Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body.

I found a couple of these today, they were grounded due to the wind, I moved them to a safer location, away from trampling joggers, in return I got a few photo's for the record, this is a female :)

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body.

Playing about with ideas for Naked Lunch

Not a great shot, but I thought this springtail was quite interesting, as it looks a bit mis-shapen. Taken in Parkill Woods, Lochwinnoch.

This is a female Bibio marci, I was trying to photograph her on a plant, but she had other ideas and crawled onto my hand, made things easier in the end :)

I've seen lots of these about over the last 3 to 4 weeks, but none have been that cooperative. They don't stay still. This has been the most obliging so far, stopping to have a clean, but it was still moving about a lot.

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body.

by Cranio

Thanks to Eddie the Bugman and others I can confirm this little feller is Harmonia axyridis, the larva of the Harlequin ladybird that was introduce from Asia to help combat the Aphids battle!

I saw this Ant on a fence and thought nothing of it, then it stopped dead in its tracks, so I thought perfect opportunity for a photo.

I then realised that it wasn't an Ant at all, it was an Ant Mimic Bug, possibly Myrmecoris gracilis, may be proved wrong as the other possibility is the nymph of Himacerus mirmicoides.

Another new find so happy with that :)

Thanks to Rockwolf for positive ID Miris striatus nymph :)

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body.

L: ~ 3mm

Genus: Macrohomotoma KUWAYAMA, 1908 ?

Family: Homotomidae HESLOP-HARRISON, 1958

[det. Tony "servitude", 2011, based on photos]

Superfamily: Psylloidea (jumping plant lice, Springläuse)

[suggested by "Bugman", 2011, based on photos]

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha (Pflanzenläuse)

Order: Hemiptera (true bugs, Schnabelkerfe)

Subclass: Pterygota

Class: Insecta (insects, Insekten)

Subphylum: Hexapoda

Phylum: Arthropoda

Indonesia, W-Java, Tangerang: vic. Serpong (BSD), 45m asl. , 24.02.2011

(IMG_0238)

Bugman vs. Tin Can.

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

The Bugman from "It Came from Yesterday"

Painted by Koji Harmon (Japan). Stag Beetle suit by Dark Side Hero Toys DxSxHx on black Obitsu body. More pics and info at Omni-Monster!!! omni-monster.blogspot.com/

One for a certain Wildlife On The Go The Bugman because he has to travel to see these so I thought I would bring them to you!

I felt priviliged to get so close to this beast :)

Also do the wings being cropped out work? Or is this just wrong?

We had a bug man come to school to show the children a selection of exotic bugs.....this is not my arm, by the way!!

On Black

I had to post this, today is St Marks Day and this is the St Marks Fly, Bibio marci got this name as it generally starts appearing around the 25th April, ie today LOL. They have appeared early this year, but the numbers are good :)

Anyone interested in St Mark, here is a link :)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_the_Evangelist

L: ~3mm

lateral view (to observe venation): www.flickr.com/photos/gbohne/5491363584/in/set-7215762614...

Genus: Macrohomotoma KUWAYAMA, 1908 ?

Family: Homotomidae HESLOP-HARRISON, 1958

[det. Tony "servitude", 2011, based on photos]

Superfamily: Psylloidea (jumping plant lice, Springläuse)

[suggested by "Bugman", 2011, based on photos]

Suborder: Sternorrhyncha (Pflanzenläuse)

Order: Hemiptera (true bugs, Schnabelkerfe)

Subclass: Pterygota

Class: Insecta (insects, Insekten)

Subphylum: Hexapoda

Phylum: Arthropoda

Indonesia, W-Java, 10 km S Tangerang: vic. Serpong (BSD), 45m asl., 18.03.2011

___________________________________________________________________________

MP-65mm (canon), 2x, 1/160s, f/16, ISO100, 0EV, ring-flash, hand-held

(IMG_0065)

Well, not really.. lol ;). I found this jumping spider walking on the glass of my front door. Of course, I dropped everything and grabbed my camera. I didn't intend to get the reflections, but they were a bonus :).. The nearest reflection has come out much better than the actual spider, lol :)

Is this a zebra spider? It was very small compared to the other zebras I have found. Maybe it's a baby?---thanks to Eddie the Bugman for confirming juvenile female zebra spider.

A fly posing on a gate.

Bugman! Bugman! Bugman!

Visit this location at *Elite Equestrian* ~Ladies' Pleasure~ .Harvest Moon. in Second Life

Back by popular demand the ballroom dancing Collembola, yes I found my first dancing Deuterosminthurus pallipes of 2013. I was actually trying to photograph the female on the left, she seemed oblivious to anything, she was more interested in eating. Suddenly this male appeared (on the right) and tried to engage the female in a courtship dance and boy was he persistent, initially she wasn't bothered, but they did break into a brief courtship dance after much gesturing and head butting by the male. The female really was not that interested in the end.

Crop in first of comments :o)

Anyway, taken with my MP-E at x5 on 72mm of extension tubes at an F/6.3 aperture. Really working with a very fine DOF and was happy to get detail on both the male and female here. I had the leaf on a bench weighed down by my magnifying loupe, it was quite a windy afternoon, the leaf was placed back onto the same type of plant afterwards to allow the Springtails to transfer onto new leaves. These guys are just about visible to the naked eye at about 1mm for the larger females :o)

After weeks of searching for a new addition for my globular springtail "list"; turning over HUNDREDS of leaves, I found this today (~ 1mm). Not really sure what species it is but wondered whether it's one of the scarcer colour variants of Sminthurinus aureus. I notice that Edward Nurcombe (Eddie the Bugman) and Andy Murray (andybadger) have found Sminthurinus aureus forma ochropus, that looks rather like this.

Only other one I could think of is Sminthurinus igniceps, but I think the head is generally paler than the body in that species. But I'm a total novice at this, and await the word of the experts!

[Frans Janssens confirms ID as Sminthurinus aureus forma ochropus. Thanks Frans!]

Canon 1D3 + MP-E 65mm (at x5) + TwinLite Flash.

Well, it's my third foray into the leaf litter in the last couple of days, and yet another species/colour variation in the globular springtail world. I don't know what species this is, but I do know that I haven't seen this raspberry colouration before.

Yet again, this was the result of a 30-minute search of dozens of leaves and was the only globular springtail that I found. They really do demand a degree of perseverance! This one was about 0.7mm and as such, just visible to the naked eye.

Canon 5D3 + MP-E 65mm (at x5) + 1.4x Extender + MT24-EX Flash. Cropped a bit.

[Update: Eddie Nurcombe (Eddie the Bugman), reckons this is Deuterosminthurus pallipes. That's a new one for me!]

Walking along a certain stretch of the Grantham Canal reveals a stronghold of Variable Damselflies, this species has a very patchy distribution in the UK, but does have a strong population in Ireland. Fortunately this site is easily accessible and is a great walk :)

Photo taken by the river Calder in Lochwinnoch.

Thanks to Eddie the Bugman for the id.

Found in Bushy Park

Another damselfly taken at MOD, Barry Buddon.

I spend my work week studying and photographing bed bugs. On the weekend I get out on my bike and photograph nature. Who do I run into on the Stones River greenway? The guy that took me on my 1st bed bug job, Dan "The Bugman" Cassidy of Murfreesboro, Tn, out with his family.

A Deuterosminthurus pallipes revival, really just messing about with colours and a pseudo studio looks here, I kind of miss these colourful guys, will have to wait until next year to photograph their antics again, but that is just the way it goes, for something so small they just ooze personality, I love 'em.

These two may seem alone, but with macro it can be easy to isolate subjects, especially as they are so small (O.6-1mm), in reality these guys were surrounded my a multitude of dancing Deuterosminthurus pallipes, I just liked these two as they seemed to be taking a moment together, maybe contemplating the meaning of their existence or just waiting for a dance partner :o)

Weather is absolutely miserable again today, not sure if I'll get out with my camera tomorrow as I have a society meeting that I should really attend.

I wish everyone a most excellent weekend, have fun :o)

A MUST VIEW ON BLACK

Joe (Bugman) is still alive and kickin'. Didn't mean to send him to an early grave.

Canon FL 55mm f1.2

BugMan

I found this little fella hiding under a leaf, I'm guessing a nymph stage of some sort of Capsid Bug, please correct me or if you know what it is please tell :)