Is a Bad Smell Bad if You Enjoy It? - _TNY_7244
Not many flowers opened up here just yet, which means it's not really worth it for bugs feeding on nectar/pollen - and by extension not many bugs that feeding on nectar/pollen-feeding bugs either.
Here is one that was drawn to something else though.
I spotted a slow worm (Anguis fragilis) in the grass at Åva-Stensjödal and since it's a vertebrate small enough to fit in shots with my gear I moved in - only to discover that it was missing both head and tail and was very much dead.
Bummer - but then I saw something black and orange moving next to it and realised it was a burying beetle (Nicrophorus sp.) digging its way down beneath the lizard carcass!
Great, those make excellent subjects, let's shoot that one. Except it didn't really want to come up again but was busy doing its thing down in the mulch on the ground so I figured I would wait - which was when I realised the smell from the lizard which was shall we say not great. Especially when you're 20 cm / 8" away from it.
The burying beetle never reappeared, but instead this cluster fly (Pollenia sp.), clearly drawn in by the same smell that was deterring me, decided to land right next to me and the carcass.
Fairly pleased with the detail on the red eyes if you zoom in in them.
Is a Bad Smell Bad if You Enjoy It? - _TNY_7244
Not many flowers opened up here just yet, which means it's not really worth it for bugs feeding on nectar/pollen - and by extension not many bugs that feeding on nectar/pollen-feeding bugs either.
Here is one that was drawn to something else though.
I spotted a slow worm (Anguis fragilis) in the grass at Åva-Stensjödal and since it's a vertebrate small enough to fit in shots with my gear I moved in - only to discover that it was missing both head and tail and was very much dead.
Bummer - but then I saw something black and orange moving next to it and realised it was a burying beetle (Nicrophorus sp.) digging its way down beneath the lizard carcass!
Great, those make excellent subjects, let's shoot that one. Except it didn't really want to come up again but was busy doing its thing down in the mulch on the ground so I figured I would wait - which was when I realised the smell from the lizard which was shall we say not great. Especially when you're 20 cm / 8" away from it.
The burying beetle never reappeared, but instead this cluster fly (Pollenia sp.), clearly drawn in by the same smell that was deterring me, decided to land right next to me and the carcass.
Fairly pleased with the detail on the red eyes if you zoom in in them.