I found a few Darters today and this one invited me to dinner, I politely declined, I didn't like the look of the menu LOL :)

another from today ,don't think its a bee so any info please

(thanks to eddy the bugman for the i.d)

Spent half an hour or so chasing this Common Darter about, he would let me take a few shots and then he would fly off and land a little bit away, I am wondering now how long before we lose these for the year, I did see some early November last year and if the weather stays warm we could have a good year :)

Well woke up this afternoon after my last ever night shift (WooooHoooo), I decided a little early evening Damsel hunt was in order, had a great chat with this lovely Common Blue Damselfly and during my chat a Mozzie decided to take a chunk out of my arm, so straight to the Co-Op for some antihistamine and Mozzie spray :)

VIEW LARGE (Hope you like it ) :)

Trying some lighting changes, basically I have put my plastic omnibounce style diffuser on and also have a Lastolite Apollo mini II light modifier over the flash, it seems to give a very soft lighting effect.

Another Springtail offering, starting to find a few of these now, just need to find some of those globular species. This is actually a focus stack of Orchesella cincta and was shot at 5x magnification and comprises 4 images. This guy is grazing on algae or mould and was about 4mm in length. I have included a crop in the comments section and this is well worth viewing on Black :)

This was another of yesterdays finds a dormant Neanura muscorum, this was a very obliging individual that I found on the underside of a bit of fallen bark, notice the head is almost retracted into the body when at rest, soon after I took the last frame of the stack this one decided enough is enough and wandered off.

This is a 13 image handheld focus stack at x7 magnification using an F/5.6 aperture. There are some quite nice textural qualities to the cuticle of these Collembola, you can also see the x3 ocelli on this individual. Neanura muscorum is a common UK species and can be easily found, they are large enough to be seen with the human eye, growing to 3mm in length, they are commonly found on rotting wood, bark and other decaying matter, I often find them under fallen wood/bark :o)

Also can you spot the phoretic nematodes on this one, it has 2. Nematodes often latch onto these guys for a free lift, they wrap themselves around the macrosetae on the Collembola.

VIEW ON BLACK

About the sum of my photography efforts today, it was quite windy out and trying to photograph stuff was not an easy task. Anyway, still a nice day and managed to avoid the one torrential downpour. The only things I really found were a couple of Common Darters, I did have one nice experience when a Darter flew up almost face to face, I then held my hand out, he came and checked it out and then landed on my finger, I like it when things like that happen :o)

I originally thought this was a female due to colouration, but I now know it is a teneral male Common Darter. I was using my Tamron 180mm on a 12mm extension tube all mounted on a monopod, this was taken at head height and was the only one I was happy with, this was taken when the sky clouded over :o)

VIEW LARGE

I found a most obliging Comma Butterfly today and it seemed quite happy to let me take numerous photographs, this is a top down view and is also an eight image stack, quite happy with how this one worked :)

A couple of month's ago I was checking-out Eddie Nurcombe's (Eddie The Bugman) photostream and found that he'd made (yet another) remarkable finding. He'd found and photographed the globular springtail Sminthurinus minutus. The discovery had been made in the glasshouse at Sheffield Botanical Gardens. What's so interesting you may ask? Well, this is an American species and not only was Eddie's find a first for the UK, it was a first for Europe!

Eddie had planned another trip to Sheffield on Sunday and I met him and Tim.Garlick there to see what we could find. When we went into the glasshouse, this individual was under the first leaf I picked up! We didn't find many, and this isn't a great shot, but I was very excited to have seen it and photographed it.

These "exotic" alien species are thought to be imported on plant material.

Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm macro lens (at 5x) + 1.4x Tele-extender + 36mm extension tube + diffused MT24-EX Twin Lite flash. This individual about 0.8mm.

I've been trying to get this shot for what seems like forever, inspired by the amazing work of Edward 'Eddie the Bugman' Nurcombe, a damsel with the eyes showing black and with the lenses in focus... I still can't for love nor money manage to get a focus stack to envelop a whole insect without blobby islands and overlaps, but that's my fault for not taking 50+ frames or using a tripod or flash and hoping to get a good result with hand held wobbling about with nothing to lean against, excuses excuses....

Still, I was more than pleased to get this shot. Have a look 'zoomed' in, I think their eyes are amazing. :@)

I found a few more of these guys this afternoon, this is the final instar of Elasmucha grisea, I think that this one must be getting near to the final moult due to its size and darkening colour. The interesting thing about this image though is the presence of the 2 white objects, does anyone know what they are????

I am not sure if they are the eggs of a parasite or could they be some sort of parasitic Mite? So if anyone knows then I would be most grateful for any information.

Thanks to Jan van Duinen, the white objects are Tachinidae eggs, which will hatch and the larvae will parasitise the Bug.

I did get a few Red Deer shots today, but there was no rutting action to be seen unfortunately :o(

I had 108mm of extension tubes mounted on a 1.4x teleconverter for the ocelli shot.

Lazy macro tip, if you want to avoid crawling on the ground looking for macro subjects then find a row of wooden fence posts next to trees or grassland and commence patrolling.

You will be amazed at what you can find, also the wooden fences and posts are great for resting your camera or yourself on and also provide excellent support. With some strategic angling, you can make the subject look like it is in a very organic and natural environment, it's also great fun.

Not sure of ID on this one yet, it was about the same size as the Pea Weevil, maybe a bit smaller, taken at x5 magnification, really nice head details on this baby, I love Weevils they are soooooo cute LOL :) Also got RedButtoned on my last Weevil, HURRAH :)

A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than 6 millimetres (0.24 in), and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae (the true weevils). Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum), which belongs to the family Anobiidae.

Many weevils are damaging to crops. The grain or wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius) damages stored grain. The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) attacks cotton crops. It lays its eggs inside cotton bolls, and the young weevils eat their way out.

Weevils are often found in dry foods including nuts and seeds, cereal and grain products, such as pancake mix. In the domestic setting, they are most likely to be observed when a bag of flour is opened. Their presence is often indicated by the granules of the infested item sticking together in strings, as if caught in a cobweb.

Any ID help appreciated :)

VIEW LARGE

After a very brief spell of drizzle this morning I found this lovely little Ischnura elegans sporting some very attractive raindrops, this is a two image stack.

This one was resting high up on a dead plant stem, holding the stem down with one hand, camera in the other, I need more hands, think I may have to get a plamp :)

OK I know I said no more Damsels, but I was really meaning Common Blue's and this isn't a Common Blue, sorry can't help myself :)

Thought I'd move on from Springtails to another Damselfly, I'm having lots of fun with Lightroom, you might initially select one colour as a background, but having Lightroom enables you to change the colours to a variety of others, so if you are not happy with your initial choice, then just change it in Lightroom LOL ;O)

The background was initially bright pink in this shot :o)

I do have about 5 new species of Springtail to upload, I found a new place and it's producing some great little Collembola. Reckon I might have to change my name to "Springtail Eddie" or "Eddie The Collembola Guy" LOL :o)

Anyway hope everyone is having a great weekend and well done team GB on another good day :o)

BEST VIEWED ON BLACK

This was a very unexpected find, I was watching some juvenile Bourletiella hortensis and suddenly I noticed this strange orange blob on an out of focus greyish blob, on focusing I suddenly realised what I had found, a Bourletiella hortensis carrying a parasitic mite. I guess it would be equivalent of one of us having a tick the size of a big rat, I wonder how long this Mite will stay attached, will it eventually kill the Springtail? It was really tricky trying to photograph this one, the Collembola kept hiding in cracks in the ground. It also looks like the Mite had changed position from the first shot in the comments, I lost sight of it for a while when it went down a crack in the soil :o) This little one was about 1.5mm in length at a guess :o)

I have wanted to capture something like this for a while, fascinating stuff I think you will agree.

More in comments, if anyone can put an ID to the mite then I would be grateful :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

One of the few Globular Springtails I found yesterday, I kind of wonder where they go when there is a frost, I was expecting to find a few frozen ones. I liked this one because there are loads of droplets on her lower head and the ocelli details are pretty good here as well, also loved the contrast :0)

Female Dicyrtomina saundersi taken at x5 mag and slightly cropped :0)

VIEW ON BLACK

Found my first Garden Chafer of the year this week, I found this one at Kings Meadow on a walk home after work. I quite like these bumbling Beetles, although to many Gardeners they are considered Pests, their larvae like munching on plant roots. These guys are typically about 10mm in length :o)

Anyway, quite pleased to manage a focus stack of one, it was an 18 image stack, but there was a bit of movement, but still not bad for one of these as they are usually moving about a lot, especially on a hot afternoon. Just wish I'd started the stack a bit higher to get that foot at the bottom right in focus .

I saw my first Calopteryx splendens (Banded Demoiselle) of the year today, in fact I saw two, but the first I actually saw was stuck behind glass within the newly refurbished Nottingham Railway station. So tomorrow I'm hoping to get out early and see what I can find :o)

Here she is the brilliance of the female Calopteryx splendens, possibly one of the most stunning Demoiselles, saying that I've only ever seen this species. I really love those brilliant metallic greens, absolutely gorgeous :)

A bit of indoor macro today, far too windy outside today, managed to find a Psyllid crawling up and down the utility room window.

Psyllids or jumping plant lice are small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host specific, i.e. they only feed on one plant species (monophagous) or feed on a few related plants (oligophagous). Together with aphids, phylloxerans, scale insects and whiteflies they form the group called Sternorrhyncha, which is considered to be the most "primitive" group within the true bugs (Hemiptera). They have traditionally been considered a single family, Psyllidae, but recent classifications divide the group into a total of seven families; the present restricted definition still includes more than 70 genera in the Psyllidae.

Psyllid fossils have been found from the early Permian before the flowering plants evolved. The explosive diversification of the flowering plants in the Cretaceous was paralleled by a massive diversification of associated insects, and many of the morphological and metabolic characters that the flowering plants exhibit may have evolved as defenses against herbivorous insects.

Several genera of psyllids, especially among the Australian fauna, secrete coverings called "lerps" over their bodies, presumably to conceal them from predators and parasites

VIEW LARGE

Ok my first feeble attempts at MP-E macrovideo, I spent about 30mins at Wollaton Park and what an awful day, it was blowing a real gale with intermittent rain. managed to film a few Globular Springtails, next time I will try this on a nicer day.

Also why do you have to video in Live View only, I'd much rather use the viewfinder to film, instead you have to try and judge the focus on the screen, not easy on a bad day. Also the DOF is so narrow that the slightest shake takes you out of focus, why can't I upload a bigger video onto Flickr, oh I'm full of moans today LOL :)

I will improve no doubt :)

View the whole thing on Youtube, about 2min 50sec long :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvvbPh7Dsk&feature=g-upl

Just put this together as well :)

www.youtube.com/user/hbosch08?feature=mhee

A simple leaf backlit by the sun, I liked the details here and thought it was a bit different, makes a nice abstract image as well.

Hope you have all been enjoying this wonderful spell of good weather this weekend :)

Well OK it was not so much skating, it was more pond crawling, this was from a few weeks back and was another find in that pool in a hollow of a tree stump, this is some type of Hypogastruridae that I observed on the surface of the water, it was walking around quite happily on the surface tension, not really sure on the ID of this one, so for the moment Hypogastruridae sp.

Well another wash out of a day, it feels like it has gone back to Winter again, pretty much rained all day again, I really hope we get some sunshine soon, I'm kind of taking any long distance forecasts with a large pinch of salt. Still need to find my first Damselfly of the year and to see some decent Butterflies, I really hope this weather is not having an adverse affect on their emergence :o(

Actually we were getting nicer weather in the Winter :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

A rather extreme portrait of an Aeshna mixta taken from a rather unusual angle, I thought it made an interesting portrait and makes this guy quite imposing. Just imagine Dragonflies this big, I think I would still find them fascinating, would love to travel back in time 300million years to see giant Dragonflies. I have heard that they are breeding giant Dragons in American laboratories, they are breeding them at higher O2 levels as part of a study on the relationship between O2 levels and Insect growth.

This is another handheld stack, this time using 20 images at F/8, ISO 320 and 1/160 shutter speed, the MP-E was at about 2-3x for this one :o)

Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

VIEW LARGE IF YOU DARE :O)

Not done one of these for ages, this was an HDR of Trent Bridge taken yesterday morning when it was still misty, I used my 50mm F/1.8 for this one, I've not used that lens in ages, I really must think about getting a 17-40mm for wider shots. I went for B&W for this one as I felt it suited the mood a bit more.So I reckon I'll be trying more shots like this during the Winter months, just to try something different every so often.

I hope everyone has a great week :o)

BEST VIEWED ON BLACK

A newly emerged Common Blue Damselfly, I had a feeling today would be the day, a few newly emerged Common Blue Damselflies at Wollaton Park today, not too many, but just enough :)

Just a note if you want to handle Damselflies do not pick them up by the wings, this will damage them, especially Teneral individuals, I offer my finger just infront of them :)

VIEW LARGE

Finally got close to a Nomada sp. Bee, these are so attractive and colourful, but they always seem to be on the go, I found a nice environment where other Bees were nesting, there were quite a few of these hovering about and every so often they would land, I found that my best chance was when the sun went behind a cloud, as soon as this happened I could get quite close to some individuals. Anyway, that's one off the list for this year. Shooting stuff with the MP-E certainly presents many challenges, the biggest of them is trying to get close to a potential subject LOL :o)

Here's what Wiki says :o)

With over 850 species, the genus Nomada is one of the largest genera in the entire family Apidae, and the largest genus of cleptoparasitic "cuckoo bees." They occur worldwide, and utilize many different types of bees as hosts, primarily the genus Andrena. As parasites, they lack a pollen-carrying scopa, and are often extraordinarily wasp-like in appearance with red, black, yellow colors prevailing, and with smoky (infuscated) wings or wing tips.

Separation of this genus (the only genus in the tribe Nomadini) from other members of the Nomadinae can be difficult; details of the wing venation, and the nature of the patch of silvery setae at the tip of the female metasoma are the best distinguishing features.

On another note, a very nice weekend, mainly as there was no rain for a change, however, still no local Damselflies, I walked along the Grantham Canal today and not one to be seen, earlier this week I walked around Wollaton Lake and no evidence of exuviae in any of the usual places, think I may have to take a trip out of Nottinghamshire soon :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

A bit annoyed today, I should have gone to my special Darter spot, but I went elsewhere, I got some Migrant Hawkers, but I struggle to find any that will let me approach them for an MP-E closeup, Darters are a lot more obliging.

Good news though I've finally been allocated a day at my local Nature Reserve, so every Tuesday I will be doing conservation work WOOOOHOOO :)

If you happen to be walking in a park, pick up a decaying fallen leaf and take a look underneath, you will be surprised what you can find, obviously a magnifying glass may be required, because a lot of these creatures are tiny, I find many different types of Springtails in the leaf litter.

This one I think is Isotoma viridis, a very attractive little Collembola, I think this one was trying to hide from me behind the veins of the leaf :)

About 2.5mm long taken at x5 mag

Order Entomobryomorpha

Superfamily Isotomoidea

Family Isotomidae

Subfamily Isotominae

Genus Isotoma

VIEW ON BLACK

A small Andrena species Bee, this one was on a Stinging Nettle and yes it did hurt, anyway this one was very happy to pose for me and I decided to try some coloured background cards, I also liked the pose in this one. This was 100% taken in the wild :o)

I have to say one of the advantages of a cold day in Spring is that macro subjects are more likely to stay put, the down side is trying to find them in the first place. I decided to try the Grantham Canal today between Plungar and Redmile, hoped to see some Odonata, but it was way too cold and wet, but did find lots of grounded Bees, this was the most cooperative one I found.

I'm hoping the weather will improve, but then the headlines of the Daily Express today say that this weather will last into June, don't think I can do another month without Odonata :o(

VIEW ON BLACK

A 17 image handheld focus stack of a Woodlouse noggin, it's only when you start looking at these guys up close that you realise what wonderful textural qualities their exoskeletons have and I always love Woodlouse ocelli clusters as well. This was taken using my MP-E at x5 magnification at F/6.3 on a very very windy day. Stacked in both PMax and DMap, Used DMap image and edited with PMax and individual frames :o)

Some Wiki blurb about our friend here :o)

Oniscus asellus is the most widespread species of woodlouse in the British Isles, both geographically and ecologically. It is not known from the Mediterranean Basin, but is widespread in Northern and Western Europe, as far east as the Ukraine, as well as in the Azores and Madeira; it has also been widely introduced in the Americas.

Oniscus asellus occurs in a wide range of habitats, including some with little available calcium. It is chiefly found under stones, and on rotting wood. It is the only woodlouse regularly found on heather moors and blanket bogs, where it lives around items such as rotting fenceposts.

Oniscus asellus is one of the largest native woodlice in Britain, at up to 16 mm (0.63 in) long. It is relatively flat, and is a shiny grey in colour, although juveniles are rougher.

Pale patches are often visible on the back of Oniscus asellus; these are areas that store calcium, which is then used to reinforce the exoskeleton after a moult. Moulting occurs in two halves, with the rear half moulting before the front half. The exuvia is often consumed by the animal after moulting.

WELL WORTH VIEWING LARGE, ORIGINAL OR ON BLACK

I did not upload a single Damselfly yesterday, thought you might like this one of a Common Blue Damselfly resting on grass, this is a two image stack, view large there are some nice details here. Love those eyes they are stunning :)

On my walk today there were Crane flies everywhere and after a while I came across one in prime position on top of a fence, it was very much alive, it was then I had a mad idea, lets just try and concentrate on those eyes. So I needed some hefty magnification, so I put my 1.4x teleconverter and 56mm of extension tubes on my MP-E, I had my ISO at 160, aperture at F/5 and shutter speed at 1/160. Being on a fence meant my camera was very stable as I could rest it on top of the fence. So I was aiming for that studio style focus stack image and also a shallow DOF feel, I would of had problems with the antennae and mouthparts as the wind was blowing them all over the shop. This is an 11 image handheld focus stack at about x9 mag at a guess :0)

So here we have the eyes of a Crane Fly, not sure which species, but they are rather cool. I'm eventually hoping to find a Lacewing, they have really cool eyes :o)

Afraid no Damselflies to be found this morning, but I did see a few later, did find a slumbering Hoverfly, so may do something with that later :o)

VIEW LARGE

Probably not to everybodies taste, I found an Erythromma najas(male) in a spiders web, it had been there for sometime and looks like the spider has had its fill from him. So I thought I'd try a deepish stack of 7 images using CombineZP, the results were not too bad, also added a vignette for a bit of dramatic effect.

Just been trying some stuff in Lightroom with one of the rutting images I took the other day, I quite liked the result. I'm hoping to get some more shots this weekend, problem is they are not always in the right place at the right time. Most of the action takes place on the golf course at Wollaton Park which is unfortunately private land. I really enjoyed watching these guys in action the other day and the sound of their bellowing calls is so awesome, I love it :o)

I hope that everyone has a most excellent weekend, off to get my 5D back, hope they have done a decent job :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

Taken early Friday morning, unfortunately the camping was a bit on the damp side as predicted, but still managed to have a good time, but the rain did put a stop to any real photography, I think we are in for some more of the same this week, watch out archives here I come :)

This was a rather chilled out immature Common Blue on a grass seed head early morning, I used some green foam a bit further away in the background on this one :)

I guess I'm just a big hit with the Damsels LOL, I loved the look on this ones eyes, really look at this large, the eye details are awesome :)

Last Damsel tonight promise LOL :)

Oh just as an extra, got one of my rubbish pictures of a Bittern put on a rolling BBC Nature UK slideshow :) see if you can spot it :)

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/2011/04/audio-slideshow-soun...

I found a colony of these Tullbergiidae living in amongst the roots of an Orchid that is kept in the utility room. These are very small Collembola and ranged from 0.3mm-0.5mm at a guess. I was messing around with extension tubes etc, some were taken with my MP-E with the 1.4x teleconverter and 108mm of extension tubes and a few with the teleconverter and 168mm of extension tubes.

I have no idea what species these are, I'm not even sure if they are a UK species, as they most probably came in with the Orchid, I suppose it depends whether the Orchid was grown in the UK or was imported.

I'm guessing that this is possibly a Mesaphorura sp.

Started turning leaves over to see what I could find, this guy was tiny, virtually a speck on the underside of the leaf, guessing less than 1mm, I have had to crop in quite a bit here and trying to focus on it at x5 was a real pain.

All I know is that this is the nymph of a Barkfly, I have tried to ID it, but cannot find any good resources on the net, so any help appreciated :)

I will take a wild guess at Ectopsocus petersi :)

VIEW LARGE ON BLACK

Well I went out this morning with great expectations of finding macro subjects, but soon realised that the gales were against me, not that it was unpleasant, it was quite nice to feel a warm breeze for a change.

So I thought what could I photograph in such adverse conditions, so off to the brick walls I went, shelter and Salticus scenicus.

Anyway, this is a feeding female Salticus scenicus taken at x4 magnification and is also a 6 image handheld focus stack at F/7.1. Unfortunately its prey, a small Chironomous Midge was being blown about a bit, but the Salty stayed pretty still.

REALLY NEED TO VIEW LARGE

A male Calopteryx splendens or commonly known as the Banded Demoiselle, this is the first natural light Odonata of 2012 and I must say early morning light cannot be beaten. I was so pleased to find one this morning, I woke up at 4:50am and decided to go out, much nicer trying to photograph stuff when it's not scorchio outside LOL :o)

Strange thing this morning, I found an iPhone 4GS on the steps of the embankment and a pile of coins nearby, I have of course handed these into the Police, someones going to miss that phone eventually.

What Wiki says about Calopteryx splendens :-

This is a large damselfly with a total length of up to 48 millimetres (1.9 in) and a hindwing length of up to 36 millimetres (1.4 in).

The male has translucent wings which each have a broad, dark iridescent blue-black spot (or band) across the outer part. On immature dragonflies the spot is dark brown. The body can be a metallic blue or blue-ish green.

The dark wing patch of the male starts at the nodus (the slight dip midway down the upper edge of the wing) but can reach up to the wing-tip in southern races. In the very similar species C. virgo (Beautiful Demoiselle), the dark starts before the nodus.

The female has translucent, pale green iridescent wings with a white patch near the tip (a pseudopterostigma), and a metallic green body.

VIEW ON BLACK

I found this really cool guy hanging around at Wollaton, pretty sure he is a Snipe Fly (Rhagionidae), not sure what species, I did manage a five image stack using CombineZP, think it worked quite well, hope you like it :)

VIEW LARGE IF YOU DARE LOL

Please Feel Free To Visit My Photostream :)

A new find for me at the weekend, this is Eysarcoris venustissimus or the Woundwort Shieldbug, in the 19th century this was considered rare, but now is widespread in southern and central regions of the UK. They can be found on Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) or as in this case White Dead-nettle (Lamium album).

Probably one of the most attractive Shieldbugs I have found, I love the bronze/copper tones and white markings, this one was sheltering right in the heart of this White Dead-nettle, although looking at the spines on this leaf I'm not sure if it was a Dead Nettle, I didn't get stung by this one.

Really chuffed as decided to go to Melton Car Boot sale today and picked up a Motic Microscope for £5, it goes up to x20 magnification and is portable enough to pack for a day trip, also a very solid construction, should come in quite useful for looking at Collembola and other stuff, may eventually get a more expensive and powerful scope, but for now this will do nicely.

VIEW ON BLACK

This is one from yesterday afternoon and it's a 26 image handheld focus stack using natural light, One thing you have to remember is that these are all on a brick wall, this makes getting a good angle tricky and means I get some rather curious looks from passers by.

The main thing for doing these natural light stacks are the right sort of light, if the sun is too strong then you can get nasty specular highlights, too cloudy and you can't get a fast enough shutter speed, ideally some hazy afternoon sun works quite well. I tried again today, but failed miserably, the sun went in and I could only get a 1/40 shutter speed, I don't like using an ISO above 640 for these stacks, I really need that 5D MKIII LOL :o)

VIEW LARGE

An Empididae or Dagger Fly or Balloon Fly found today predating on a Dilophus febrilis (I think). Well this was the only thing of interest I found before the rain set in and yes still no Damselflies, I really am looking hard. It was more like an Autumn day today and hoping some good weather comes our way soon :o) I think the Empididae could be Rhamphomyia sulcata, if anyone knows for sure I would be grateful for confirmation :o)

Anyhow, I was just on my way home when I noticed these on a fence at head height, I think the Empididae was so busy that it was not too bothered by my presence and I managed a 15 image handheld focus stack at F/7.1 at about x2 magnification. There was some movement of legs and abdomen, mainly due to the annoying windy conditions, although not perfect, this was the best stack of the bunch I managed and I still had to do quite a bit of editing. Always nice to get a predation stack, I would like to find a Dilophus febrilis on its own, they have the coolest two layered compound eyes :o)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend :o)

VIEW ON BLACK AND WORTH VIEWING LARGE OR ORIGINAL SIZE

This was another find on a recent Collembola hunt, this is a male Calvatomina rufescens, I experimented with a blue background in this one. There is a fallen tree near where I look for these that makes a convenient outdoor studio, I rest the subject on the tree and I can then place a background behind the subject, I often use a small LED to throw a bit of light on the subject and the tree makes for a very stable work surface. This guy was a very small one at just over 1mm at a guess, also one of the prettiest examples I have found to date :o)

Anyway, this is an 11 image handheld focus stack, it is a rare opportunity to get a stack of one of these as they can be quite active little fellows. Again I used my MP-E at x5 on my 1.4x teleconverter and a 12mm extension tube. These are supposed to something of a rarity in the UK, but there are loads at the local woods, it could be they are under recorded :o)

VIEW LARGE

Of course Yponomeuta you say, but which one, I should have really paid more attention to which tree these were on, sorry :) The common name for these is of course the Ermine Moth and it is such an apt name.

By the by, anyone out there know the full ins and outs of CombineZP, ie how to get the best out of the program? :)

Thanks to jel 1969 for ID being Yponomeuta evonymellus, the Cherry Ermine Moth :)