.

Tiger Shark- Shut up.

Drury- Yes sir.

Penguin- I think I'll name the infant Terrence. Terrence Cobblepot.

*Penguin reaches out to take the baby from Drury's hands*

Penguin- I *will* be taking the child now.

Drury- Over my dead body.

Penguin- Easily arranged. Mind what you say.

Tiger Shark- Wait, one more game? To win him back? I lose, I give you... Drury, I give you Drury!

Drury- Again! No.

Sionis- I'm not going to risk it for him. I'm out.

Bone- Meh. I’m in. Are you Ozzie?

Penguin- *Waugh* Why not? I could use someone to keep the ladies company. *Waugh*

*Waugh*

Miranda- What the *hell's* going on here?!

...

Drury- I told you, we should've evicted him.

Well after spending sometime running after these guys without much luck at all, I decided to photograph some Damsels that were settling on a wooden fence, I then noticed something walking towards me on this fence and there it was and I could not believe it, lovely insects these, I think this is Chorthippus parallelus, but not 100% :)

Thanks to Cladoniophile for ID help :- Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, Chorthippus albomarginatus

I found this little one on top of a large Bracket type fungus, not really got any idea on what type of Hopper nymph it is, I'm sure it's not a Leafhopper, could be a Planthopper, if anyone has a clue about ID, I would be everso grateful. I thought it made an interesting scene, would have liked a more contrasty subject, this guy was very well camouflaged on this fungi. It kept doing the I'm not posing for you thing and kept turning around to face the wrong way, I found if I put my hand infront of it then it turned back again.

Finally back online, I think the router was playing up, really frustrating not having Flickr last night.

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Something a little different, this is my first night shot for ages, have a feeling I will be doing many more of these. The amazing thing about night shots is that it can transform a rather boring scene into an exotic riviera feel, really love the lights and reflections here.

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Been busy preparing some images to display at the Danes Exhibition, this is an Entomological Exhibition at Brackenhurst College.

www.danes-insects.org.uk/events.htm

A pair of Sminthurinus aureus on a leaf, on the left is a female and on the right is a male, the male is possibly still quite juvenile. The male of this species is always quite a bit smaller than the female, it is a usual thing with Springtails that males go through fewer moults than the female, so females can reach larger sizes. Also there is usually a 10:1 ratio with Globular Springtails, 10 females to every male.

I always find these on fallen green leaves, I use a small pocket magnifying glass to check the leaf for signs of life, very occasionally I can see these with the naked eye, but if there is debris/dirt on the leaf it is next to impossible. The male in this image would not be possible to spot easily with the human eye.

Once located it is a case of training the camera on the area you spotted the subject and even then a lot of systematic scannining of leaf can be required. I have recently taken to focusing on these with live view, you can zoom in at x10 and get pretty good focusing :o)

Female about 0.8mm and male about 0.4mm, taken at x7 with MP-E and 1.4x Teleconverter and on a cropped sensor camera :o)

One man come and go

One come he to justify

One man to overthrow

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence

One man he resist

One man washed on an empty beach.

One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4

Shot rings out in the Memphis sky

Free at last, they took your life

They could not take your pride

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

In the name of love

What more in the name of love

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY

Doing the Seven Deadly Sins Damsel style and here are the first offering, the next tomorrow and so on, each of the sins have a related colour and I thought I'd try and match each colour, I have done the sins first and may well do the seven virtues at a later date, please note this is for fun, a bit educational maybe and definitely not aimed at causing any religious offence :)

In almost every list pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris, is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the source of the others. It is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour." In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitents were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs to induce feelings of humility.

Pride- Violet

Envy- Green

Gluttony- Orange

Lust- Blue

Wrath- Red

Greed- Yellow

Sloth- Light Blue

The one thing I'm actually looking forward to now are the Autumnal colours, being a wet Summer, I predict some very rich Autumn colours this year.

This also means wonderful colours for Collembola photography, green is nice, but reds, oranges, yellows and browns are better. Here we have a Sminthurinus species on the underside of a fallen leaf, I just loved the beautiful colours here. It is also standing next to a water drop on the back of the leaf.

This was taken with my MP-E at x5 on 72mm of extension tubes. I'm not 100% on ID, but possibly a Sminthurinus aureus f. maculata, I'm sure Frans will be able to help confirm ID. This one was about 0.5mm in size :o)

Most likely ID Sminthurinus reticulatus, thanks to Frans

Just seen Nikon has announced the D600, wondering what Canon will hit back with?

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Captain Goldborg runs U-Haul Inc. interplanetary freight and cargo shipping. No journey to small no package to big. If you have the credits he'll ship it, Animal, vegetable, mineral or all three, it's no odds to Goldborg.

Gold parts cost an arm and a leg (and he needs a replacement for his hook)!

Left to Right

Disco Dee-Dee - Security

Bugman - Cigar chomping, long distance space trucker

Captain Goldborg - CEO Entrepeneur and founder of UHaul Inc.

Crash Test Jimmy - Can fly or drive anything for at least 100 yards really fast!

JCB-4K - Grumpy Storeman and logisitical facilitator

Possibly the happiest Darter face I've seen so far, they just cheer me up no end when I see their faces. This one is a male Sympetrum striolatum that was happy to pose for the camera at Wilford Claypit a few weeks back. I've not got much in the way of new material at the moment, it does seem that I will be out looking for the smaller invertebrates very soon.

Whilst on my walk the other day I picked up this purple plastic bottle, guess what, there was a Dicyrtomina ornata grazing on the underside of the bottle, another opportunity for an interesting shot, I love the purple and slight reflection here, nice details on this one as well :)

Sorry if I'm getting a bit obsessed with these, but there is not much about, especially when we are getting frosts :) Also interesting as it shows clearly that these guys walk on tippy toes :)

Class: Entognatha

Subclass: Collembola

Order: Symphypleona

Family: Dicyrtomidae

Genus: Dicyrtomina

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The Squacco Heron (A juvenile) is the recent pride of Attenborough Nature Reserve, this rare visitor has been showing well since it's arrival last Thursday and has been pulling in the crowds, it is currently feeding under a bridge over the Erewash and what a beautiful bird it is, I feel very privileged to watch it's behaviour today, fabulous stuff, just wish I had an 800mm lens, these are all fairly severe crops :)

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Some Wiki Facts :)

The Squacco Heron, Ardeola ralloides, is a small heron, 44–47 centimetres (17–19 in) long, of which the body is 20–23 centimetres (7.9–9.1 in), with 80–92 centimetres (31–36 in) wingspan.[2] It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East.

The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering in Africa. It is rare north of its breeding range. This is a stocky species with a short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. Its appearance is transformed in flight, when it looks very white due to the colour of the wings. The squacco heron's breeding habitat is marshy wetlands in warm countries. The birds nest in small colonies, often with other wading birds, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. 3-4 eggs are laid. They feed on fish, frogs and insects.

Another ghastly grey, gloomy and grizzly day (All dull words begin with G), looking back to images I have not uploaded yet and this one of a Common Darter put a smile on my face. I'm hoping to get some macro done soon, but must say I am enjoying doing a bit of HDR stuff and will be re entering the realms of bokeh, benches and fences at some juncture. It's a whole 12 days since my last Dragon upload :o)

I'm hoping there is still a chance of a few last Darter shots, I did see a Migrant Hawker hunting in the gloom of yesterday which was a most pleasant surprise. Looks like the gloom is set to last until Friday at the latest and Saturday is looking good, fingers crossed that Friday will be OK :o)

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Old drawing I found from early 2008 when I was tidying the studio.

These are from a week ago, I went to Wilford Claypit to see what was about in the Springtail Arena, well still lots of activity, looks like these guys are a year round feature. I think these are Sminthurides schoetti, as always Frans please correct me if I'm wrong. I've included a selection in the comments, I'm pretty sure the bottom image is a Sminthurides signatus though. All the females were about 0.7mm in length, the male was about 0.4mm, the juvenile was about o.4mm as well, taken with the MP-E with a 1.4x teleconverter and 36mm of extension tubes :0)

Well looks like we are going to lose another High Street Photography store, we already lost Jacobs last year and now it's not looking too good for Jessops. That will leave only one dedicated photography retailer in Nottingham, the London Camera Exchange.

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This was possibly one of the coolest finds I had for 2014, this is Sminthurinus minutus, this is most likely an imported species, brought in on plants for the glasshouse at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens. Sminthurinus minutus is actually an American species. This was the first time this species has been found in Europe. Kind of cool I don't have to travel too far to see an American species, saves on an airfare LOL :o)

Anyway, went back today, a spur of the moment decision. I was lucky enough to get a few shots of these. So thought I'd show an image of a juvenile on the left (about 0.4mm) and a fully grown adult on the right (about 0.8mm). It appears the adults do get to a reasonable size, bigger than I first thought, they do have a habit of jumping as soon as you find them, so I was lucky with this one.

Please note the images are not to scale.

BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE

I have added the single shots as extras in first of comments.

This is a rather small Sminthurinus sp Globular Springtail, closely resembling S.aureus, I find these at Melton Country Park, they just seem a little different to the S.aureus I find in other places. This little one was about 0.8mm long and is actually next to a rivet on a park bench, it had escaped from the bit of wood I was trying to photograph it on.

Springtails get their name from the use of an appendage called the furcula found on the fourth abdominal segment, it enables the Springtail to launch itself into the air and is used as an escape mechanism,

this is what Wiki says :o)

The furcula, or furca, is a tail-like appendage shaped like a fork, found ventrally on the fourth abdominal segment of springtails. Present in most species dwelling the upper soil layers, it is used for jumping when the animal is threatened. While at rest, it is retracted under the abdomen and held there by a structure variously called the retinaculum or hamula, located on the third abdominal segment. When the retinaculum releases the furcula, it springs open and hits the substrate, propelling the springtail into the air. This mechanism is not used for locomotion, but only for escaping from predators or severe stress.

One reason not to use it for locomotion is that its action is extremely unpredictable; when the furcula is released, the organism is sent tumbling through the air on an unpredictable trajectory, and lands practically randomly.

Not surprisingly, some species, such as the intertidal marine inhabitant Anurida maritima do without an organ that might get them into more trouble than it rescues them from. Some other species, such as in the genus Hypogastrura have only a very short furcula. At the same time the device is hard to predict and is versatile. Even a springtail drifting on the surface tension layer of water often can jump successfully. Also, most predators of springtails are small and often have little power of sight, so if the prey leaps in time, the chances are that from the hunter's point of view, it simply vanishes.

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Tried to go out and do some photography today, failed miserably, it was more like Winter, cold, grey and windy, with occasional drizzle thrown in for good measure, did not even get the camera out of the bag, a big BOOOOOOO!!!!!!! to British weather :o(

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I had a quick trip into my macro world today and found this rather splendid individual grazing on the ground. This one was about 1mm in size and was a dark purple/violet colour, I think I have finally found a Stenacidia violacea female. It was actually almost visible to the eye, this was taken at x7 magnification :o)

Really too hot and bright to be photographing these today, when the sun went behind a cloud I could see alright, as soon as the sun was out, I could hardly see anything on my screen and the live view was too bright, I can only really see stuff in the shade.

This was found in the small area of ground I search, the same place I have found my most recent Springtails, I'll be interested to see what it yields later in the year :o)

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Well this is going to be one of my little projects this Winter, focus stacking Collembola, with this I decided to try using my 1.4x teleconverter and my MP-E at x5, so in all this was a x7 magnification handheld focus stack of just 6 images at F/6.3. I'm hoping to get deeper with the stacks as the Winter goes on.

It really is a very hit and miss affair with these guys, sometimes they will stay perfectly still and then sometimes they are always moving, especially those antennae, but I was reasonably fortunate that this female stayed put for just long enough, anyway an ongoing project and with the numbers increasing I think it quite achievable, the main thing is refining the technique :o)

I hope everyone in the Southwest has a safe day, apparently going to get very wet again and then I hear that next week temps are going to drop to -15C, well at least it will slow down the Globular Springtails a bit LOL :o)

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So pleased to find one at last, they are such stunning flies and this being a male (Only the females bite) I knew I was safe, this is commonly known as the Cleg (Horsefly), they have been known to send livestock running and the females bite can be pretty painful, believe me I know LOL :)

5 image stack CombineZP (camera was handheld)

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Taken in a field by my driveway. I've seen a few around recently. Thanks to Eddie the Bugman for the possible ID: a male Bibio lanigerus (Bibionidae).

Info from www.naturespot.org.uk/species/bibio-lanigerus: Length 5 to 8 mm. This is one of a group known as March Flies. The adult males have large bulbous eyes. It is identified from similar species by the fact that it has reddish legs, and thanks to rockwolf for further ID information (it may not be lanigerus).