Pro Beetle Herder - TNY_20240705_131439
A shot of my extremely useful assistant in the process of helping me herd a peacock beetle on the riverbank in the Mjällådalen Nature Reserve near Härnösand, Sweden - this is my son, Daniel.
We really got the process figured out by now. When we spot one of these tiny beetles (around 7 mm / .27") running around between the stones, Daniel drops and puts his hands around it to create a barrier so it can't run away. Then we wait like ten or twenty seconds for it to calm down enough to at least make the eventual pause for few seconds and not just constantly zip around.
After that, I get in close with the camera and try and get some shots - which is a bit difficult with a moving subject at a magnification of around 3:1. Meanwhile, Daniel keeps an eye out if the beetle sneaks out of his hands at which point we move to the new spot.
One of the shots we got of a beautifully red colour morph can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53837539276/
Pro Beetle Herder - TNY_20240705_131439
A shot of my extremely useful assistant in the process of helping me herd a peacock beetle on the riverbank in the Mjällådalen Nature Reserve near Härnösand, Sweden - this is my son, Daniel.
We really got the process figured out by now. When we spot one of these tiny beetles (around 7 mm / .27") running around between the stones, Daniel drops and puts his hands around it to create a barrier so it can't run away. Then we wait like ten or twenty seconds for it to calm down enough to at least make the eventual pause for few seconds and not just constantly zip around.
After that, I get in close with the camera and try and get some shots - which is a bit difficult with a moving subject at a magnification of around 3:1. Meanwhile, Daniel keeps an eye out if the beetle sneaks out of his hands at which point we move to the new spot.
One of the shots we got of a beautifully red colour morph can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53837539276/