Or should it be "Micro Macrocosms", hmmmm. This is a Sminthurinus species Globular Springtail grazing on a bit of damp wood, these are pretty small at about 0.8mm. I'm not 100% sure whether these are Sminthurinus igniceps or Sminthurinus aureus f. ochropus or indeed something else, I have included some ID shots in the comments and a few other shots as well.

I do so enjoy my little journeys into this wonderful world and feel honoured to be able to see these things. These shots were taken at x5 magnification with 68mm of extension tubes, I have to use a wider aperture at these magnifications, anything above f/8 just becomes far too soft, starting to use F/7.1 more, this becomes a real DOF challenge and trying to get an optimum angle for DOF with these guys is no easy task.

I think it is set to rain all day again, not stopped since I got up, supposed to be drier tomorrow, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :o)

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I found this under a bit of wood in woodland bordering grassland, it is about 4mm in length and I'm not sure what it is.

I think my instincts say Coleoptera, I think the antennae hint at this, I did think some sort of Hemiptera, but don't ever recall ever seeing one with multi segmented clubbed antennae, I don't think it is a nymph stage, I think this is an adult. I love the armour on this little guy and it kind of reminds me of an armadillo.

So if anyone has seen one of these before an ID would be much appreciated :o)

#~UPDATE 13:46~#

Oooooh just got back to my flat and opened my Beetle Book, think I have an ID, Micropeplus sp, now have to work out which one, this is one of the Rove Beetles, Staphylinidae :o)

"A Field Guide In Colour To Beetles" by Octopus Books comes up trumps again

Possibly Micropeplus staphylinoides, looks close :o)

I found this one the other week and there were a couple like it, it was with loads of Sminthurides malmgreni and that is what I initially thought it was, but to me it looked too different, I think it is in one of its feeding stages, this is due to the darkened area running along its upper dorsal area, this does also highlight a light dorsal stripe, it also has a pigmented patch on either side of the abdomen and two pigmented strips on the dorsal area, so then I thought this could be Sminthurides signatus, also the 4th antennal segment is divided into 4 subsegments, these subsegments follow the same pattern as signatus(Long, short, short, long), so this is my concluded ID :o) (Until Frans says otherwise LOL )

Thanks Frans, indeed a Sminthurides signatus female feeding instar, this one was 0.5mm long, taken with the MP-E at x5 on 112mm of extension tubes :0)

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A mob of Meerkats taking in the afternoon sun, I love these guys they always have so much character and I think they are very anthropomorphic in their mannerisms and that always appeals. Of course these are captive Meerkats, I don't think you would ever see Meerkats in the wild that look this well fed. This was taken at the Tropical Butterfly House and Falconry Centre near Sheffield.

This was late in the afternoon and things had started to calm down a bit, so I was able to get some nice shots, these guys had decided to congregate on a large rock structure and I was able to get a shot from a lower angle with the trees in the background using my 400mm f/5.6 lens, I just liked the poses here :0)

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How can you resist, they say you shouldn't as a rule upload similar images, well I can't help it, they have such interesting faces and it's still only April, by my reckoning we still have another 5-6 months of these guys LOL :)

This was another new find for me yesterday, the variety of Collembola out there is mindblowing, they come in all different shapes and varieties, even the same species can vary in colour dramatically. This is another of the Globular Springtails :-

Class: Entognatha

Subclass: Collembola

Order: Symphypleona

Family: Dicyrtomidae

Genus: Dicyrtomina

Taken at x5 with the MP-E cropped image. About 3mm long.

I think this was a very territorial male Large Red Damselfly, there is a bit of decking on the River Eye at Melton Mowbray, this was about 2 weeks ago on that really sunny Sunday, anyway this chap kept landing next to me and looked very angry indeed, I also saw him chase off numerous other Damselflies. The only problem was when I tried a stack he either took off or kept moving about, this was the only moderately successful stack of this guy, it was a stack of 4 images at f/10, but I loved the result and the gorgeous colours. Still hoping to get a closer stack of a mature Large Red Damselfly.

Also a good show of mature Large Red Damselfly colours and my first Melton Mowbray LRD :o)

Extra images in comments :o)

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My first springtail ! This was a real fight for me. I never thought, that something so slow is so difficult to photograph ! Thanks to Edward Nurcombe (Eddie The Bugman) and Andy Murray (andybadger), which showed me this fascinating world with their magnificant pictures.

Allacma fusca ? I found some of them nearby.

Picturesize 2.8 x 2.1 mm

Magnification ~ 8.5:1

Well I had to give it a go, this is a Sminthurinus aureus, as I've got my 5D in for a clean, I decided to try my 1000D with MP-E and 112mm of extension tubes, with the 1.6x sensor crop factor I work it out as about 12.4x magnification. I'm really quite impressed with the results, especially as the 1000D is a 10.1 megapixel camera, I think if I had a 550D or 600D I would be able to crop a bit more. It does mean I can pick out details on even smaller subjects. This one was about 0.8mm in size.

Picking up the 5D MKII tomorrow, I really want to capture some Red Deer action with it, I will be able to get faster shutter speeds with the 5D, the 1000D is a bit slow in RAW mode and I don't take the ISO above 400 on this camera, but it has done an admirable job otherwise :o)

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Didn't have to travel far for this shot, opened the patio door and there they were on one of my Mum's potted plants (Not told her yet LOL).

What we have here is an Ant tending to/guarding Aphids on a plant, in reward for protecting them the Aphids produce Honeydew, Ants love Honeydew :o)

This is what Wikki says about Ant Mutualism :-

Some species of ants "farm" aphids, protecting them on the plants they eat, eating the honeydew that the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a "mutualistic relationship".

These "dairying ants" "milk" the aphids by stroking them with their antennae.

Some farming ant species gather and store the aphid eggs in their nests over the winter. In the spring, the ants carry the newly hatched aphids back to the plants. Some species of dairying ants (such as the European yellow meadow ant, Lasius flavus) manage large "herds" of aphids that feed on roots of plants in the ant colony. Queens that are leaving to start a new colony take an aphid egg to found a new herd of underground aphids in the new colony. These farming ants protect the aphids by fighting off aphid predators.

An interesting variation in ant-aphid relationships involves lycaenid butterflies and Myrmica ants. For example, Niphanda fusca butterflies lay eggs on plants where ants tend herds of aphids. The eggs hatch as caterpillars which feed on the aphids. The ants do not defend the aphids from the caterpillars but carry the caterpillars to their nest. In the nest, the ants feed the caterpillars, which produce honeydew for the ants. When the caterpillars reach full size, they crawl to the colony entrance and form cocoons. After two weeks, butterflies emerge and take flight.

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Hi all!

I just put this quick montage of my work together as today is more or less 2 years on from when I first got my Canon 550D and began on my journey into Photography.

I want to thank all the people on flickr as a whole for the support and advice provided over the years, I am greatly appreciative. :)

I want to specially thank WingsandThings (Gary) Eddie (Bugman) and Iain Lawrie (InsectOsaurus) as these people especially gave me extra support even though it got them nothing in return ( except some awful advice in return somewhere down the line ) :D

Anyway, cheers all.

I hope to have many more years doing macro and sharing it here on flickr !

Frank !

A tiny Andrena chrysosceles balancing on a blade of grass, I was initially trying to photograph it swimming in a Dandelion, but it had other ideas and flew off the Dandelion and landed on the grass, it eventually posed for me on a blade of grass. I tried to do a focus stack on this one, it kept moving though and there was an annoying breeze, but I eventually managed a partial 3 image stack which gave enough detail to warrant an upload.

Andrena chrysosceles has to be one of our cutest Bees and must be one of the smallest. Anyway, pretty sure the ID is right as it had a white patch on its face.

Right off out to try and find my first Damselflies of 2013, looks like it's going to be a hot one :o)

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Feed me, feed me, feed me

Feed me Seymour

Feed me all night long

That's right, boy!

You can do it

Feed me, Seymour

Feed me all night long

'Cause if you feed me Seymour

I can grow up big and strong

Would you like a Cadillac car

Or a guest-shot on Jack Paar?

How about a date with Heady Lemarr?

You gonna get it

If you want it, baby

How would ya like to be a big wheel?

Dinning out for every meal

I'm the plant that can make it all real

You're gonna get it

Hey, I'm your Genie

I'm your friend

I'm your willin' slave

Take a chance, feed me yeah

You know what kinda eats

The kinda red hot treats

The kinda sticky licky sweets I crave

Ow! Come on, Seymour

Don't be a putz

Trust me and your life will surely

Rival King Tuts

Show a little initiative, boy

Work up some guts

And you'll get it

I don't know, I don't know

I have so, so many strong reservations

Should I go and perform mutilations?

Think about a room at the Ritz

Wrapped in velvet, covered in glitz

A little nookie gonna clean up those zits

And you'll get it, uh huh

Gee I'd like a Harley machine

Take it around like I was James Dean

Makin' all the guys on the corner turn green

So go get it, woo woo woo

If you wanna be profound

If you really gotta justify

Take a breath and look around

A lot of folks deserve to die

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU

OK thirdly Gluttony is another sin of excess concerned with consumption of food and drink, we take food for granted living in a society where it is all so easily accessible in quantity, there are still many areas of the world where this is not the case.

Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. In the Christian religions, it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food or its withholding from the needy.

Depending on the culture, it can be seen as either a vice or a sign of status. Where food is relatively scarce, being able to eat well might be something to take pride in. But in an area where food is routinely plentiful, it may be considered a sign of self-control to resist the temptation to over-indulge.

Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony, arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, including:

Praepropere - eating too soon.

Laute - eating too expensively.

Nimis - eating too much.

Ardenter - eating too eagerly (burningly).

Studiose - eating too daintily (keenly).

Forente - eating wildly (boringly).

Pride- Violet

Envy- Green

Gluttony- Orange

Lust- Blue

Wrath- Red

Greed- Yellow

Sloth- Light Blue

Gone for a more tongue in cheek approach for this one :)

Well Harley has fallen for Karley and they were sharing an intimate moment on the railings at Wollaton Park overlooking the lake, how romantic :)

View Large :)

Damselfly photo's can convey different emotions depending on the angle of approach, if you photograph them at the angle shown here they tend to show a more menacing look, if you photograph them face on then you get that really happy face. Try different angles you will soon see what I mean :)

The invasion is fully underway, the unsuspecting humans are not aware of our plans :)

Love these guys, I think this is another Azure Damselfly, this one is on the back of my hand :)

Well this is almost the shot I've always wanted of one of these, my ideal shot would be with my 180mm macro, but I couldn't get close enough to this fine fellow, so I used my 400mm F/5.6 on 36mm of extension tubes and a monopod. This guy was over water when I took this and I got wet feet as well LOL :o)

Anyway, I had great fun watching these over the past two days, this guy was guarding his territory and every so often a female would arrive, they would then mate and then the male would guard her as she laid her eggs, I witnessed this behaviour about 3 times in one afternoon. I have to say this is one of my fave UK Dragons, easily in the top 5 :o)

Woohooo I'm on the new photo experience, much better than the last effort :o)

I had a go at using cross polarised flash today on a Common Darter. Basically you have a circular polariser on the front of your lens and infront of the flash you have a piece of polarised film, you have to orientate the circular polariser to enable the effect, if you hold the film in front of the filter and turn the polariser it should go dark, fortunately my circular polariser already had an arrow for correct orientation. The effect on the image is virtually no specular highlights or reflections. It also seems to saturate the colours quite a lot, an interesting effect.

It was very tricky to try this technique, the circular polariser would accidentally move every so often. Also it looks like flash fall off is going to be an issue, I tried a few shots and struggled to get any colour in the background even at higher ISO settings.

I'd like to thank Murray Clarke for sending me some polarising film, he has been taking superb shots of Damselflies that can be seen here :-

www.flickr.com/photos/muzby1801/

This Common Darter seemed very pleased with its latest trophy, a Chrysolina sp. Beetle I think, I've never seen one with a Beetle before.

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A very happy male Common Darter chillaxing on a fence, these guys just love to hang out on fences, if you are fortunate you can find a very amiable Darter, some almost seem to enjoy posing for you. I've even had them fly off and land back infront of my camera with a snack.

In this image I was experimenting with fill in flash again, I actually had my ISO at 1000 for this and an aperture of F/13, still got me a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, but it's really nice not to get flash fall off. Also with lightroom you can reduce the noise and sharpen. You just need a very steady hand, some support or something like a fence to lean on LOL :o)

Single image shot in Av mode with MP-E at about x2 mag, F/13, ISO1000, TTL flash and 1/60 shutter speed

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Having to dig deep into the archives today, this is a lovely female Lestes sponsa from the Summer at a bit of an odd angle, I tried rotating the image, but went back to this and a bit of a crop, now I'm really missing these guys, need to do some macro, getting macro withdrawl syndrome LOL :)

Also need some inspiration, suggestions please :)

Did I ever mention how much I love Damselflies, well I also love the colour green. So put the two together and I'm in seventh heaven (always wondered where the first six heavens are). I've not uploaded any Damsels for a few days, I like this one a lot, I really hope you all like it too :)

This was another stack i did yesterday, this is a Lonchoptera larvae, I imagine it will be getting ready to pupate soon and then emerge as a Spear-winged Fly in the Spring. If you go looking for Winter macro subjects, turning over fallen branches, logs and bark, then you are sure to find some of these, I can pretty much guarantee that I will find at least one of these on any Winter macro foray.

This was a 14 image handheld focus stack at x4 magnification using an F/5.6 aperture. I quite liked the textures on these guys and it always amazes me how they resemble Woodlice, coincidence or evolution? I'm not sure. Anyway, these have a really nice textural quality to them.

Not been out with the camera today as it is thoroughly miserable outside :o(

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And He's found his next victim.

A Pseudoscorpion chilling out on a bit of wood, this is a 6 image focus stack in Zerene using Pmax, it is looking like Pmax is the more useful stacking setting, it tends to produce less artefacts, it does seem that a bit of contrast is lost during a stack. I think the ID is correct here with Chthonius ischnocheles, I can't find much in the way of resources on these guys.

I did do another stack of this guy a few months back, this was another angle on the subject, it kept moving after each stack, CombineZP tended to cause strange textural anomalies on the background, but Zerene seems to manage this very well :o)

So I guess now that I have Zerene I must try some deep studio stacks, so this is another avenue I'm going to have to explore.

I quite like the way Zerene handles my shaky handheld focus stacks, CombineZP could be OK, but lacks the editing and was pretty bad at handling hairs etc.

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Is it me or does it seem that all the Seven-spot Ladybirds have gone missing, all I can find at the moment are 10-Spots, Cream-spots, 14 Spots and Harleys. I think I heard something about the early rise of Seven-spots causing problems, but can't quite remember exactly what!

I think this might be another 10-spot variety, but not 100%, either that or it's a Harley :)

www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenprojects/3325787/Coun...

This is another focus stack of an immature Aeshna mixta from the Summer, only seems like yesterday that these guys were flying about, where does the time go and I'm not going to mention that it's nearly that word that begins with a "C" time LOL ;o)

This was a 22 image handheld focus stack of a Migrant Hawker, I think I had used a reflector on this one placed below the subject, this helped the light from the flash reflect upwards a bit. Thought it had a nice light and airy feel to it. There was loads of movement in this one and I could of spent more time on the editing, but quite happy with the look of the image, some nice details to be seen here :o)

Looks like this format actually suits the new Beta design.

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This was my first new find today, walking alongside the Nottingham canal, I started looking on the moss on the sandstone walls, as you do LOL. I then noticed hundreds of specs on the walls, decided to get the camera out for further inspection, my hunch paid off, the wall was covered in hundreds of these small blue Springtails, not sure on ID, could they be Hypogastrura sp?

Taken at 5x magnification :0)

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A little bit of an experiment here, decided to use my 1.4x Extender with my MP-E 65mm at full 5x stretch, so after a little calculation this was at 7x magnification, I have cropped the image a bit, so does that technically increase the magnification more? Main difficulty here was finding the subject 4-5mm long, also focusing with reduced light :)

Anyway, in conclusion, I am happy with the results and will use this for my smaller subjects.

This is a Springtail, I think it is Entomobrya sp, but not sure which one :)

Thanks to Tobyjug and Frans for species confirmation Entomobrya intermedia

Anyway, another take on the Ischnura elegans I found the other day, I'm really hoping these guys do OK this year, I have just read an interesting article on the BBC Nature UK site :-

www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18101581

It is interesting to see that this weather has benefits for some species and major disadvantages for others, now as Odonata rely on water in their life cycle, I am hoping that the wet weather will in the long term benefit them, I guess we will see what happens, the weather is apparently going to warm up next week (about time) and I reckon that will mean a mass emergence, there are a lot of Damsel nymphs waiting for the right conditions, in previous years I have seen these emerge in large numbers on hot sunny days, I have my fingers crossed :o)

I just hope that some of our rarer Butterflies don't suffer too much with this hatstand Spring weather.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend :o)

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Harmonia axyridis chowing down on some delicious Aphids. Interesting to note that Harleys seem to be level pegging with our native Seven-spots, I'm going to have to do a count on my next trip out, also found out that if the larvae anchor themselves to an unstable substrate then this can lead to deformities as they try and emerge from their pupal stage.

Right! off out to try and find some more unusual subject matter :)

Definitely a Sympetrum day, there were plenty about at the local Nature Reserve. This fine fellow (Sympetrum striolatum) was one of the best posers I've found yet, he wasn't bothered by my presence, camera or flash soft box. This allowed me to get a fair few images of him. I quite liked this standing pose and unbelievably he stayed completely still in this position allowing me to take a 17 image focus stack with a diffused flash.

I used an F/8 aperture, 1/160 shutter speed and ISO 500, I used ISO 500 to get the green background, which was a nearby shrub.

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So this is why these Scathophaga stercoraria are hanging around on my Mum's potted plants, just waiting for an unsuspecting fly to get within their reach. I was hoping to find one feeding and here it is. Although I did have the elements against me, it has been blowing a hoolie for the past few days and mix it up with periodic downpours, it was getting really annoying, but nevermind, this one was so engrossed with it's prize that I was able to happily snap away until it finally got annoyed with me and flew away.

This was taken handheld with my MP-E at about 2.5x magnification and is a single frame, slightly cropped and rotated. I liked the pose in this one, with both the predator and the prey both looking into the distance.

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A lovely evening, even if a tad on the cold side, I took this on my way home from an afternoon walk, I did do some macro stuff, bet you could never guess what I've been photographing today LOL.

All systems go tomorrow as Christmas is fast approaching and I've done practically nothing, keep getting side tracked with my camera, so may well leave it at home tomorrow, then again I suppose I could take it with me just in case LOL :)

This is a little different and I liked the colours in this one, I hope you all have had a great weekend :)

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I started turning bits of wood over yesterday to see what I could find, I was expecting Woodlice, Millipedes, Slugs, Harvestmen etc. This find was a very pleasant surprise, an overwintering Newt, it's either a Smooth Newt or a Palmate Newt, both look similar, apparently the diagnostic is looking at the markings on the throat area. Rest assured the log was gently lowered back into place afterwards :)

Anyway, this was my ultra exciting find of the day, well I liked it and it made a change training my MP-E on something new :)

Had a smashing afternoon with good friend Eddie The Bugman wandering around the Claypit Nature Reserve at Wilford. Delighted to find a Common Blue with perfect wings that wasn't resting on the ground or in thick undergrowth. Click on pic to view larger. E-M5/100-300mm.

OMG I was so elated and over the moon with joy when our paths crossed on a walk, instead of slithering off this beautiful Grass Snake coiled up in a small hollow. So I thought what's the best way to get close, but still keep a safe distance, answer Tamron 180mm Macro on 36mm of extension tubes on a mini tripod. This way I was a safe non threatening distance from the snake and I felt safe as well, I know they are not venomous, but I still didn't want to chance a bite LOL :o)

So this is my very first UK Reptile photograph and boy what a beauty, it did have a few strange white marks on it, looked like bird poo, but not sure what it was.

I hope everyone has a great week :o)

VIEW ON BLACK IF YOU DARE LOL :o)

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.

This is the juvenile walking on the cells on a plant leaf :o) I used my MP-E, 1.4x teleconverter and 72mm of extension tubes ;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.

One of those exotic garden centre imports, also known as Katianna 3, these guys can be found across the UK, usually in gardens, botanical gardens and parks. They are one of the most striking species I have found, they are about 0.8-1mm in length and can be variable in the degree of the markings. This one was found at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens on a fallen leaf at the Rock and Water Garden, there are 4 imported species that can be found here :- Calvatomina nr. superba, Katiannidae genus nov.2 sp. nov.(Katianna 3), Katianna nr schotti and Katianna australis, so far I have found 3 of the 4, just need to find the Katianna australis.

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Under the hypnotic spell of a female Common Blue Damselfly. I just love the effect of pseudo-pupils, they give an immediate eye contact with your subject, drawing you in :)

I was contacted by the BDS again, they told me that teneral Common Blue Damselflies will be found in large numbers away from water as they mature, well these guys were all well away from water and were all hanging about on Rumex obtusifolius flowers, it was like a Damselfly motel, this is where the great background colours are coming from :)

OK I didn't make the early rise, woke up at 8am. So I decided a long walk was order of the day, as I'm in Melton for the weekend I decided to walk along the local river (The Eye), there is a fenced area along the river and guess who was in residence.

This was a bit of an experiment, I whacked the ISO up to 3200 for this one and used fill in flash. I have to say there is no obvious evidence of flash in this image and the feeling is very much natural light, the shutter speed came out at 1/60th of a second, I was using a monopod for stability. The main issue when I got this home was noise, it was really quite bad, but after a bit of Lightroom magic, it's not too bad. OK the detail level has dropped off a bit and there is still a slight hint of noise, but overall as an image I liked the result :o)

I also did some ultra high mag macro of Collembola, using x2 sets of extension tubes on the MP-E at full extension, now that was interesting, I may post an example later :o)

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I kind of liked this tiny little Sminthurinus aureus covered in condensation droplets, this one was about 0.5mm and this is a x7 magnification handheld focus stack of 10 images at F/5.6. In hindsight a 10 image stack was overkill, could have done it with fewer images :o)

I think to do a good stack of something so small I may have to go down the route of microscope objectives and bellows, but I'm not sure if that would be practical in the field, most stacks using microscope objectives seem to be carried out indoors in studio conditions. So I think I may have a look around and see what is available and what could work, any advice appreciated :o)

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Thought I'd share a video clip I shot of the Sminthurides schoetti courtship ritual. As far as I'm aware this is the first time this species has been captured on video. I must admit shooting video at this level is tricky, I had the MP-E at x5 on 112mm of extension tubes, as you can see the DOF is just a very wafer thin slice, so trying to keep focus on them through the screen on the camera was quite tricky, I really need to get a viewing loupe for my screen with some extra magnification, if anyone knows of a good system I would be happy to hear from them.

Anyhow, as you can see these two were quite active and twirling around, this was filmed not long after they initially hooked up, so I imagine the female is a bit put out initially. Also interesting to note the periodic flicking of the male, is the intention here for the male to exhaust the female or is he trying to adjust his grip on her antennae? I have seen linked couples that are less active and the female carries the male about as if he wasn't even there. I believe after the initial courtship the male and female detach and the male deposits a ring of spermatophores around the female and when she walks out of the ring she is guaranteed to pick up a spermatophore and job done.

The funniest thing was in the last two segments of the clip when a mystery guest comes barging in on the action, I could not believe it when it happened a second time, it seemed the guest was determined to intercept these two, but they jumped on both occasions, you get an idea of how fast these little Collembola are when they live up to their name of Springtail, now you see them and now you don't, I tried slowing down the clip and still could not see any detail of the actual jump, I reckon I need some pretty unique equipment to capture this :o)

The guest here is possibly a Pseudosinella species Collembola :0)

Of course the BBC has captured some aspects of Collembola behaviour here in "Life In The Undergrowth", view here :-

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sq2gjsysG0&feature=fvwrel

Anyway I hope you enjoy :o)

A bit like "New York, Empire State Of Mind", but with Dragonflies, incidentally anyone ever seen this parody, it's hilarious :-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_OLhzZSWeI&feature=fvst

This is one of my Common Darters I haven't uploaded, I'm starting to see fewer of these guys, hoping to get a few this weekend, but that all depends on the weather, failing that it will just end up as another Collembola hunt, I literally have thousands of Collembola images on my hard drive, few will see the light of day mainly due to the repetitive nature of the shots, I am looking forward to finding certain species again, especially the Katiannidae gen nov sp nov that appear around my fave white bench at Wollaton. I will also hope to do a bit more in the way of bird photography, I've still to try the stick trick and then I would also like to try some long exposure and night shots, oh I'm sure I will keep busy LOL :o)

Have a great weekend everyone :o)

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I have been hoping to see a Collembola in the process of moulting and have been looking out for this. However, I did not realise that I had actually captured the process until I went through some images from last week. I could not believe that I had missed this opportunity, but I guess at least I accidentally got this image LOL :o)

This is an Isotomidae species and most likely to be Vertagopus arboreus, not a very big species, less than 2mm long. This is quite an extreme crop as well, but was necessary to draw the focus to the subject, next time I hope to get a better image.

So what we are seeing here is a freshly moulted Springtail drawing itself out of its old skin, the last bit to be drawn out here is the furca (The Springtails springy thingy).

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I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is a juvenile Tomocerus minor and this was very small indeed, please correct me if I am wrong with the ID here. There were some larger Tomocerus minors nearby and I guess this is one reason I am putting such an ID to this little guy, it is also silvery in colour and has scales. Are these guys cute or what LOL :0)

Hope everyone has coped with the high winds today :0)

A bit of a Bug upload tonight, these were both from my weekend, the main image was my first Common Green Shieldbug of the year, this one was a tricky individual and would not stop waggling those antennae, but I still managed a nice side on handheld focus stack of 20 images, nice to see the details on the underside of one these, you can even see the spiracles, I had to crop the front foot as I think something moved and things had gone a bit askew.

The image in the comments was a real boon and this one is for Maria, it's my first ever Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug, Aelia acuminata, I've not found one of these before, so I was quite excited when I spotted it on a fence. I had to use my MP-E without a flash and this is a 5 image natural light stack, it's not perfect and is more of a record capture, but I'm still well chuffed to find one :o)

I have opened the Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug image:o)

I managed to find a lone female, the abdomen is distended due to the female being gravid, in her life cycle she can lay about 1,200 eggs. They are also known as Green Dock Beetles and if you look on Dock or Green Sorrel you can easily spot these :)

And now for something completely different, an early evening stroll along the Trent and I thought I'd try a few long exposure shots. I decided to do this in Black and White, I kind of liked the water on the bottom step and the subtle reflections.

I must say it was a most pleasant day and the evening was very calm, a very nice change, lets hope this is a sign of things to come.

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Whilst looking for those ridiculously small Katiannidae I saw this everso slightly larger Psocid nymph, I thought it looked rather interesting, it's amazing how much there is on the underside of a leaf. I think I am going to have to go back and try some even closer shots, I still need to trial those extension tubes with the MP-E.

I hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

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