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Another find from my trip to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, this is Katianna nr schotti and they are the prettiest little Springtails. These guys are found in the leaf litter around the Erica shrubs (Ericaceae) that grow by the water and rock gardens. It seems this environment suits a lot of these interesting exotic Collembola, I imagine the nature of the shrub and rock garden environment provides great shelter for these beauties. I think this one was contemplating the mid-vein that was running through the leaf :o)
Well I'm not happy with the LCE sensor clean, one expects a clean sensor, when I got it back there was more dirt on it than when I took it in, very much not impressed :o(
On a positive note, I've managed to get a job with the Royal Mail (Temporary), but even better I have an interview tomorrow with JMC Aquatics for another job, which I think may be right up my street, things are looking up :o)
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I'm not 100% on ID here, this was the closest match that I could find. I was looking under fallen leaves and the underside of every leaf I found was occupied by Psocoptera instars and adults, seems to have been a sudden population explosion, no sign of any Dicyrtomina sp Collembola yet, I'm sure they will start appearing soon, I'm itching to do a high power magnification portrait of one.
Anyway, I kind of liked this colourful Barkfly instar, I liked the lemon yellow colours, I might just do a Barkfly collection this year, quite a few varieties to find.
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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 :)
Found myself looking for Collembola again, the wind was too much for any other macro, even when doing these it was a tad annoying.
Anyway, I decided to scrutinise a bed of moss and I found these little pink Globular Springtails, as yet I've not dared to put an ID to them, they were very small and I ended up putting extension tubes on my MP-E, first time I've really played with the extension tubes on the MP-E, not sure why, really does make finding these guys tricky. I ended up scanning the moss in live view to locate these little guys, they tended to climb to the top of the moss to have a look before they moved on. I reckon these guys were about 0.5mm in size and were away from water. More in comments.
ID Most likely juvenile Bourletiella hortensis, thanks to Frans.
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This here is a 9 image handheld focus stack of a tiny Aphid (Species unknown) using CombineZP, I hear you asking why CombineZP when you have just purchased Zerene?
Well it seems that when I add Kenko extension tubes to my MP-E, the resulting vignetting throws out the stack in Zerene Stacker, this is the only explanation I can find, if the image has no vignetting then the Zerene program works fine, the vignetting is caused by the Kenko extension tubes as they have not been designed for a ful frame sensor, I have included one of the stack images in comments to illustrate this. However, the stack worked fine in CombineZP, has anyone come across this issue in Zerene and if so are there any solutions?
I know I could buy other makes of extension tubes to overcome this or even use my 1.4x extender. I was wondering if there might be any Zerene settings that need adjusting? Oh and tried both PMax and DMap, DMap was a bit better, but I think the dark lines of the vignetting are confusing the program.
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Turning over a bit of old burnt wood on the ground revealed this little guy, at first sight I thought it was an Aphid, but once I got the MP-E on it I realised it was a small Leafhopper nymph, I reckon this was about 2.5mm in length and it is almost translucent, very much liked the red eye as well, no idea of what species this is, tricky things to ID at this stage of development.
Hoping to do an early rise tomorrow, was going to do one this morning, but my inconsiderate neighbour woke me at 2am, so I turned the alarm off, did get out at about 8am this morning.
Hope everyone is having a grand weekend :o)
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I kind of liked this, a tiny Sminthurinus aureus in the foreground and a big old Dicyrtomina saundersi grazing in bokeh in the background, I say big, the Dicyrtomina saundersi was about 2.5mm long. I did try getting an angle where both would have been in focus, but these guys as usual had other ideas LOL :o)
Not been too active lately, have really not been feeling too great, hoping to force myself out today, looks like we have blue skies this morning :o)
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Really fed up with the rain now, did try to go out and as soon as I got to my destination it started tipping it down, managed this quick shot of what I think is a juvenile Allacma fusca, I only say this because there were loads of the adults about, will go back on a dry day to try and photograph the adults. This little guy was on a plastic lid, I tapped a small stick on the lid to see what was on it and this was the result, it was placed back after the shot.
I really love the eyes on these, they are so vivid and clear, also you can see the pigmentation starting to show, adults are normally a dark shiny brown colour, but can vary in colour and have fairly long hairs over their bodies.
Turns out that after todays finds that this is more likely to be Caprainea marginata.
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I found this male Dicyrtomina minuta on a bit of rotting wood and I believe to the right of him is a Liverwort with it's roots reaching out, I thought it made an interesting diorama, also a couple of water drops on the head of the Dicyrtomina minuta.
Any Bryophyte enthusiasts out there who can ID this Liverwort, I will be very grateful indeed.
One day I will get a shot of one of these in a jungle of miniature fungi or fruiting bodies of slime mould :o)
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I found this rather wonderful Collembola today, I'm pretty sure it's a male Sminthurus viridis, but it does appear to be a paler form with some beautiful markings, I do like Sminthurus species, they seem to have very interesting faces and their eye arrangements always seem to stand out.
The Sminthurus viridis I usually find are normally a lot greener in colour, hence the viridis part of the name, but like a lot of Collembola species there can be a few colour variations, I must say these are a firm favourite. Sminthurus viridis is considered a pest in some places as it is one of the species that eat plant matter, hence the various names Lucerne Flea and Clover Flea, they were introduced accidentally to Australia where they became a pest on Alfafa crops.
Off down to Londinium tomorrow with friends, hope everyone has a classic weekend :o)
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I went to the Sensory Garden at Wollaton Hall today, I thought I'd see if I could find any more Sminthurinus aureus, so I started picking up fallen leaves, anyway I found a lovely couple of adult Sminthurinus aureus feeding on the leaf. I accidentally lost my positioning and could not believe my eyes, a pair of teeny tiny youngsters. There is a photo of a youngster with an adult in the comments to get a sense of scale, I reckon these are 0.3mm long at the best and dare I say the cutest little things in the world ever LOL :o)
I had decided to use the 1000D, 1.4x Teleconverter and MP-E at 5x magnification. Taking into account the 1.6x crop factor, this equates to 11.2x magnification, these are definitely the smallest Springtails I have found to date :o)
It is possible that the two in the main image are different species, the one on the left a juvenile Sminthurinus aureus and on the right a juvenile Katiannidae. Genus nov. species nov. These were found next to the bench at the Katiannidae. Genus nov. species nov. site :o)
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One of the new Collembola I found today, this I hope is Kalaphorura burmeisteri, this is one of the blind and springless Springtails. There were about 6 in this small group, they can be found in fairly large colonies from what I have seen on Flickr :o)
Kalaphorura burmeisteri is a distinctive species (up to 3.1 mm in length) found under fallen branches and among leaf litter. It is often recorded during the winter months and is active under snow.
The anal spines are prominent, there is a vestigial furca consisting of two small bumps and the post-antennal organ consists of two rows of elongate vesicles. The empodium of the foot is expanded at the base and there are two pseudocelli near the base of each antenna.
More in comments :o)
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I was rooting about in my parents garden this afternoon and I kept finding these guys on bits of tuber, now a few problems with these guys is they are firstly ever so small(No bigger than 0.4mm), secondly they are pretty darn quick and thirdly as soon as they seem to be exposed to light they then run for cover. So here are a few shots of Megalothorax minimus one of the smallest Springtails in the UK. These are all pretty heavy crops and I will use a lower ISO next time :o)
I had 72mm of tubes on my MP-E for the orange individual, which I believe is likely to be an adult female. For the smaller paler individual in comments, I had 108mm of tubes on my MP-E, I think this will either be an immature female or could be a male. I have planted some bits of wood etc in the area I found these and maybe tomorrow I can get some better shots, the side on shot is one of the better shots I have managed with these, I will have my camera ready with more tubes on it LOL :o)
Extra images in comments :o)
Sorry not been on Flickr much lately, hoping to do an early morning wakeup tomorrow, might be the last chance for some Damselflies, that's if I can find any :o)
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Learning each others name was looking to be a long drawn out task, Stan and Kyle were looking for Wally, but it dawned on them it was going to take a while to find him :)
Araneus diadematus
I found this teeny tiny ickle one on the underside of a fallen leaf, I think this is a Sminthurinus reticulatus judging by the vertical stripes on the abdominal region. These seem to be appearing in larger numbers now, as the leaves start falling then more Collembola start appearing, they like to feed on the fungi and algae found on decaying leaves, these guys seem to favour the fresher fallen leaves.
In the comments I have included some size comparisons, these were all taken at the same magnification, I have cropped the images, but still retain the same full length of the image. I had 112mm of extension tubes on the MP-E at x5 extension at an F/6.3 aperture.
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Well what a dire day, just saw this from the patio window, it was on the wall surrounding the patio, so nipped outside, quick series of stacking images and back in and onto the laptop, not too bad for 30 mins work.
Dicranopalpus ramosus this is a very distinctive Harvestman, often seen spread out on walls, first seen in the UK in the 1950's and moving northwards, originated from the Mediterranean, so right at home in the UK LOL :)
This is a stack of 9 images at about x3 on the MP-E :)
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Have a great weekend everybody :)
Nothing to do with the above, but you really should watch this :)
Ok this is possibly one of the smallest things I've ever found, this is a Megalothorax minimus, it is the smallest species of Collembola in the UK, this one was about 0.25-0.3mm at a guess, I'm not sure if this is a juvenile or a male, mature males are generally smaller than mature females, also the slightly larger ones I find are orange with lovely patterning on their abdomens, see comments.
In the main image the Megalothorax is striking a typical prejump pose or is it praying to the big Canon God in the sky LOL, also it didn't actually jump. I wish I had put some extra extension tubes on, these are all fairly heavy crops, but you can still make out some details, the stomach is full and you can see it's 4 intestinal compartments. I was lucky that when I found this guy it was on a flat bit of precut wood and this allowed better focusing, focusing was very hit and miss as this one was constantly on the go. I used the MP-E at x5 on a 1.4x teleconverter and 36mm of extension tubes at an F/5.0 aperture :o)
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Hi Ho Silver, away, another take on the Azure Damselfly, needless to say I have a few stacks of this one, he was very helpful and did eventually wander off.
This is a 12 image handheld focus stack taken using an F/8 aperture, ISO 125, a 1/60 shutter speed. I think I've just realised why the specular highlights were so well controlled, I had left my camera in aperture priority and the diffused flash was on a really low setting. Oh well quite pleased with the outcome :o)
Think I might go and see the Lone Ranger movie when it comes out, I'm a big Johnny Depp fan and I think he might steal the show as Tonto :o)
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Well I don't think I have ever seen so many Collembola in one place. These were below a window of an old ruined Church near Colwick Hall, I think they might actually have congregated for reproduction purposes, but that is pure conjecture. These were scattered about on every wall of the Church, but they were in these dense gatherings in just two places. These are most likely a Hypogastrura species, I see these on stone walls in many places at this time of year, they like to graze on the algae that grows on the stone. They also proved to be tricky as I struggled with focusing and lining the camera up parallel with the wall, next time I will try a tripod and a macro rail. They were at shoulder height and my hands holding the camera were shaking like crazy LOL
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Well this is what rainy, cold weather does to you, I finally took the plunge, so goodbye CombineZP and hello Zerene Stacker, yes in a fit of frustration I finally purchased the license for Zerene, am I happy, you bet,! Zerene does seem to handle things a lot bettter and the editing features are there as well, brilliant.
So this is a 7 image focus stack of an Allacma fusca I found a few months ago, CombineZP could not hack it, but Zerene, no problems. This was a very rushed stack, I will spend more time on the editing with the next image :0) Oh I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this :o)
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Posing a bit of a question for Frans here, are these Caprainea marginata or juvenile Allacma fusca? These little ones were around in large numbers in the woods at Colwick Park, they were virtually on every bit of wood or bark on the woodland floor. The thing is they occur exactly where I find Allacma fusca, they do share many features with Allacma fusca, I'm just wondering if these small pink Collembola are very early instars of Allacma fusca?
They behave and move in a very similar manner as well, in the comments I have included a few extra images, the more interesting images were of a slightly larger Collembola that definitely is a young Allacma fusca, you can see it in the antennae, facial features and shiny nature of the cuticle. I know the pinker individuals don't have the shiny cuticle, but maybe that becomes obvious after later moults. I was wondering if there are any features that would definitely identify an individual as Caprainea marginata?
All images taken with MP-E on 36mm of extension tubes and the 1.4x teleconverter at an F/5.6 aperture.
Hope everyone has a cracking weekend :o)
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A male Stenacidia violacea on the look out for a mate in the moss jungle. I liked the bright colours of this Collembola against the greens of the moss. This was found on the same patch of land at Wilford Claypit, I shall call it the "Springtail Arena", I'm seeing numerous species going about their business in a small area of about 30cm by 20cm, the area is exposed ground surrounded by grass and moss.
All I do is have my camera on live view and scan the area, it doesn't take long to locate a subject and supporting my heavy camera setup is pretty comfortable being so close to the ground. I'm finding the fauna is changing with the seasons and am looking forward to seeing what crops up over the coming months :o)
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Another shot from Mondays afternoon by the water, this is a pair of courting Sminthurides nr. penicillifer, the female on the left is a sub-adult, so I think this may actually be a practice run. It is interesting that you can see the position of the 3 bothriotricha on the abdomina of the female and male (bothriotricha are pitted sensory hairs). I wish there was a way of adding notes to images again.
For this shot I used my MP-E on 72mm of extension tubes and also a 1.4x teleconverter, I used an aperture of F/4.5, so I was quite pleased with the focus on this one. The female here was about 0.8mm long and the male was about 0.5mm long.
notes on image viewable if you change language
Images in comments :o)
The other weekend I found a group of juvenile 1st instar Isotomurus unifasciatus, strangely this is a species I see everywhere, but this is the first time I've actually photographed them, I photographed them on this occasion as they were so cute. These guys were about 0.5-0.7mm in length, they are a lovely translucent purple and the central dark line I think is the stomach. I know they are Isotomurus as they have macrosetae only on the last few abdominal segments. I went with unifasciatus as this was what all the nearby adults were :o)
It started snowing here this afternoon and is still snowing, I'm hoping to get an early rise and do some photography, not sure about macro, but I really should attempt some snowflake macro, I think finding macro stuff in the snow will be very difficult, so may resort to Robins etc :o)
Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)
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I've gone Collembola crazy today and have found loads of new species for the list, I think this one is Sminthurides malmgreni, I found these on large pools of water in a field. I was scooping up water in a plastic container and seeing what I could find, in these pools I found at least 3 different species, I really liked this colourful little one and thought it looked kind of cool on the plastic.
Obviously, if I have got the ID wrong then please correct me, I got it wrong yesterday, I thought I had found Sminthurides aquatica, but they weren't. Funny thing is today I did actually find Sminthurides aquatica and I am sure the ID will prove to be correct this time LOL :O)
Got up dead early today, but unfortunately there was very little dew and it was mighty gusty, I did find a few sleepy flies, but due to the conditions I went for Springies instead LOL :o)
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A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
This is my big buddy Al (Allacma fusca), I found this one on a bit of fallen wood today and it must be the biggest Globular Springtail I have found to date, easily 4-5mm. I thought I'd show you a side on shot of one of these bad boys. Just a disclaimer, there is a very good chance that Al is a lady LOL :o)
Also have had this song in my head for a few days now, all I remember is Chevy Chase and Paul Simon in the video, I actually have the video on my iPad now, was feeling all nostalgic. Still a great song :o)
Happy Weekend to you all :o)
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Dicyrtoma fusca on a frosty morning last week, I found this one before I found the really frosty Dicyrtomina saundersi on ice, this one was on a mildly frosty bit of wood, the ice crystals in the background provided some nice bokeh, I might try a wider aperture next time and see if I get more spectacular bokeh.
Not been out much today, got caught up with "Big Bang Theory" repeats LOL and just watching another double bill right now, Sheldon rocks LOL :o)
Out early tomorrow for some snow shennanigans and hopefully some crystal macro work, that's if the snow keeps up tonight and doesn't turn to rain :o)
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A montage of shots of a Megalothorax minimus I found today. Megalothorax minimus is one of the smallest species of Collembola in the UK, this one was about 0.3-0.4mm long, they are very active little things and are a real challenge to photograph. I usually locate them with an 8x loupe, I then try and locate it with my lens, I use live view to find them and then use the Live View magnification (x5 or x10) to try and focus on them. I was using my MP-E at full extension with 72mm of extension tubes and also my 1.4x teleconverter. The image on the far right gives a bit of a size idea, they are smaller than the thickness of a leaf. These Collembola are not visible to the human eye, well definitely not mine anyway LOL.
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Unfortunately no Damselflies were found today, but I did find this fabulous pair of Ducks who are the latest residents of the Victoria Embankment by the River Trent here in Nottingham. They are Tadorna ferruginea, the Ruddy Shelduck, I think a male and female pair. They really are the prettiest Ducks and were quite happy to pose for a few shots, I was using my Tamron 180mm Macro lens on a mini tripod for these.
This is the male in this shot with Trent Bridge in the background.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruddy_shelduck
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In training all the fine young Globular Springtails are trained to walk gracefully by balancing a water droplet on their heads LOL :)
This is a handheld 3 shot focus stack of Dicyrtomina saundersi taken at x5 magnification, pleased with this one, they usually move their antennae a bit and ruin the stack, it was quite cold that day, so they were a bit less active I think, also there was hardly any wind. A lot of these guys had dew on their bodies, despite it being late afternoon, I'm going to have to try first thing on a frosty morning to see if I can find many and also to see what sort of state they are in or maybe I shall just stay indoors LOL
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I'm not quite sure what was going on here, predation or mating, but it looks like a nasty surgical procedure is underway! I couldn't get a closer look as the flies were on the back of a post, in an awkward place!
UPDATE: Mating pair of snipe flies (Rhagio scolopaceus); thank you very much to Eddie the Bugman for the helpful information and link :)
Taken on a walk along the River Moidart, Ardnamurchan, Scotland.
I found a whole load of Common Blue Damselfly stacks that I hadn't even bothered with, this one was from last year. I really liked the colours of this ones eyes, they are such a vivid blue. There is still some underlying orange pigmentation on the rest of the head, so I'm guessing this one is still maturing.
This was a focus stack of 23 images, ISO 320, aperture F/7.1 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used :o)
Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)
That Heron from another angle, some lovely feathery goodness here, they really are fabulous Birds. I think this guy was a bit fed up, what you can't see are the large number of people standing next to me pointing at him and talking loudly hmmppphhhh!!!!!
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea), is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions. It has become common in summer even inside the Arctic circle along the Norwegian coast.
It is a large bird, standing up to 100 cm (39 in) tall and measuring 84–102 cm (33–40 in) long with a 155–195 cm (61–77 in) wingspan. The body weight can range from 1.02–2.08 kg (2.2–4.6 lb). Its plumage is largely grey above, and off-white below. Adults have a white head with a broad black supercilium and slender crest, while immatures have a dull grey head. It has a powerful, pinkish-yellow bill, which is brighter in breeding adults. It has a slow flight, with its long neck retracted (S-shaped). This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes and spoonbills, which extend their necks. The call is a loud croaking "fraaank". The Australian white-faced heron is often incorrectly called a grey heron. In Ireland the grey heron is often colloquially called a "crane".
The above is from Wiki, love the description of their call as "Fraaank", so I will now name this Heron :o)
Also looking at the description this must be one of this years youngsters :o)
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My first ever focus stack of an Aeshna mixta noggin and I still can't believe I got it. This is a 30 image handheld focus stack of a teneral Migrant Hawker, there was some unfortunate movement in one of the legs so I had to resolve that in editing and there was some slight head movement, but on the whole I'm chuffed to bits with this. It was worth getting stung by Red Ants a dozen or so times as well, still finding them about the place LOL :o)
Taken with my MP-E at about 2.5x mag, using a diffused 430 EXII flash, shutter speed at 1/125. ISO 320 and an F/8 aperture :o)
It's interesting to note that the ommatidia of Hawkers are all pretty much the same size throughout the compound eye, maybe a bit larger on the upper hemisphere, however, with Common Darters the ommatidia are a lot larger on the upper part of the eye than on the lower part. I know these are geared for different colour spectrums. So I imagine the compound eye design reflects on the lifestyle of the Dragon, Hawkers spend more time hunting on the wing. Darters are more ambush hunters they will find a perch and wait for prey to come near, although I have seen them hunting on the wing as well.
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Well after much deliberation I forced myself outside, I could see it was going to be a bit on the windy side. After a while I decided my best option was to start turning over bits of wood and dead leaves, this was one of my finds today.
This is a juvenile Calvatomina rufescens (female) about 1.5mm, quite a pretty little thing this one, it is a nicely coloured species and has an unusual eye patch area with dark red ocelli on a pale orange patch. Interesting that this species is not mentioned on the Roehampton Collembola taxonomy list ?
I also found me a new species of Pseudoscorpion, I'm still deliberating on which to upload.
Better luck with the weather tomorrow I hope, fingers crossed :o)
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Now I'm not sure but I think this is Palomena prasina(The Green Shieldbug) changing colour, I seem to remember reading that the adults turn reddish/brown(bronze) in the Winter before they hibernate, you can still see traces of green on the pronotum area of this bug, some nice eye details as well to be seen :)
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A lovely vivid Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata, the f. reticulata refers to the orange tiger stripes on the upper part of the abdomen, I've not seen one quite as distinct as this one before. There was a large number of Sminthurinus aureus types all on the same leaf and all slightly different variations, so I'm not sure if I can describe them all under the same name tag. Three of the extra images were juveniles, one could be mistaken as Sminthurinus reticulatus, but as all the adults were Sminthurinus aureus f. reticulata, then I guess that would be a better fit. The other juvenile was very mottled, so I guess in a pre-moult stage.
Taken with the MP-E on 36mm of extension tubes and a 1,4x teleconverter, these guys varied from 0.4mm for juveniles to 0.8mm for the adults :o)
I hope everyone is having a great weekend :o)
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Had a great day today. Not only did I manage to dedicate a full day to macro photography, I also got to meet up with some flickr friends and collembola experts.
I was on the hunt for exotic collembola under the guidance of Eddie The Bugman , andybadger and Paul Ardron. Paul wrote a very interesting article about the invasive species to be found at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, which first attracted Eddie. He's subsequently managed to build up quite a collection of what are thought to be non-native species and was kind enough to show us where they can be found.
These are just one of the species of exotic Katiannidae that can be found here. I was pleased to find another species to add to my own collection, but more importantly I enjoyed finally getting to meet up with my internet friends and discuss all things collembola. Thanks chaps; I look forward to our next get together!
So I was wondering what Sminthurides aquaticus does when their home is frozen over, simple they get their skates on, LOL. It seemed that these guys are reasonably happy when their pond is frozen over and I found numerous individuals on the ice today. Yes on such a cold day I decided to spend some time dangling my camera over ice and I had to take my gloves off to do this, Brrrrrrr LOL :o)
This was a lone female on the ice, they do get a lot bigger than the males and this one was 1.5mm at a guess. I must admit though that the numbers are a lot lower on the pond than earlier on in the year, so I imagine they are happier in a slightly warmer environment, I didn't notice any frozen individuals, so I imagine they are quite resistant to the cold :o)
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Here's one I didn't get around to uploading from last year, this is a female Sphaeridia pumilis I found on a walk near Melton Mowbray. These are fairly small as Collembola go, an adult female can reach around 0.5mm in length and the male 0.25mm. Sphaeridia pumilis is a very common species and can be found in topsoil samples, I frequently find them on grassland and on moss, this one was found on a stick on grazing pasture near Melton Mowbray.
This one is a lovely reddish colour, but I have found yellow versions before, the ones I find at Wilford are always yellow, I have no idea why this is, see comments for a comparison :o)
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I think she took quite a shine to me on my walk today, a female Common Darter hugging my finger. There were plenty of Dragonflies about today, mainly Darters and Hawkers, but the Darters are my favourites.
This was a natural light focus stack of 9 images using an F/7.1 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/100 shutter speed. I was happy with the way this one came out and it was a pleasant afternoon with my Dragonfly buddies LOL ;o)
So I thought I might as well throw this one in with the head on stack of the Haematopota pluvialis (♀) I found today, this a full body view of this Horsefly. The adult females of this species grow to about 12mm in length, The large compound eyes are brightly coloured. The thorax is grey, with black longitudinal stripes. The abdomen has clearer bands at the end of each black segment. Also the wings have a distinctive pattern, being dark mottled by several clear spots. Legs are black, with yellowish-brown rings.
Cunning, Ruthless, and Deadly, so said Inspector Bugman on the resent spate of brutal murders. Bugman, a former Chrysalis, continued, these killings happen in broad daylight, no one is safe, and should always be on there guard.
Sorry couldn't help it with the title, thought these made an interesting subject, but soon realised that they are a nightmare to photograph , metallic sheen and DOF issues a plenty, this was one of the better shots :)
This is Gastrophysa viridula common on Dock leaves at this time of year, their favourite food :)
I'm not a 100% on ID with these, most likely to be Protaphorura armata, I have photographed Protaphorura armata before and these are similar. I quite like these blind white Springtails, you always tend to find them in groups and I rather enjoy watching them amble about on the bits of damp bark I find them on, there were about 8 in this group.
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Well this was a turn up for the books, I went back to see if I could capture more Sminthurides aquaticus egg laying behaviour. Guess what, Sminthurides nr. penicillifer were on the Duckweed instead, so I sat and watched and sure enough I witnessed and photographed one individual in the process of egg laying.
It seems that Sminthurides nr. penicillifer has a very similar egg laying strategy to Sminthurides aquaticus:-
images (1)-(2) :- Excavation, Sminthurides nr. penicillifer also excavates a hole to deposit her egg into.
image (3) :- She lays a single egg into the hole.
image (4) :- She will then cover up the egg with faeces and dirt.
Really pleased to see this mini miracle and especially in such a rare Collembola :o)
For these I used my MP-E on a 1.4x teleconverter, this species is about 1mm in length :o)
Images in first of comments :o)
Well I tried it on Pink, so then I decided to try him on white foam, I tried for a bit of High Key treatment, really shows off those colours, I love these beetles, so next time you pass Dead Nettles have a look for Chrysolina fastuosa :)
I took a trip to Sheffield in search of rare and exotic Collembola and I was not disappointed. I had been reading an article about exotic introduced species of Collembola, see here pages 10-23 :-
www.ukeconet.co.uk/images/stories/aliens_proceedings.pdf
Anyway, I found quite a few different looking and very colourful Collembola, here is a first example. The above image is a focus stack of 4 images. I'm not sure if this is Genus nov.2 sp, nov or something else, there seemed to be quite a bit of variety in colour with these guys.These were associated with Erica (Heath or Heather), basically I was finding them on fallen decaying leaves lodged in the Heather. Anyway a couple of new species for the list and a great day out, despite the intense cold :o)
Taken with the MP-E and 36mm of extension tubes, these guys were no bigger than 1mm long :o)
I will do another post of these in a while, but I'm so tired tonight, I will leave you with this appetiser :o)
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