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, the white bokeh is actually fungi/mould and I think this is what these like to feed on. You can see the central vein of the leaf running down the centre of the image. This individual was about 1mm in length :o)

 

For this one I managed a 4 image focus stack, some nice details to be seen here. I have included a rotated crop as an extra. See first of comments.

Sometimes you just have to jump !!!!!!!

 

A very small Dicyrtomina ornata contemplating the best route across, I wonder if this one was working out what to do next here, it stayed in this pose for good few seconds and of course did not jump the gap, it just ambled around the obstacle, I really enjoy my visits to this other world, I think this is the best part of macro work, it allows you an insight into a world that most of us don't even know exists.

  

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Now I decided to go and photograph Sminthurides aquaticus today, but when I got to the ornamental pond I found it had been covered by netting to keep the leaves out, anyway, I started looking at a few of the leaves closest to the water and I found this guy.

 

When I first saw it I thought it was Podura aquaticus, but now I'm pretty sure this is not the case. It is a Poduromorpha, but as yet I can't ID it, it has a 5 ocelli eye patch, fairly flattened in shape and was about 1mm in length, I'm pretty sure it's a new addition for the list :o)

 

Looks very much like a Xenylla species to me at a guess :o)

 

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Found my first Large Skipper of 2013, I'm not 100% on which species it is, I'm going to have to check my other images. I took an early evening trip out to a local reserve and found this guy just sitting there on a leaf.

 

This was a 10 image handheld focus stack of the head of this Skipper taken in quite windy conditions, I used my MP-E at x2.5 mag, an f/7.1 aperture, shutter speed 1/160 and ISO 160. I managed to position a flower behind this chap for a bit of colour. This is an uncropped image, I managed to edit the image in Zerene without losing any of the image :o)

 

Thanks to David_W_1971 for ID, Ochlodes sylvanus, the Large Skipper

  

REALLY NEED TO VIEW LARGE OR ORIGINAL :o)

I was checking out the bark of a tree the other week when I spied this tiny oddity, this was about 1.5mm long and was busy scurrrying about on the bark of a Cherry Tree searching the Lichen for food, they are predatory and feed on smaller invertebrates.

They are a common species, but very seldom seen, mainly due to their size and the habitat they live in, amongst Lichens on trees and other surfaces. Not the greatest photo, as I really struggled to keep up with this one on the side of a tree, but a new find for me :o)

 

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This was a bit ambitious on my behalf, this is a x5 magnification 19 image handheld focus stack of a Mite on a Bombus terrestis, using an F/5 aperture. Bumble Bees can often be found covered in Mites, the majority of these Mites are generally considered harmless and are using the Bee for phoretic reasons, basically as a large transportation device.

 

Now you are probably wondering how I could do a 19 image stack on a Bee without it moving, well unfortunately this was a recently deceased individual. I found loads of dead Bumblebees on a walk and they all had the same MO. Every Bee had its rear end missing and had been hollowed out, so this in my eye points to a bird predating on the Bees, has anyone an idea of a likely suspect?

 

Just found this :-

www.bumblebee.org/PREDATORS.htm

  

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====Twag's Penthouse====

 

Wasp- Wake up.

 

Twag- Ahhh... where am I?

 

Wasp- Home.

 

Twag- What? No! No, what were you thinking?! What about the show, what happened there?!

 

Wasp- You screamed. You ran.

 

*Wasp hands Twag the newspaper*

 

Twag- No no no no. This is all wrong! All wrong!

 

*He knocks the coffee table over*

 

Wasp- Calm down.

 

Twag- * swallowing a pill* And DeVoe? Walker?

 

...

 

Wasp- DeVoe is dead.

 

...

 

Twag- And Walker?

 

...

 

Wasp- There's still time.

 

Twag- I give you one instruction... You can't even do that-!

 

Wasp- They caught Lynns. The GCPD is currently enroute to Van Cleer Manor.

 

Twag- Yes, yes, I see that... it's too late, without Walker, the plan's meaningless!

 

Wasp- What is my mission?

 

Twag- Your missi-? I don't know! Improvise!

 

*he exits*

 

Wasp- ...Improvise...

 

=====Van Cleer Manor=====

 

Bullock- Alright everybody, set up a perimeter. No one gets in or out.

 

Miranda- What the hell's going on?!

 

Bullock- Ah, Mrs Walker, we're looking to have a little chat with your husband.

 

Miranda- Why?

 

Bullock- That isn't really any of your business.

 

Miranda- This is my house and he's my husband, I think I have a right to know why you're barging in here.

 

Bullock- Oh, you want a reason? How about that your husband's a cold hearted bastard.

 

Drury- Language, please! There are children upstairs!

 

*All present officers point their guns at Walker*

 

Drury-... It's treason then.

 

Bullock- Enough with the jokes Walker, you're coming with us. Or do you really mean to say you've been in the shower this whole time.

 

Drury- Well, the only other explanation is that I got past your perimeter and I'm sure that's not possible... Go ahead, ask anyone here, they'll tell you I've been here all day.

 

Miranda- *to Bullock* That's what I was trying to tell you!

 

Bullock- 'Course they'd cover for you, they're your family.

 

Miranda- Yeah. And at least half of them hate him.

 

Drury- Under half, surely?

 

Bullock- The point stands.

 

Drury- For Godsake... are you at least going to tell me what's going on?

 

Bullock- As if you don't know!

 

Drury- I asked you a question Sargent, or I am not your mayor?

 

Bullock- This is... We caught your partner at the scene of the DeVoe murder. The Flash said he saw you too.

 

Drury- Did he really? Heroes aren't exactly infallible. I should know, twice I've had to do what they wouldn't. If that's all you've got then...

 

Bullock- Don't talk your way out of this Bugman! It ain't gonna work!

 

Drury- I'm not-

 

Gordon- Bullock, what the blazes are you doing here?

 

Bullock- Commish-

 

Gordon- I told you not to engage until we had sufficient evidence to make a case.

 

Bullock- We got his buddy on transfer to Arkham, ain't that evidence enough?

 

Gordon- Lynns is a loose cannon. And, the Flash has withdrawn his statement, says it was likely a shape-shifter, not Walker himself.

 

Bullock- He's what-? That's not fair! Superpower asswipes... thinking they can do as they please.

 

Gordon- Hold yourself together and when you've calmed down, get back over to Gotham Central.

 

Bullock- This ain't over bug boy! Not by a long shot!

 

*The cops file out and the door closes behind them*

 

Miranda- That was close.

 

Drury- Too close.

 

...

 

Drury- Gar.

 

Miranda- I know, sweetie.

 

Drury- Gar.

 

Miranda- Look, I'll put the kettle on ok?

Drury- Yeah.

 

*She leaves to go to the kitchen just as the phone starts ringing*

 

Miranda- *from the kitchen* Honey?

Drury- I'll get that!

 

*He picks up the phone*

Drury- Hello?

 

???- Drury Walker?

 

Drury- That's me! Who is this?

 

Pike- It's... Carmen Pike.

Drury- ...Oh.

 

Pike- Look, can we talk at my place?

 

Drury- What? Why?

 

Pike- I can't talk over the phone. They could be listening.

 

Drury- Who's listening? ... Norbert?

 

Pike- I don't know anything about a Norbert but there is someone on *his* payroll.

 

Drury- Who's payroll? What are you talking about?

 

Pike- Can you please just come over? My address is-

 

Drury- Let me get a pen.

 

*He grabs one*

 

Drury- Ok, go.

 

Pike- Twenty Six, Adams Avenue. Hurry.

 

*Meanwhile, Danto Twag is listening to the phone call, horrified by Pike's betrayal*

 

Twag- Turn it off.

 

*Wasp does so, Twag smashes a lamp and leaves the room. Alone in the dark, Killer Wasp ponders to himself*

 

Wasp- "Improvise"

I went to see if I could find some of the Katiannidae. Genus nov. species nov. today, well initially there were none on the bench. I started picking up various leaves to no avail. Then I decided to pick a leaf from the nearest evergreen shrub and BINGO!!!!!

There were loads of them and all very very small juveniles, the Katiannidae in the main image had escaped onto the white bench, I was resting the leaf on the arm of the bench. These juveniles were really tiny at about 0.5mm.

This is also my first time using Lightroom 3, really like this software, I got a cheap copy at the NEC. I know Lightroom 4 is going to be out soon, but this software was an impulsive bargain, I've loads to learn with this, but looks very easy to use.

 

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Going back to the recent discovery of Dicyrtomina ornata infected by a killer fungi, I went back and had a search around and found a few more and this time I found some where the fungi is sporulating(Well I think that is what is happening).

 

In the main image I've taken a crop from a 19 image focus stack which shows the conidiophores this is the spore(conidia) producing buisness end of the fungi, I'm not exactly sure whether these are individual spores or if each ending contains more than one spore, also I'm not sure if these are aerially dispersed or if the spores are ingested by the Collembola?

 

I'm a bit out of touch with mycology and hope the terminology is correct, anyway in the comments I have included a selection of images of infected individuals, it really cannot be a pleasant way to go, I still need to find individuals in an early stage of infection.

 

Here's an extract about fungal structure :-

    

Molds consist of long, branching filaments of cells called hyphae (singular, hypha). A tangled mass of hyphae visible to the unaided eye is a mycelium (plural, mycelia). In some molds, the cytoplasm passes through and among cells of the hypha uninterrupted by cross walls. These fungi are said to be coenocytic fungi. Those fungi that have cross walls are called septate fungi, since the cross walls are called septa.

 

Yeasts are microscopic, unicellular fungi with a single nucleus and eukaryotic organelles. They reproduce asexually by a process of budding. In this process, a new cell forms at the surface of the original cell, enlarges, and then breaks free to assume an independent existence.

 

Some species of fungi have the ability to shift from the yeast form to the mold form and vice versa. These fungi are dimorphic. Many fungal pathogens exist in the body in the yeast form but revert to the mold form in the laboratory when cultivated.

 

Reproduction in yeasts usually involves spores. Spores are produced by either sexual or asexual means. Asexual spores may be free and unprotected at the tips of hyphae, where they are called conidia. Asexual spores may also be formed within a sac, in which case they are called sporangiospores.

 

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ready to fly.

I know, he is ugly, but i think he is so charming!

 

Well what a pleasant surprise I had today, I found another Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug and this beauty was most cooperative and posed nicely on a grass seed head, I even managed to do a focus stack despite the windy conditions, in fact I was amazed that the stack worked as well as it did, the antennae were the biggest issue, but the Zerene editing made short work of any problems there :o)

 

This was a 16 image handheld focus stack, using F/8, 1/160 shutter speed and ISO 500, I used ISO 500 to get a nice green background and I thought the grass seed heads were a nice touch as well.

 

Hope everyone has a great Bank Holiday tomorrow :o)

Well yesterday I got up very early and was out for dawn, it was possibly the most dire early morning session so far. I couldn't find anything, far too windy and my peace and quiet was soon broken by a Triathlon near to where I was that started at 6am.

 

Anyway, needless to say I resorted to turning over sticks and leaves to see what I could find. Nearly every fallen leaf I turned over had a group of the Deuterosminthurus type Collembola on them, I'm really not sure of exact ID on these, most likely Deuterosminthurus sp, the one in the main image had a two tone effect going on, a dark orange area on it's posterior, I've not seen one like this before. I've included a few other angles and different individuals in the comments, it was kind of nice finding them, I find them quite endearing, especially with their little eyes looking up at you :o)

 

I'm now thinking an Heterosminthurus species, looking at the chaetotaxy of the head and foot structure.

 

The size of these varied from 0.8mm to 1mm at a guess, taken at x5 mag and with 68mm of extension tubes.

  

WooooHooooo!!!!!!!! about time, thought it would never happen, but at last I found one and it was a most agreeable subject. This is an Ischnura elegans that I found sitting on a leaf, I managed to set up my card holder behind him and was holding the leaf and at the same time was supporting the end of my camera lens, it was all a bit chaotic at first, I used live view to try and judge eye focus at x10 mag. This is my first MP-E Damselfly, I reckon I shall try to do some stacks next time, I reckon a 2-3 image stack will be sufficient for these, I find focusing on the clypeus is sufficient to get the front of the compound eyes in focus.

 

This was 100% shot in the field, the Damselfly was not handled in any way, the background was a coloured card and the foreground is the large leaf the Damselfly was on :o)

 

So that's me happy for a while, really looking forward to finding more of these guys, saying that I only saw 2 individuals today, give it a few weeks and the numbers will be up, then I can start some early morning macro trips :o)

 

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Thought I'd go looking to see if the Sminthurides nr. penicillifer were back and yes they were. This is quite a scarce species and as far as I know only 2 locations are confirmed in the UK, I'm lucky enough to have one of those locations near to my house. If you remember I found these last year.

 

I had been to see if they were about a few weekends ago, but there were none, but also there was no visible pond weed. When I returned today I noticed an abundance of pond weed and also an abundance of these guys. So I could make a guess that this pond weed is linked to their lifecycle somehow?

 

This was about 1mm long, taken with MP-E and 1.4x teleconverter.

 

Extras in comments and crop available to view :o)

www.flickr.com/photos/odonataman/14412356537/in/photostream/

On my walk this morning I found this male on a grass stem, to stop flash fall off, I placed some green foam behind the subject, this is totally in the wild :)

I found two of these extremely long centipedes on top of a litter bin on my walk along the Grantham Canal on Sunday, I managed to do a nine image stack at x5 magnification of this guys head, at least I think it's the head end LOL.

In the comments there is a 1:1 macro shot of the full monty Centipede, I think the ID is correct, but I cannot find much information on Geophilus sp Centipedes. These guys can grow up to 70mm in length :)

 

Could possibly have been a male and a female up to no good on top of that bin LOL :)

 

VIEW LARGE you can almost see inside the head LOL :)

So over the moon with joy, my first Damselfly of 2013 and also my very first Large Red MP-E Portrait. For years I thought we didn't get these in our neck of the woods, but I discovered these at Wilford Claypit near Compton Acres, so very very happy to see these at last, it's been far too long a wait this year. Funnily enough I found my first Damselfly of 2012 on exactly the same day, May 16th.

 

Needless to say this is a 9 image handheld focus stack at F/7.1 and I have a load more to work through. I saw a few of these today, I reckon about 4 or 5 individuals, so I reckon the others are not far behind now, let's get this party started WOOOHOOOO :o)

 

VIEW ON BLACK (really worth a view in original size)

Another Cuckoo Bee moment, I've been wanting to find one displaying this particular form of behaviour. Whilst watching them feeding on Saturday the temperature dropped and the wind picked up again, I then noticed one individual move away from the flower it was feeding on and climb onto a blade of grass, it then gripped onto the blade of grass with it's jaws. Many of the Solitary Bee species will overnight in this fashion and I was so pleased to finally capture this behaviour.

 

I really could watch these attractive little Bees for ages, possibly one of our most attractive Bee species, although I did find another on Saturday with a lovely red abdomen, I must get round to some editing of images soon.

 

I hope everyone has a great week :o)

  

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Dumb title I know, but this Dicyrtomina saundersi was walking on water and grooming at the same time, many Globular Springtails produce a drop of cleaning fluid from the mouth, they then collect the drop with a leg, the next paragraph is from the words of Frans :0)

 

Dicyrtomina claws have a tunica, a kind of sheet at the outer side of the claw, closed at the basis and open at the apex of the claw. This tunica is filled with a secretion produced via the mouth. With the filled tunica Dicyrtomina can walk on dry surfaces upside down since the surface tension of the secretion in the tunica acts as kind of magnetic shoes. On a wet surface the tunica is filled with the surface film water. The wetting behaviour can be observed exceptionally well as follows: put some specimens in a small transparent canister and close the opening of the canister with a cover glass (e.g. a 0.17mm thick glass of 18x18mm used in microscopy). Observe the specimen walking upside down on the cover glass wetting his feet periodically.

 

The Dicyrtomina saundersi then uses this droplet to clean it's face and antennae, it can collect a drop on other legs to clean other parts of it's body, here is an interesting link if you wish to see this in action :0)

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwOL-MHcQ1w

 

These are about 2.5mm long :0)

 

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Spent a while trying to photograph these Rhododendron Leafhoppers the other day, they are really frustrating to try and photograph, they firstly like to hide on the underside of a leaf when you get near, they also do a strange swaying movement if you happen to get too close (Seemed almost deliberately swaying to avoid being focused on) and failing that they just jump away. So after many attempts I got a few keepers, in this shot the Leafhopper was getting ready to jump. Still was great fun and easily passed 45 minutes by quickly :0)

 

I would have liked to avoid flash fall off here, but there was no way of shooting these and holding something behind the leaf, these were also shot at shoulder height.

 

These guys were introduced to the UK in the 1930's, it is originally a US species, where it is known as the Scarlet and Green Leafhopper, it is one of the few insects that actually feeds on Rhododendron Bushes.

 

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Inachis io is the sole member of the Genus Inachis (the name is derived from Greek mythology, meaning Io, the daughter of Inachus) and one of our most stunning Butterflies, despite being pretty common, I rate these highly as a photographic subject.

 

So before I drown Flickr in a plethora of Damselfly portraits I thought I'd throw in another handheld focus stack of a Peacock Butterfly. This was the last stack I did of this one before it started moving, it was a 32 image handheld focus stack at about x3 mag using my MP-E and a diffused flash, I used a 1/125 shutter speed, an aperture of F/5.6 and ISO 400.

 

VIEW LARGE IF YOU CAN, by setting your language to French, Spanish etc it is still possible to view images in a larger format :o)

A most excellently fine Spring Day today and love was definitely in the air for this pair of Pea Weevils, I mean in plain view on top of a fence, they just don't care.

May have a few more Beetles getting jiggy photo's to come, they always make an interesting challenge, especially when it comes to DOF issues :o)

Saw a few Butterflies today, a Brimstone, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock, what a wonderful Spring day :o)

 

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I think this is either Entomobrya nivalis or Entomobrya intermedia, to be honest I struggle with these two, can anyone point out the best way to tell them apart?

Anyway, these guys seem to love the plastic garden chairs, I think the cracks in the plastic allow lovely algae to grow, Springtails just love grazing on algae, hoping to get out on Saturday for a good Springtail hunt, oh what an exciting life I lead LOL :0)

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend :0)

 

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Dicyrtomina minuta out for a walk and looking for a friend, even on a small piece of wood it can be a lonely existence. I am now wondering how they find each other, do they use pheromones? Does anybody know? I sometimes find groups of Springtails, but more often than not there is just one solitary individual, still it makes for an interesting shot.

Still amazed that it is now mid December and I am doing more macro than I did in the Summer, funny old world LOL :)

 

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I was really pleased to find a substantial colony of these guys the other day, I was investigating a new area near Holme Pierrepont. This I am pretty sure is Calvatomina rufescens, it's a new species for my list, I did think I had found one before, but it turned out to be a Dicyrtoma fusca colour aberration, the two species are similar, the main difference is the eye pigmentation. Calvatomina rufescens has a pale light brown/orange eye patch and dark eyes, Dicyrtoma fusca has a dark eye patch and dark eyes.

 

Thanks to Frans for pointing out that these are mainly juveniles, especially the ones with large head to body ratios :0)

 

I have included other images in the comments, I think the mottled orange and white feet is a possible indication that this individual is getting ready to moult :o)

 

These guys were all very small at about 1mm at the most, barely visible with the naked eye :o)

 

Another bonus today, it's my Birthday, really happy to be 44. NOT LOL :o)

 

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Dicyrtomina saundersi

 

After Eddie The Bugman's recent Sminthurides nr penicillifer post, I thought I would go and check the beck in the nearby valley for similar species. I didn\'t have any luck, but the light was fading, so I\'ll keep looking and try and get out a bit earlier.

 

I did find my first Dicyrtomina of the season in the surrounding woodland. This is a common species that will be easy to find in the coming weeks, and I find a similar species under fallen leaves in the back garden.

 

This one is a young male and looks to be about ready to moult.

Springtails (unlike insects) continue to moult throughout their adult life, but this was quite a small individual so I suspect it still has some growing to do. As they age the patterning will also get darker.

 

Single image @ 7x magnification.

This individual is starting to get a bit of colour coming through, I saw a few different species today, a Large Red Damselfly, Variable Damselflies, Azure Damselflies, Common Blue Damselflies and Blue Tailed Damselflies. I am planning a return trip for a less windy day, hope to get there early morning next time, they were far too active and some I could not get near enough too :)

I found this rather colourful male Dicyrtomina minuta under a bit of wood, I was quite taken with the bright yellow glow of this one. Also if you look just to the left there is a spent spermatophore, male Dicyrtomina sp will deposit spermatophore and the female will pick it up, there are about 10 females to every male in this world, I'm not sure how random this is or if there is some form of pheremone involved with the spermatophore release. Other types of Springtails do have more direct mating and courtship rituals, but not with this species, there could be some female pheremone release here which stimulates males into depositing a spermatophore.

Taken at x7 magnification.

 

Class: Entognatha

Subclass: Collembola

Order: Symphypleona

Family: Dicyrtomidae

Genus: Dicyrtomina

 

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A final instar Coreus marginatus on a Dock Leaf from a few weeks back in Melton Mowbray. I found out that the footpath I found these on has had an extinguishment order put on it, this means I won't have access to the site anymore, so I was a bit disappointed.

 

However, the good news is I was on a walk through some scrub land about 15 minutes from my house here in Nottingham and guess what? Yes, I found at least 4 colonies of Dock Bugs, so during the Summer next year I hope I can photograph all the earlier instars. At the moment all the Dock Bugs I've found at the Nottingham area have been fully grown adults :o)

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

 

REALLY NEEDS TO BE VIEWED LARGE :o)

ATTENTION!!!! SPRINGTAIL INTERLUDE LOL :)

 

I found a pair of these under a bit of bark lying on the ground, I think they might be the caterpillar of the Large Yellow Underwing, but then I could be totally wrong LOL, so if anyone does correct me I will be grateful LOL :)

This is a 4 image focus stack, I did try another, but it did not work. I was quite surprised to find these and kind of wondered if they were going to pupate or do they overwinter as caterpillars, there is so much to learn, before macro I was happily ignorant, but now I want to know reasons :)

 

From Wiki

The larva is green or brown with two rows of black dashes along the back. This is one of the notorious "cutworms", causing fatal damage at the base of virtually any herbaceous plant (some examples listed below), sometimes severing it completely. This ubiquitous species is one of the most hated of garden pests. The species overwinters as a larva and feeds on mild days throughout the winter.

 

Thanks Dom for finding this :)

 

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Another new Collembola for the list, I was really pleased when I was panning my lens over a patch of ground and I found this cool customer. This I think this is Sminthurinus elegans, it has the dark dorsal stripe, this one was about an 0.8-1mm in size affair, I really love the colouration on this one, very cool indeed.

 

This is another one from my little area of ground I explore at Wilford Claypit, it seems to turn up interesting finds every so often, I think after the recent rain these guys have started reappearing, I was here when it was hot and couldn't find a sausage LOL :o)

 

Taken with the MP-E at x5 mag on 68mm of extension tubes :o)

 

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Just had to try a few Bee Fly shots, my initial intention was to try and use the MP-E 65mm to get a shot, but it was next to impossible, they are just too jittery and the MP-E does not have the working distance(Note to Canon, how about an MP-E 180mm LOL).

So out came the 100mm and external flash setup, I love these flies, they are up there with my favourites, really great fun just watching these flying about, feeding and resting, love them :o)

 

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After my walk this afternoon I got home and this chap was on the windowsill by the door, so I carefully picked him up and took a few photo's before releasing him into the back garden, really don't know how he got into the house. I did see one on a wall in Nottingham City Centre the other day :)

I had a wonderful afternoon, I went back to Colwick Park to photograph aquatic Collembola and guess what I found the Memory Card that I had lost the previous Monday, I hadn't dropped it in the pond, it was just resting on the grass by a path. Unbelievably it was fine and everything on it was fine :o) woooohoooo

 

So here is an Allacma fusca stack from last Monday, a 17 image handheld focus stack at F/5, ISO 400 and 1/160 shutter speed. I was using my MP-E on a 1.4x teleconverter and a 36mm extension tube. This Allacma fusca was about 1.5mm long, the best thing about these is they will stay put for ages making focus stacking quite possible.

 

Another funny moment I had today was whilst I was photographing Springtails a female Brown Hawker decided she was going to try and oviposit her eggs on my flash diffuser, wish I had a second camera with me to capture the moment, it was priceless LOL :o)

The movie starts a few months after the first one, as Drury Walker is getting ready to marry his girlfriend Miranda Gaige. When Miranda doesn’t turn up at the altar, Drury grows concerned and goes to her room to check on her, only to find her in bed with Paul Dekker AKA Crazy Quilt, who had somehow survived getting blown up in the first movie (his survival would never be explained, and would become a running joke throughout the movies, with Dekker claiming the universe is willing him back to life due to his sexual allure). All of a sudden, Miranda expresses a desire to break up with Drury and abandons him then and there, leaving him devastated.

 

Seven years later, Drury is a bitter and unhappy man, working as muscle for loan shark Danto Twag. He hasn’t seen Miranda since the wedding, and she seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. One day, after being fired by Twag for letting his old friend Garfield Lynns AKA Firefly get away with owing Twag money, Drury engages in a night of heavy drinking, Drury considers packing things up as Killer Moth entirely. However, before Gar can burn up his suit and cocoon gun, they are approached by the enigmatic Larry Loman AKA the Squid. Loman offers them a place in his vastly growing criminal enterprise, arguing that an ‘A-Listers’ like them would be right at home amongst his crew. With little else to do, they accept, becoming the face of Loman’s criminal enterprise, though find themselves becoming more brutal and cold as a result.

 

After a month of working for Loman, Drury, now living a fairly lucrative life, is suddenly approached by a beaten-up Lenny Fiasko AKA the Eraser, a former ally of his from the first movie. Lenny explains that someone is trying to kill him, having already murdered Noah Kuttler AKA The Calculator, and will likely come after Drury and Gar too. Drury initially doesn’t believe Lenny, thinking he’s paranoid, until a rain of bullets peppers his apartment from a distant sniper, killing Lenny. Drury pursues the killer, whom he recognises as Ted Carson, a member of Loman’s crew. Realising that Loman is the one killing Drury’s old crew, Drury returns to his apartment, only to find it burnt down, with Lenny’s body missing. Drury goes to Gar’s apartment and tries to warn him that Loman is killing them off, only to find Loman already there. Gar reveals that he knows what Loman is doing and is loyal to him, having been the one to burn down Drury’s apartment. Drury shocked by the betrayal, is caught by surprise when Loman shoots him in the stomach and leaves him for dead.

 

Drury, having bled heavily, awakens in a city dump to find Tiger Shark, Miranda’s father tending to his wounds . Tiger Shark explains that due to his despair over his daughter leaving, Loman managed to absorb his own criminal enterprise, the two having been fierce rivals in their youth, leaving him destitute, and has been watching Drury since he found out that he was working for The Squid. Drury proposes that the duo work together to take down The Squid and Tiger Shark agrees but argues that the two of them would almost certainly fail. Drury then suggests that they form a team of villains to do so.

 

Tiger Shark uses the few strings he has left to pull and organises a breakout from Arkham Asylum so that Drury can form his super group. However, a timing issue results in every major villain having gotten away by the time Drury gets to Arkham, with only three somewhat lackluster villains remaining: Thomas Blake AKA Catman, a deluded villain who thinks he’s a hero; Chancer, a coked-up Gambler villain who supposedly possesses luck powers and Julian Day AKA Calendar man, a surprisingly competent villain who has found himself alienated from the villain community due to his rather ridiculous gimmick. With only these villains to work with, Drury, with the help of Police officer Clancy O’Hara (who since the first film has been bumped down to a beat cop after inciting a brawl between police officers and government agents), begins training the unlikely group.

 

Having trained them as much as his patience can take, the team, calling themselves the misfits (after an insult Loman used towards Drury) prepare to parachute down and attack Loman’s compound, having been flown in by Tiger Shark. Immediately, Calendar Man is killed mid air when Carson, wearing a suit combining the tech of Gar and Drury, incinerates him. While Catman and Chancer prepare to infiltrate the facility, Drury enters an intense, high speed and CGI-heavy aerial duel. After busting one of his wings, Drury begins to fall towards Loman’s compound, dragging Carson with him. Upon crashing through the glass ceiling, Drury is injured, and Carson prepares to kill him, only for Gar to appear and burn him unconscious. Gar apologises for betraying Drury for his own ascension, even after Drury lost his former job for him. The two make up, and Gar tells Drury he has a surprise for him…

 

Gar takes Drury to a room in Loman’s compound, where he meets Miranda, who is surprisingly happy to see him. Miranda reveals that she didn’t sleep with Dekker, but rather had been made to lie to Drury by Loman as part of his deeply laid plans to sabotage his life due to a pathological illogical hatred of him. Miranda also reveals that she and Drury have a daughter named Katherine (pet name: Kitten) who Loman has taken hostage. Now with more to motivate him, Drury gets ready to take down Loman.

 

At the tank of his pet squid; ‘Gertrude’, Drury, Gar, Miranda and Catman confront Loman, who has salvaged parts of Carson’s suit. Loman threatens to kill Katherine unless they leave. Drury tries and fails to trick Loman into letting her go, resulting in him attempting to kill Kitten, only for Tiger Shark to appear and tackle Squid, taking the hit for her and allowing her to run into Drury’s arms. Loman gets into a fight with Drury causing the glass beneath them to crack, and Loman to fall into the squid tank, with Gertrude tearing him apart (a fact he makes sure to yell out for all to hear). The reunited family embrace, comforting Tiger Shark as he succumbs to his wounds and dies.

 

Mid-Credits-Scene: A month later, Drury and Miranda once again prepare to marry. However, as the priest (Catman) asks if anyone objects to this union, a figure dressed in green and yellow flies in through the ceiling and declares ‘Hell Yeah’.

 

Post-Credits-Scene- A badly burnt and naked Carson wanders through Loman’s devastated compound and runs into Chancer (who ran off during the battle). Chancer moans about how annoyed he is that Drury left him out of the big battle, resulting in Carson suggesting an alliance against him. Chancer bluntly rejects this offer on the grounds of Carson’s disgusting appearance.

 

Cast-

 

Dave Franco as Drury Walker/Killer Moth

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Garfield Lynns/Firefly

Alison Brie as Miranda Gaige/Tiger Moth

Tommy Wiseau as Lenny Loman/The Squid

Eric Roberts as Tiger Shark

Alan Tudyk as Ted Carson/Steel-moth

Patrick Warburton as Thomas Blake/Catman

Jason Mantzoukas as Chancer

Shia LaBeouf as Julian Day/Calendar Man

 

Ardal O’hanlon as Officer Clancy O’hara: He would have an unmentioned subplot about him being bumped down to a beat cop due to his behaviour in the first film (namely starting a massive brawl between police officers and government agents). In the film he gains a rivalry with officer Marcus Wise, a detective in Major Crimes and an informant for the squid, with O’hara eventually siding with Drury to take down Loman solely to spite Wise.

 

Greg Sestero as Marcus Wise- a cocky, popular detective in Major Crimes who is a rival to O’hara. In actuality, Wise is corrupt and an informant for the squid. In the end, when The Squid is killed, O’hara exposes Wise and his other informants, and they are arrested

 

Joe Thomas as Lenny Fiasko/The Eraser

Ed Helms as The Calculator

Craig Robinson as Danto Twag

Dan Aykroyd as Cameron Van Cleer (He would cameo once again as one of the many people Drury confronts while working for Danto Twag

Andy Samberg as Charles Brown/Kiteman (Post Credits)

This little beauty was taken by Eddie on my camera, I cannot believe how small this was, smaller that a pin head, I would never have spotted it in a milion years, but now I know what to look for..... taken at 5 x mag, with not a great flash set up, but once I get the flash set up I'm sure I'll get the hang of this lens, thanks again Eddie!

A rather splendid Sympetrum striolatum that was more than happy to strike a pose for me. It's a very hit and miss affair getting close enough to these Dragonflies, persistence usually pays off. I think once they realise that you are not a threat, you can then get pretty close to them. This was a 10 image focus stack at F/9, ISO 400 and 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used :o)

 

Well back to work tomorrow, I went on a massive walk today and hardly took a photo, I did see a Tawny Owl though and have the location memorised ready for a return with my 400mm lens next Sunday.

 

I hope everyone has a great week :o)

 

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Thought on a lovely Spring afternoon I'd see what my Katiannidae. Genus nov. species nov. buddies were up to. So I looked under a few leaves on the evergreen shrub I find them on and every leaf had a fair few juvenile Katiannidae on them, no adults.

 

I also made an interesting observation, there seemed to be small craters on each leaf and they were oozing a clear liquid. I found these on every leaf I turned over and at each crater there was a Katiannidae feeding. I liked this image because you can see the Katiannidae reflected in the drop :o)

  

I was wondering if these craters are a natural formation or are the Katiannidae making them?

 

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My favourite Duck again, I just love these guys, I really wish we had more of these locally and it would be nice if this one had a female Mandarin for company, instead he makes do with Mallards, but when you see him with his female Mallard companion it does make for a really odd couple, but still kind of sweet :o) Oh and some Wood Ducks and Long-tailed Ducks would be nice as well :0)

 

We had a bit of snow overnight, but the sun is out now and the thaw is well underway, I'm hoping to get out soon for some macro, it has been over a week since I last used my MP-E and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms LOL ;oD

 

Anyway, I wish you all a wonderful weekend, going to enter the BWPA this year, thought it was about time I entered some competitions :o)

 

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Look into my eyes, my eyes, not around my eyes, but into my eyes, youre under.

 

Currently my favourite compound eyes, a Snipe fly at Wollaton Park :)

 

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Managed to find quite a few of these guys yesterday, I think these are Oedemera lurida, we don't tend to see Oedemera nobilis up our way and these beetles don't have the brilliant metallic green colour. I liked the pose here, it was quite a breezy afternoon and it was most frustrating trying to photograph these, I had to wait for a still moment, did not see a single Damselfly yesterday, I think I may have to do an early rise soon and go looking.

No photography today, that cold wet weather is back, don't think it has stopped raining yet, feel sorry for any people planning a Street Party for today :o)

 

Hope everyone has a great Bank Holiday :o)

 

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Well this was a fortunate find in the garden today, this is first time I've managed a portrait stack of a Peacock Butterfly. It was a tad chilly outside and this guy was just sitting there. So I ran inside and grabbed the camera and set to work, this is a 25 image handheld focus stack of this beauty at about 2.5-3x magnification, I used a diffused flash in manual, 1/125 shutter speed, ISO 400 and an aperture of F/5.6. Really is a stunning Butterfly up close, you can also clearly see the reduced forelegs which are a characteristic of the Nymphalidae family, also known as Brush-footed Butterflies.:o)

 

Anyway, hope you are all having a wonderful Easter break, this one has certainly made my day :o)

 

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To view larger size you can change your Flickr language at the bottom of a page, I am using Spanish or French to stay on old school Flickr :o)

This I think is a Teneral Azure Damselfly, I just loved the everso Alien look of this guy. I found that if I hold my hand just underneath a flying Damselfly, then most of the time it will land on your hand and if you are lucky you can then photograph it, I think I will try using something else and see if I can get them to land on it, for a more interesting shot :)

A female Lestes sponsa, getting up early this morning and out at 5am, I thought these would be a doddle, WRONG!!!! Even early in the morning they were able to fly away from me, I persevered though, I think it needs to be a lot cooler than 11C to render these inactive, they are stunning Damselflies though :)

My first Sitticus pubescens of 2013, these are a curious species and are a personal favourite of mine. I find these darker species on an almost black coloured stone wall. I think they have almost become a melanistic form and they really are tricky to spot when you first look at the wall, but once you are tuned into what to look for, then you start finding them. They don't tend to move much and often just sit there waiting.

 

Anyway, I chose this sigle frame shot as I loved the eyes, I was using an F/8 aperture and was going for a stack. This small male, however, was more interested in the large diffuser looming overhead and raised his beautiful eyes up to have a momentary look. I'm also chuffed with the diffusion here, I used a large Lumiquest diffuser and also a sheet of tracing paper inside the diffuser. I think in this case, it is all in the eyes, lovely oOOo

 

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Found loads of Bagworm Moth caterpillars today on the flood defence wall at Attenborough, I find these absolutely fascinating, I have been looking at what they have constructed their mobile homes with, it seems a mixture of fine grains of sand, detritus and dead insect parts. In the main image you can clearly see remnants of insect wings in the construction, in others you can see insect/spider leg parts and bits of elytra.

 

The caterpillar larvae of the Psychidae construct cases out of silk and environmental materials such as sand, soil, lichen, or plant materials. These cases are attached to rocks, trees or fences while resting or during their pupa stage, but are otherwise mobile. The larvae of some species eat lichen, while others prefer green leaves. In many species, the adult females lack wings and are therefore difficult to identify accurately. Case-bearer cases are usually much smaller, flimsier, and consist mainly of silk, while bagworm "bags" resemble caddisfly cases in their outward appearance – a mass of (mainly) plant detritus spun together with silk on the inside.

 

Bagworm cases range in size from less than 1 cm to 15 cm among some tropical species. Each species makes a case particular to its species, making the case more useful to identify the species than the creature itself. Cases among the more primitive species are flat. More specialized species exhibit a greater variety of case size, shape, and composition, usually narrowing on both ends. Body markings are rare. Adult females of many bagworm species have only vestigial wings, legs, and mouthparts. The adult males of most species are strong fliers with well-developed wings and feathery antennae but survive only long enough to reproduce due to underdeveloped mouthparts that prevent them from feeding. Their wings have few of the scales characteristic of most moths, instead having a thin covering of hairs.

  

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Just a quick novelty upload of Calliphora vomitoria feeding, I will be away for a few days, so will catch up on Monday, have a great weekend everyone :)

Really no idea what this will turn into, when I first spotted it I thought it was a Woodlouse, it wasn't moving and all I could really see were armoured segments that resembled a Woodlouse, then I noticed protrusions at either end and then it began moving. I think this must be the larvae of some type of Diptera, if anyone can enlighten me then I will be everso grateful :o)

 

A nice day to start with, I saw one Common Darter and that was my lot, so went into turning over leaves and bits of wood mode, found a few oddities, this being one, also found my first Dicyrtomina ornata of the season.

 

Thanks to Adrian Jones for ID confirmation of Lonchoptera larvae

 

Lonchoptera, a genus of spear-winged flies (Lonchopteridae), are tiny to small (2-5mm), slender, yellow to brownish-black bristly Diptera. Their common name refers to their subacute (pointed) wings, which have a distinct and sexually dimorphic venation. The larvae are dorsally flattened, with two pairs of head bristles and feed on rotting vegetable matter, including in one case brussels sprouts.[

 

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Pretty sure this is a Variable Damselfly, mainly due to these being the dominant species in the area, this one is starting to show it's colours.