A Common Blue Damselfly (No surprises there) on one of my early morning photo walks, this one is nearly fully matured, there is some evidence of it's teneral colouration. I liked the look on this beauties face :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

A Salticus scenicus ( ♀ ) hunting on the pink walls by the side of the Nottingham Canal. Not sure why the walls are painted pink in patches, probably to cover up the graffiti. Anyway, this was a last ditch attempt to get some macro done after my Monday walk, you can always find these on this wall.

This was a single frame image shot at F/10 using a diffused flash, I was going to try for a stack, but this little lady had other ideas. I quite liked the sideways glance, she was probably looking at my hand here LOL oOOo

Braved the weather today and went back to see if I could find more Allacma fusca's, well it turns out that yesterday's find was wrongly identified by me, should always listen to Frans LOL. I found loads of these small pink Sminthurinae, these turned out to be juvenile Allacma fusca :0)

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I'm sure it is going to rain, so be prepared, I wasn't fully prepared and got soaked today LOL :o)

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This to my delight was my other exotic new find from Sheffield Botanical Gardens, I found these guys in exactly the same place as I found the Genus nov.2 sp. nov, initially I was unsure of the differences, I believe the abdominal setae are different, also these have an orange vertical marking between the ocelli patches. This one was on a leaf. you can see the middle rib/vein of the leaf behind this little one :o)

So as with the others, this species seems to like the beds of Ericas and were found on fallen leaves in and around the Ericas. It could be that when the Botanical Gardens were set up that these guys were introduced on certain imported indoor plants and over the years they have migrated outdoors and adapted to live on and around other plants or maybe they were introduced on imported outdoor plants, it is thought this species is another foreign import :o)

I have to say that this is one of the prettiest Collembola I have found to date. There is another species called Katianna nr. australis which is unique to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, I will have to try and find this species next time I visit :o)

Hope you all have a great weekend and stay warm, looks like another cold one :o(

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A close up crop of the Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. from the first image. Less than 1mm in length :o)

14 image focus stack.

As the temperatures rose this afternoon, then so did the passion, it was all happening on my parents garden refuse bin, I found quite a few of these Deuterosminthurus pallipes doing their courtship dance on the top of the bin, I imagine that they had been swept up with the garden waste and had escaped to the top of the bin. In the main image you can see the purple female courting with the yellow male, in this species the male and female can be either yellow or purple and sometimes there are a few slight colour variations, it was nice to photograph them on another coloured surface.

Also I'm still awake, went back to the park this afternoon, but did not photograph much as the sun had brought people out in their droves, it was too noisy for me, definitely prefer it at 4am LOL :o)

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This was a real treat to see this butterfly up close, this was the same Comma Butterfly I found on yesterdays walk. So presented with such a rare opportunity I decided to attempt a series of focus stacks and I was really chuffed to bits with the results of this one, this was just a 7 image stack at x3 magnification at f/6.3, cropped image using CombineZP. I have included some close up crops in the comments :)

Remember this is a handheld focus stack of a live and wild subject, this was resting on a fence :)

VIEW LARGE :)

Found lurking in my lawn (Ipswich, VC25 East Suffolk, TM166450) on 18 July 2015. ID based on britishbugs.org.uk "K. tricornis is recognised by the entirely black antennae which have long hairs" and confirmed by top British Bugman Joe Botting!

A Bourletiella hortensis on a small stone using its eversible tubelike vesicle from the collophore as a grooming system. Collembola have what is known as a collophore, this structure on the ventral side of the Collembola can produce 2 eversed vesicles, one on each side. The main functions of these is osmoregulation, water intake, and excretion. However, they can also be used to help in grooming, they can use these tube like structures to clean areas they can't reach with their feet, another use for these tubes is a self righting system, if they land upside down they can use these vesicles to self right, I also have seen these eversed pre jump in certain species, I imagine this is to aid them when they land.

Also note in this image that there is a cleaning droplet in place on the front foot, I wonder if they use their legs to help guide these vesicles in the required direction.

I would just like to say that I will be staying on Flickr, they have made a few improvements on last weeks initial revamp, at least now I can see up to 20 comments below an image, I just wish I could control what is being displayed on my homepage, also would like to see my sets displayed on my photo stream in a more pleasing fashion. Currently my sets look a real jumbled mess. Also really struggling with the speed of this new revamp, lots of white screens and Bad, Bad Pandas as well :o)

Of out early tomorrow, hope everyone has a great Sunday :o)

Extra image in first of comments :o)

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No I'm not going to do the lyrics to the song from the "Hans Christian Andersen" film, not seen that film since I was a kid, sorry. I found this little fella on a wooden fence today, I'm not sure on the species, but it is probably one of the Geometer Moth caterpillars, so I guess that narrows things down a bit.

This is what Wiki says :-

The name "Geometridae" ultimately derives from Latin geometra from Greek γεωμέτρης ("geometer, earth-measurer"). This refers to the means of locomotion of the larvae or caterpillars, which lack the prolegs of other Lepidopteran caterpillars in the middle portion of the body, with only two or three pairs at each end. Equipped with appendages at both ends of the body, a caterpillar will clasp with its front legs and draw up the hind end, then clasp with the hind end (prolegs) and reach out for a new front attachment - creating the impression that it is measuring its journey. The caterpillars are accordingly called loopers, spanworms, or inchworms after their characteristic looping gait. The cabbage looper is not an inchworm, but a caterpillar of a different family. In many species of geometer moths, the inchworms are about 25 mm (1.0 in) long. They tend to be green, grey, or brownish and hide from predators by fading into the background or resembling twigs. Many inchworms, when disturbed, stand erect and motionless on the prolegs, increasing the resemblance. Some have humps or filaments. They are seldom hairy or gregarious and are generally smooth. Typically they eat leaves. However, some eat lichen, flowers or pollen. Some, such as the Hawaiian species of the genus Eupithecia, are even carnivorous. Certain destructive inchworms are called cankerworms.

Anyway, thought it was something interesting, it was a tricky one as every time I got close it would stop and wave its head about in the air, hope everyone has a great weekend, watching "Avengers Assemble" again for the 12th time, HULK SMASH !!!!!!!!! LOL :o)

If you really really want to hear the song :o)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXi3bjKowJU

But don't blame me if you get the song stuck in your head LOL :o)

A MUST TO VIEW ON BLACK

The more I look at the intricacies of a flies anatomy the more amazed I am, precision engineered sensory apparatus and amazing wing assembly, love those halteres :)

I don't know, one warm afternoon and these guys were at it like rabbits, the Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers were very active indeed today and I was ever so pleased when this pair of luvved up Common Darters settled on an almost isolated grass stem, usually they land on a path or on brambles, but today they actually landed somewhere half decent. Even better is they didn't seem to mind my presence, usually they fly off as soon as I get near.

I used my Tamron 180mm macro for this and that gave a nice working distance, I was also using a monopod for a bit of stability. I was tempted to flip the image, but that might give a slight gravity defying feel to the image, so I kept the original orientation.

I will try and catch up over the coming days, just felt like cutting down on computer time for the last few days this week :o)

VIEW LARGE because new Flickr doesn't seem to favour portrait orientation images, unless you are using a tablet and then everything looks great LOL :o)

It's that time of year when I'm seeing the first images of Damselflies appearing on Flickr, but I'm still waiting to see my first of the year. Well I've got the day off on Friday and I'm hoping that will be the day to find them.

This image was an Ischnura elegans from last year. A focus stack of 17 images, ISO 320, aperture F/7.1 and a 1/160 shutter speed with a diffused flash. I think this guy was a very mature individual judging by his somewhat worn mouth parts :o)

VIEW LARGE OR ZOOOOOMMM

its been persisting it down all day,,no new pics , this is one from a couple of weeks ago at fairburn..dont think its a jumping spider even though it has the same domed head and eyes..this was about 4 times bigger than the normal jumpers and it ran away rather than jumped every time the shutter clicked, and he kept coming back to the same spot after a few mins hiding.

edit..thanks to Eddie the bugman..now ID'd as a wolf spider .

A view of the Trent the other week when it was close to bursting its banks. Fortunately the water levels dropped quite quickly after that day. I liked the effect the fast flow of the river gave with the reflections on this 20sec exposure, almost like ice, I have added a similar shot in the comments to give you an idea what the normal river level is like and shows the reflections when the river is running at its normal slower pace :0)

I'm hoping for a few frosty mornings this weekend so I can get out and attempt a few more frosty Collembola stacks, I really must try to get some way of automating a stack in the field, I may have to look at getting the Cognisys Stackshot kit :o)

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Had a request for a Damselfly Halloween offering from one of my contacts (Aisling you know who you are)and here it is, ever so very slightly inspired by the film "Hellraiser", which in my view is one of the finest horror films ever, it features a degree of symmetry as it is featured in the order of the Cenobites, promise this is my last Halloween offering :)

Took me ages to do this LOL :) A combination of Paintshop Pro X3, GNU Image Manipulation Program and Picknik :)

Aisling you had better like this one :)

I'm pretty sure this is a Pantilius tunicatus final instar, I saw a few today on my after work walk. Pantilius tunicatus is a Plant Bug (Miridae) and is common and widespread across Southern Britain. These usually start appearing in September, so looks like these are a few weeks early this year.

This fine fellow was very cooperative and stayed put for this 18 image handheld focus stack. I used an aperture of F/6.3, ISO 320 and a 1/160 shutter speed, I was at about x3 mag with my MP-E.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

A beautiful female Calopteryx splendens from a wonderful Summer, I really went to town with these last year and still have a plethora of Demoiselle images to share. I'm hoping this year will be as productive.

This was a 13 image focus stack using an F/8 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed. I just loved the green on green :o)

A female Dicyrtomina saundersi from today, this is a 9 image handheld focus stack at x7 magnification. It was quite a pleasant day today and got off to a brilliant start, I got up at 8am, opened the curtains to see a load of Waxwings on a neighbours aerial, then got so excited that I fluffed the shots, but at least I can finally say that I've seen Waxwings, I spent the rest of the day looking for some and I must have wandered around most of Melton Mowbray.

I eventually settled for another Collembola hunt, I could not find much else, but I'm still happy :o)

A MUST TO VIEW ON BLACK OR LARGE

I managed a few focus stacks of these guys, so thought I'd upload the results. The main image is an 8 image handheld stack at F/5, I was only at x7 magnification, next time I will try a higher magnification stack. It seems these guys will happily stay put for a stack every so often, other times they are constantly on the move. These are roughly 1mm long, maybe a bit more, they are a bit smaller than Sminthurides aquaticus :o)

I have noticed that with the individuals I find that they have a large amount of red pigmentation on the tail end of the abdomen above the white band. The ones my friend Andy find don't seem to have the red (or not as much). Just wondering if this is just a localised colour variation. As there are at present only 2 locations for these, I guess we will have to wait for more to be found and then we can see if there are any other slight colour variations. So all you Springtail photographers take a look along the edges of any still bodies of water like garden ponds with a magnifying glass and see if you can find any :o)

Anyone tried the new Photo Experience?

VIEW LARGE and MORE IN COMMENTS

A beautiful Ruby-tailed Wasp I found on Monday. This one was patrolling a length of wall, I used a few strategically placed drops of honey to tempt her to stop for a while. She allowed me to take a number of shots, including the head on shots I posted earlier this week.

This is the closest shot I've managed so far of one of these stunning Wasps and it is also a 5 image focus stack. There was quite a bit of movement during the stack (Mainly antennae), but I managed to edit around the problem areas. They really are the most beautiful of Wasps i see locally, there are other species in the UK which I'd love to find.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :o)

Zooooommmmmm

Really struggled finding these this morning, started realising time is running out, possibly a month or so left with these guys around. I found this Common Blue on this flower head and managed this before he took off, this is an uncropped image :)

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)

A portrait to celebrate a new start, I have now finished my employment at Boots Contract Manufacturing, a new beginning and a fresh start, a new direction perhaps, have decided to do some volunteer work for the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (If they will have me LOL), hopefully now back and ready to catch up on Flickr, sorry for any weirdness over the past few weeks, my heads been in a muddle :)

Another shot, in this one the female is in the foreground, she has paler plumage on the head than the male.

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I love the eyes of theses dudes, the design is so intricate and also rather beautiful, there is so much sensory equipment on a Dragonflies head, it must be a real thrill living a life through their eyes, have always wondered how they percieve this sensory input from ommatidia, antennae and their ocelli.

If anyone has visited Insect~O~Saurus's excellent photostream of late,

www.flickr.com/photos/daddysaurus/6046739456/in/faves-odo...

they may have heard me rattling on about Giant Dragonflies, this is based on research carried out in the USA.

www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-11/01/giant-insects-oxygen

This is the Common Woodlouse, a 3 image stack at x7 magnification, these are quite interesting up close and there are some lovely details here. This is a virtually uncropped image, just some slight stacking trims.

Oniscus asellus, the common woodlouse, is one of the largest and most common species of woodlouse in the British Isles and Western and Northern Europe, growing to lengths of 16 mm and widths of 6 mm.

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 fence posts.

VIEW LARGE ON BLACK OR ORIGINAL IF POSSIBLE :)

Oh wow I'm elated to announce that this is the second sighting of Sminthurinus reticulatus in the UK, the first sighting I believe was by K.Brocklehurst in November 2006, also this species has not as yet been scientifically recognised as a species in the UK, because no physical specimens have been examined.

I found a few last Friday in a park in Melton Mowbray, anyway, I went out yesterday and found a massive colony of them under a plank of wood in a separate location, again in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. As you will get the jist of the numbers from the main image, I know they are not all in focus, but at that DOF it is no easy task, I have included more images in the comments :o)

Thanks to Frans Janssens for his help :o)

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A rather impish looking Damsel here, just liked the look on this ones face, all my shots are taken in the great outdoors and the Damsels are never harmed or deliberately handled. I usually hold the plant they are on and this helps me line up the shot.

Will be off Flickr until Sunday, gone camping in the Cotswolds, feeling I'm going to get wet this weekend :)

Dicyrtomina ornata on a bit of fallen wood, I really hope I can still find a few of these every now and then, not sure if they are still around when it gets warmer.

Anyway, this is my first Dicyrtomina edited using Lightroom, I really like the sharpening you get with this software. Won't be long before my Damselfly buddies appear and really looking forward to trying some really early morning macro work as well, lots of bugs and dew drops :o)

About 2.5mm long, taken at x5 magnification :o)

You can also play spot the spermatophore here LOL :o)

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This was a rather unexpected find at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens and even more unusual it was found in the heated Glasshouse. This is Neelus murinus and it is one of the three representative Neelidae species found in the UK.

Neelus murinus is usually associated with caves, but has been found near cave system entrances, tunnels, mines etc. Sometimes they can find their way to the surface through small gaps in the ground. I did find out that there is an underground link between the Glasshouse and the Water & Rock Garden, so this could be an explanation.

Anyway, decided to do this as a montage, this Neelidae was constantly on the move and never stopped for more than a second, it was also on a very uneven dead leaf, so it was very much a case of occasionally getting a lucky shot, I guess I got 14 out of 100 shots with this one, also being pale with orange made it blend in rather well with a dead leaf of a similar colour, I would have preferred a more contrasting background, this one was about 1mm long :O)

VIEW LARGE and EXTRAS IN COMMENTS

I think I have found a new one for the list, this tiny little one was hiding in a forest of fungal fruiting bodies on a bit of wood. I did think it was dead at first as it was motionless, so I thought what the hey, let's try a focus stack, so I managed a focus stack of 3 images on this guy that was about 1mm long. Not long after doing the stack this guy woke up and went for a wander :o)

I'm pretty sure that this is a Hypogastrura species, it has visible ocelli and very basic chaetotaxy on the abdominal area, I have included my usual set of extras in comments and hopefully Frans might have an idea of an identity for this pretty little Collembola.

Thanks to Frans for ID as Brachystomella parvula, a new one for the list :0)

REALLY NEED TO VIEW ON BLACK

Well this is rather an interesting find I had, at first I thought it an immature Common Woodlouse, but as I watched it I started to think there was something a bit different about it, firstly it is completely blind and it was using its front appendages to feel its way around its environment, secondly there was an even smaller one nearby which suggested that this was not a juvenile. Well when I got home I trawled the net and it turns out that this is Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii and it is a myrmecophilous isopod, the term myrmecophilous refers to anything that associates with Ants and indeed there was an Ants nest under the brick that this was on. I believe that these are scavengers within Ant nests.

There was one final surprise with this find, I only spotted it when cleaning dust spots whilst processing, there is a teenie tiny Globular Springtail in the shot, now these Isopods are about 4-5mm long, which means the Globular Springtail is very tiny indeed, I have included a crop of it in the comments, I thought it might be Sphaeridia pumilis, but not convinced with my initial ID after reading Andy's comment, so for now a mystery Collembola :o)

I should note that in this shot the Isopod was on the ground and not on the brick.

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Well this was an unexpected surprise, I had just found a bog standard Dicyrtomina saundersi and this tiny little dude scuttles past, this I think is Sminthurinus aureus and is possibly the smallest Globular Springtail I have found to date at about 0.5mm, the best thing is I think I actually found 2 different individuals, so really chuffed, reckon I'm going to need more magnification LOL :o)

I have been off Flickr this weekend, had a severe case of ManFlu, will attempt to catch up this week :o)

Plenty of extra shots in the comments section

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After much running about up and down slopes trying to get close enough to use my MP-E 65mm on a Green Tiger Beetle this beauty decided to play ball. I have noticed with these beetles that if they get cornered then they will remain still. This one was in a small trough in the ground and I managed to get the MP-E at x3 magnification for a 19 image focus stack. They really are stunning Beetles with those impressive jaws and metallic green/purple colours :o)

A 19 image focus stack using an F/5.6 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used.

VIEW LARGE OR ZOOM IN :o)

I have a favourite macro area at Wilford Claypit, it's a small patch of exposed ground surrounded by vegetation, there is a bit of moss there as well, I find quite a variety of Collembola in this small area.

Turns out that this is not Stenacidia violacea, could possibly be Sminthurides schoetti, which would be cool as would be a new species for the list, but then could mean I have yet to find Stenacidia violacea. I have uploaded a set of 11 additional images and await an opinion from Frans. It certainly is a fun game trying to ID these guys from photo's, especially when there are so few images out there, proper ID relies on microscopic examination of setae, foot structure, furcula structure, antennae structure etc and then checking against keys.

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I had a long walk home after work today and stopped off to photograph a few subjects, I was lucky enough to tempt this little beauty to stop for a minute with a drop of Flower Honey. I still can't believe how stunning these Trichrysis cyanea Wasps are. They are only about 6-9mm long and are always on the go.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend, I'm at work tomorrow, but hope to try and make an early morning start on Sunday, I have to get some Damsel portraits done :o)

Sminthurus viridis on a Thistle thorn, I decided to scrutinise a Thistle on my walk today and noticed this little one posing for me on this thorn. How could I resist, it was staring me in the face saying photograph me LOL :o)

I'm sure Sminthurus viridis has got it in for me, I've had to photograph them on a cowpat, on a bit of wood on damp moss and now lying face down in a bed of thistles and yes they drew blood, ahhhh the dedication or is it a form of madness LOL :o)

This little one was about 1mm, I took it at about 5.4x magnification and this is cropped, fortunately there was lots of thistle in the immediate background, hence no fall off :0)

Wonderful change in the weather today, from cold and grey to sunny and warm :o)

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I always love the expressions on their little faces, I think they want to hide, but they like to keep an eye on things at the same time, they will pop their heads up every so often for a peek :)

I finally found my first Pseudoscorpion of 2013, this is one of my favourite UK invertebrates, there is something very cool about them. I'm not 100% on the ID of this guy, but I think this might be Chthonius ischnocheles.

Anyway, this is a 9 image stack using an F/7.1 aperture, I used my MP-E at about x4 magnification. To get the studio look, I had placed this guy onto a petri dish(I always have a few in my kit bag), I then had a white card underneath, I was holding the petri dish above the card with one hand and camera in the other, this avoided any shadows. I took lots of shots as it was moving about a lot, but then I lucked out when stayed put long enough for a focus stack. The Pseudoscorpion was released unharmed back into the undergrowth.

Some Wiki stuff :-

Pseudoscorpions are small arachnids with a flat, pear-shaped body and pincers that resemble those of scorpions. They usually range from 2 to 8 millimetres (0.08 to 0.31 in) in length. The largest known species is Garypus titanius of Ascension Island at up to 12 mm (0.5 in).

The abdomen, known as the opisthosoma, is made up of twelve segments, each protected by plates (called tergites above and sternites below) made of chitin. The abdomen is short and rounded at the rear, rather than extending into a segmented tail and stinger like true scorpions (the fact that they look exactly like scorpions, aside from not having a stinger tail, is the source of the name "Pseudoscorpion"). The colour of the body can be yellowish-tan to dark-brown, with the paired claws often a contrasting colour. They may have two, four or no eyes.

A pseudoscorpion has eight legs with five to seven segments; the number of fused segments is used to distinguish families and genera. They have two very long pedipalps with palpal chelae (pincers) which strongly resemble the pincers found on a scorpion.

The pedipalps generally consist of an immobile "hand" and "finger", with a separate movable finger controlled by an adductor muscle. A venom gland and duct are usually located in the mobile finger; the venom is used to capture and immobilize the pseudoscorpion's prey. During digestion, pseudoscorpions pour a mildly corrosive fluid over the prey, then ingest the liquefied remains.

Pseudoscorpions spin silk from a gland in their jaws to make disk-shaped cocoons for mating, moulting, or waiting out cold weather. However, they do not have book lungs as most of their closest relatives, the spiders, do. They breathe through spiracles, a trait they share with the insects.

I hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

VIEW LARGE ON WHITE :o)

Well I just couldn't sleep today, so I went for a walk in the Spring sunshine. I decided to try a bit of Salticidae photography, there were plenty to be found on the wall by the canal. I decided to try a natural light focus stack, this little lady (A female Salticus scenicus) was mesmerised by my camera and allowed me to take a 19 image natural light, handheld focus stack, I used an F/5 aperture and ISO 500, shutter speed was 1/160. This is the first time I've done a natural light focus stack of one of these, I think the absence of a flash removes the chance of startling these little beauties. You can see the sun reflected in the eyes and a bit of me LOL :o)

Shutter speed 1/160

Aperture F/5

ISO 500

Handheld 19 images

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This was a new find for me on my last visit to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, these are Sminthurinus trinotatus (they have x2 distinctive white spots on the abdomen), these were found in the glasshouse there, I knew they were in the glasshouse somewhere as they had previously been found there by Paul Ardron in 2009, he had found specimens in the pools of water found within the Bromeliads. I really struggled with these, they were constantly on the go and so very small at about 0.5mm, so I guess they were juveniles or sub-adults. I think I was getting some misting on the lens due to humidity, things seemed a bit hazy at times. So I decided on a collage display as most of these are extreme crops, I'm hoping to find them again on my next visit, this species can often be found in Botanical Gardens, gardens and greenhouses etc, their origins are thought to be from Asia :o)

A link to the PDF that has some interesting info on Collembola at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, pages 10-23 :-

www.ukeconet.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/aliens_procee...

Another new addition for my list :o)

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas :o)

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A few more of these tiddlers, all of these were not visible to the naked eye, there is something ever so rewarding about photographing things that cannot ordinarily be seen. In my last post I had these identified as Sminthurides aquaticus, I have since been advised that these are more likely to be Sminthurides malmgreni, this is due to the dorsal and lateral pigmentation. In the comments I have placed a few more size comparisons, these were all taken with the MP-E at x5 magnification on x2 sets of extension tubes (136mm). These guys were all 0.3-0.4mm in length at a guess :o)

I'm really hoping to get out with the camera tomorrow, it has been very cold here over the past few days, so I'm going out tomorrow no matter what. I hope every one has an excellent weekend :o)

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A Lasioglossum smeathmanellum on Wilford Bridge, there are often a fair few of these basking on the stonework. It is only when you get closer that you notice the copper/golden tones on the bodies of these pretty little Bees.

I actually managed a bit of a focus stack with this one, this is a 5 image stack using an F/9 aperture, ISO 250 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used.

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Well it won't be long until these guys start appearing again, I usually start seeing the juveniles appearing in March/April, so I think I will have to start looking for them soon. I have to say that these are one of my favourite Collembola focus stacking subjects, mainly because they stay put for ages.

This was an 18 image focus stack, I think I just had my 1.4x teleconverter and MP-E for this one. I used an F/5 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed, I was using a diffused flash for this.

Allacma fusca is a widespread and common species found in a variety of moist habitats near to the ground surface. It is a large dark brown springtail reaching 3.5 mm in length

Not quite sure what he was promoting but he was an amusing distraction at the RHS Tatton, Cheshire.

I was really fortunate to find a pair of courting Stenacidia violacea the other day, as with other Sminthurididae they link antennae during their courtship ritual, the male Stenacidia violacea has very long and modified antennae, the antennae have curved setae that help it to latch on to the females antennae, the female then lifts the male, this can be seen in the comments and you get an idea just how high she lifts the male.

I find it fascinating finding these tiny little guys, but to also witness such behaviour makes it all so worthwhile, I need to work on a better DOF for these next time, I might remove a few extension tubes and try a smaller aperture, it doesn't help when you have to take into account x2 subjects at funny angles, if you know what I mean LOL :o)

Stenacidia violacea is moderately common and widespread and as its name suggests, is violet in colour. Males reach 0.5 mm in length whereas females grow to 0.7 mm, these were taken with my MP-E at x5 on 136mm of extension tubes.

Hope everyone has a happy and sunny weekend :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

A fortunate find on Friday after work, this is a Deuterosminthurus pallipes f. repanda in the final stages of a moult, all that remained was for the Springtail to free up the furcula which I witnessed seconds after this shot was taken. Like many Invertebrates Springtails moult periodically, initially to grow, but also they change from a feeding stage instar into a reproductive stage instar when they are adults, they keep going like this for the rest of their lives (feeding instar, reproductive instar, feeding instar etc). I'm a bit rusty as I've not photographed these for a while, so please correct any errors above.

I was very pleased to witness this mini marvel, this individual was about 0.8mm long, you can see the old skin below the Springtail.

MORE IN COMMENTS :o)

I found my first Zygaena ionicerae or Narrow-Bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth of the year. I wanted to shoot it in natural light, for some reason flash reflects off the scales and you don't get the blacks and the reds. Definitely was the worse day for natural light work, wet, grey and windy, I had to take the ISO up to 1000 and with an aperture of F/6.3, I was getting a shutter speed of 1/60th, I was also using a monopod for stability, I reckon I took a good 50 shots and only a few were usable, even better, it was pouring down by the time I finished, one very wet photographer and camera, the camera was OK after it's soaking :o)

Thanks to Mausboam for species info, had to change ID to Zygaena ionicerae as the most likely species find for the county, as Zygaena trifolii has not been recorded here in Nottinghamshire.

Lets hope this Jet Stream relocates itself soon and moves up north where it should be during the Summer.

VIEW ON BLACK

I spent most of my day photographing Red Deer today, it was a lovely day, unfortunately I missed the big fight, apparently it went on for half an hour, I saw one of the Stags and it looked like it might have lost an eye (or the use of an eye). It was really annoying seeing the number of people who were trying to get really close to these guys. I even saw people doing selfies with their mobile phones. I always like to keep a respectful distance, but then my 400mm has a 3.5m minimum focusing distance LOL :o)

I was planning on some photography on Monday, but have a feeling the weather has already put a dampener on that plan :o(

No macro today, can't remember the last time I didn't use my MP-E on a day out :o)